Autumn 2008 Newsletter

GirtonDevelopment Newsletter of Girton College Cambridge Autumn 2008

newsletter

Girton Newsletter.qxp:Layout 1 31/10/08 11:40 Page 1

In this issue...

Editor Francisca Malarée

Design www.cantellday.co.uk

Photography Girton photographer,

Emma Cornwall, Andy Marsh,

Nigel Stead, Stephen Bond

Print Burlington Press

Contact:

Development Office

Girton College

FREEPOST ANG6880

Cambridge CB3 0YE

+44 (0)1223 766672/338901

[email protected]

www.girton.cam.ac.uk

Copyright in editorial matter and this

collection as a whole: Girton College

Cambridge © 2008. Copyright in

individual articles: © October 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any forms or by any means, without prior permission

in writing of the publisher, nor be issued to the public

or circulated in any form of binding or cover other

than that in which it is published.

Development CampaignWhy your support matters: 21st Century Campaignpriorities and fundraising news.

4

Modern & MedievalLanguages at GirtonDr Stuart Davies, Director of Studies in MML on teaching thesubject today.

5

Alumni EventsA review of a busy programme of alumni activities in the UKand overseas, from Canada to China.

10

Interview: Rachel LomaxGirtonian and Honorary Fellow Rachel Lomax (1963),former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, talksto Samuel Venn.

20

College SportAn update on sports fundraising, including a new IV for GCBC

22

Please see back page for forthcoming events


Autumn 2008 | Girton Newsletter 3

This magnificent gift is the largest Girton

has received in recent times. Donated in

response to the College’s second

development campaign, as a gift to the

College, it is also a gift to the University

in its 800th Anniversary year.

Some 10 years ago the single gift of two

friends of the College enabled Girton

to launch its crucial student bursary

scheme; the donors also saw the need

to support teaching. Today, a full half

of the £5 million will be used to set up

a Teaching Support Fund, also crucial in

a college that employs many teaching

officers. This fund will be used to match

gifts from alumni and other sources for

the long-term endowment of teaching

posts. The other half, as Girton’s

pioneering founders would have

wanted, will be added to the College’s

endowment for general purposes to

back up student services and facilities,

among other activities.

It is needed. The difference between

public funds received from student fees,

and necessary expenditure on College-

based teaching is currently made up

from investment, conference and

fundraising income. The aim of the

Teaching Support Fund is to endow

teaching posts in subjects where

College Teaching Officers are in

demand, and thus to ensure that the

supervision system at Girton, and for

which Cambridge is internationally

renowned, continues into the future.

From its foundation, Girton has existed

because of the thought and enthusiasm

of individuals committed to education,

and the personal generosity of so many.

The scale of this particular donation

enables us, quite simply, to take a long

view of our objectives.

Professor Dame Marilyn StrathernFBA

Message from the MistressProfessor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA

We are delighted to announce that the College is receiving a major donation of £5 million towards

its educational mission. The donation comes from an alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous.


Girton Newsletter | Autumn 20084

Development

The gift has been given in the spiritof encouragement: a sum largeenough to start Girton down theroad of building up reserves thatwill make a difference to financialplanning, and large enough toreally augment its capacity toidentify priorities. The donor saidhe hoped the human benefits wouldbe visible, and that it would inject areal stimulus into fundraising.

£2.5 million of the gift will be added

to the College’s endowment fund, to

help secure the future financial stability

of Girton. This will add to the funds

College has for general purposes, which

are already used to support teaching,

student services and facilities, and to

maintain buildings.

The other £2.5 million will be the basis

of a Teaching Support Fund. We hope

to be able to use the Fund to match

gifts from alumni and other sources

for the long-term endowment of

teaching provision in the College.

The sum needed to fully endow the

College’s teaching is near to a further

£6 million, so within this donation

is a challenge to match the donor’s

generosity with other gifts.

The Teaching Support Fund will match

at a ratio of 1:1 gifts from alumni and

friends in the College’s core subjects.

It will be for the general support of

teaching and, given our present needs,

will be directed towards College

Teaching Officer provision.

The College’s core needs are in those

subjects for which there is little personal

teaching support provided by University

departments, and where College

Teaching Officers provide the bulk of

teaching. They include: Economics,

English, History, Law, Mathematics and

Modern and Medieval Languages (MML).

The long-term aim is that all the posts in

these subjects are endowed, with the

Fund doubling any contributions to

teaching (the subjects above being a

priority). At present extra teaching

provision is largely funded by College’s

unrestricted income, which has been cut

in recent times, and which has to fund

many other services for students.

We have already enjoyed success in

fundraising for teaching, with an

endowed post in Classics, thanks to the

gift of John and Barbara Wrigley in 1997,

and gifts of £400,000 from a number of

donors to support Mathematics.

At present Girton has an annual shortfall

of between £500,000 and £1 million in

its education account, the difference

College is to receive a donation of £5 million, from an alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous. The pledge

has been made as part of a campaign to raise more funds for College teaching. This magnificent gift signals

that Girton has achieved £12 million of the £15 million target for its current campaign, which was publicly

launched in 2006. This is a major milestone that will help us to realise long-term ambitions.

College to receive milestone gift



Development

between the funds received from student

fees and UK government, and the

necessary expenditure on College-based

teaching. In the last financial year for

which audited accounts are available, the

income from fees was £2 million, and

education expenditure was £2.8 million.

The shortfall is currently met from

College’s endowment fund and

conference and fundraising income.

The aim of the Teaching Support Fund

is to endow teaching posts to secure the

funding for specific subjects, and thus

to ensure that the supervision system,

for which Cambridge is internationally

renowned, continues into the future.

This is a spectacular gift, and it makes

our targets realisable. The ultimate aim

is to double the amount allocated to

the provision of College teaching; but

for this we need the support of alumni

and friends. For more information on

the matching scheme, please see the

forms in this Newsletter, or contact the

Development Office at College.

Teaching Support Fund Core Targets:Selected Cases

Economics and History: These subjects

have no endowed funding, and require

an endowment of £1.25 million each, or

donations of £612,000 with matched

funding from the Teaching Support Fund.

Modern and Medieval Languages

(MML): This has a small endowed fund,

but requires a further £1 million for

full endowment, which now means

£500,000 alongside matched funding.

Mathematics: So far £700,000 has

been raised; a further £550,000 is

needed in contributions from other

donors, which will be matched.

Law: We benefit from an annual

donation to fund the Lady Hale

Fellowship, but at present there is no

permanent endowment to support

teaching in Law.

MML at Girton College

Arriving at Girton in 2003 to my first

full-time academic post, and as a

newcomer to the Oxbridge system, I was

immediately struck by the real sense of

community in both the wider College

and in MML as a discipline embedded in

Girton. There was a palpable sense of

MML’s importance in College’s history,

physically represented by the sculpture

for Alison Fairlie in Woodlands Court,

the plaques in the library and chapel,

and portraiture, such as the photograph

of Ruth Morgan which I frequently pass

on ‘D’ corridor, not to mention of course

past Mistresses such as Kathleen Butler.

When I arrived, the Fellows in MML were

a distinguished group, who were

understandably moving on to other

experiences: Dr Gillian Jondorf, who

became a Fellow in 1971, retired in

2004; Professor Melveena McKendrick,

FBA, who had joined the College in 1967

and retires this year, was swiftly

appointed to a Pro-Vice Chancellorship in

the University; Professor Sarah Kay, also a

British Academy Fellow, took up a post at

Princeton in 2005. All three maintain Life

Fellowships at Girton.

With the departure of these three

longstanding University Teaching Officers,

MML teaching at Girton now relies on a

more piecemeal approach. While I teach

modern Spanish and Latin American

literature, film and culture, Dr Gabriele

Natali is Senior Language Teaching

Officer in Italian in the University and

continues to publish poetry, his latest

collection Un sole in fuga dal rimpianto

appearing in 2005. In French, the College

is lucky to have a connection with the

Arts and Humanities Research Council

funded project ‘Poetic Knowledge in Late

Medieval France’ established by Sarah

Kay shortly before her departure; Dr

Fionnùala Sinclair, research associate with

the project and Bye-Fellow of the

College, is able to provide invaluable

French literature teaching support whilst

the project runs until the end of the

current academic year. To supplement the

teaching that Finn can offer, MML has

spearheaded an innovation in College

aimed at supporting outstanding young

Dr Stuart Davis is College Teaching Officer in Spanish and Newton Trust Lecturer in the University’s

Department of Spanish and Portuguese. His broad research interests are in contemporary Spanish literature

and film, and he is currently lead Director of Studies for Modern and Medieval Languages at Girton. This is

the first of a new series highlighting different teaching subjects.



Development

researchers whilst providing the CV-

enhancing teaching that will prove

necessary for the next rung of the

academic ladder: a ‘hybrid’

Teaching/Research Junior Research

Fellowship. Running in addition to the

usual broad Arts and Humanities JRF, we

recently advertised and appointed

specifically in French, and are enormously

pleased to have secured Laura McMahon

in the post, a promising academic in

French cinema studies. Judith Drinkwater,

who moved back to Cambridge

following a Hispanist career, revitalised

her links with Girton where she had

studied and continues to help with

Direction of Studies. With the invaluable

support of a lectrice, sent to us each year

by the École Normale Supérieure in

Lyons, and by securing teaching through

posts based at other colleges, MML

continues to evolve, and thrive, as a

community within the College, hopefully

continuing the work of previous

generations of academics.

An important part of that community is

the students. Whilst at any one time

MML will have two or three

postgraduates attached to the College,

Girton continues to have one of the

larger undergraduate MML communities

amongst the Cambridge colleges.

It admits between eight and ten new

students each year, as well as

accommodating students combining

European and Oriental languages, in

addition to the occasional adventurous

medic or vet who opts for languages

during their third year! During the first

two years – parts 1A and 1B – Tripos

candidates must study two languages

from the following, listed here in order

of current ‘popularity’: French, Spanish,

German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese,

Dutch and Modern Greek. All of these

are available both post A-level and ab

initio with the exception of French which

remains post A-level only. Across the four

years of current students, all of these

languages are represented, with the

exception of Greek. There are also, at the

moment, two students combining

Modern with Classical languages – Latin

or Ancient Greek – as well as three

students from the Faculty of Asian and

Middle Eastern Studies combining Arabic

with French or Spanish. In addition,

Ukrainian and Catalan are available as

one year papers to any MML student,

and there are also papers available on

Occitan and Neo-Latin literature and

culture. With such a range of possible

combinations, it is rare for two students

to follow an exact same course, so it is all

the more remarkable that the MML

community is so strong – undoubtedly

our natural linguistic desires to

communicate play an important factor!

Many students particularly enjoy the

chance to spend a year abroad during

their third year, during which they

engage in either university study, gainful

employment or a British Council teaching

placement, for a minimum of eight

months (although in practice many

spend at least a year overseas). Whilst

away, they maintain contact with

Cambridge via a supervised dissertation-

length project. Other opportunities to

travel also exist, with the University

offering financial support for attendance

on language courses overseas during Part

1. In Girton, the Ruth Morgan Fund

provides money for an annual travel

award competition; successful applicants

receive approximately £400 to fund an

intellectual project, which is written up in

the language of the country visited.

Recent awards have been made to

students travelling to Germany, Spain,

Italy, Belarus and Guatemala.

The range of skills needed to succeed in

MML never fails to amaze me. Our

students are not only excellent linguists,

but literary critics, historians, philologists,

film analysts, translators and

communicators. Whilst literature and

linguistics study remains a predominant

part of Tripos study, beyond the expected

focus on language acquisition there has

been in recent years an increase in the

number of offered Tripos papers that

focus more exclusively on intellectual

thought (the new ‘Early Modern

Thought’ paper in French, for example),

on comparative approaches such as the

Part II paper ‘The Body’ where students

study representations of the corporeal

across a variety of media and languages,

and on film, such as ‘Modern German

Cultures of Performance’, a brand new

paper this year. To support this the

College Library has recently invested

heavily in stocking a large number of set

films on DVD, all available for borrowing

in the same manner as textual media. It’s

not unusual to move one week to the

next from Cervantes to Almodóvar, or

from Pascal to Godard.



Development

The Development Office

We were sorry that Sam Bowie (1999)

left in October 2007 to take up the

new challenge of a post at University

College London’s Development Office,

having had a number of roles at Girton,

latterly Development Officer. We wish

him all the best for the future.

Samuel Venn has joined Girton as

Deputy Development Director. As well

as deputising for the Development

Director, his role is to meet alumni on a

face-to-face basis and manage discrete

fundraising projects. Sam is a graduate

of Durham University, prior to joining

Girton he was Development Officer at

Trinity Hall, and Development Officer at

Christ’s College.

Verity Moore is our new Annual Fund

Officer and has joined us from

Cambridge Consultants, where she

worked in the communications

department. She brings with her

expertise in public relations, as well as

experience from having worked in

Newnham College’s Development

Office. She is a graduate of Jesus

College and will be responsible for

running the telethon next year, and

managing the Friends’ Groups.

Linda Scott joined us as Development

Administrator in May, having been

co-ordinator of Finance and Resources

for Cambridge Student Community

Action. She is responsible for

accurate recording and administration

of donations on our database,

and has been a chartered public

finance accountant for a number

of years.

The Development Team. Back row from left to right: Margaret Nicholson,Sarah Westwood (Research and Database Officers), Samuel Venn (DeputyDevelopment Director). Front row: Verity Moore (Annual Fund Officer),Francisca Malarée (Development Director), Linda Scott (DevelopmentAdministrator), Emma Cornwall (Alumni Officer).

This year Girton’s Development team has some new faces. As we have a fifth of our alumni making

donations every year, we have made some changes to the structure of the Development Office to ensure

better communication with alumni and donors.

Andy

Mar

sh



Development

Girton: The Financial Story

The College is funded by a mixture of public and private resources.

As at 30th June 2007, the College’s net assets (total wealth) was £94

million, broken down as seen in the table below. Thanks to investment

gains and donations, net assets increased by 5.6% in the last financial

year ending June 2007, which runs from 1 July to 30 June.

Assets £

Buildings, furniture and fittings £46 million

Investment capital (also known as endowment) £45 million

Working capital £3 million

Total £94 million

Income and expenditure:The College’s fee income is constrained by public policy; students are charged economicrates, and conference prices include an element of profit, but conference income isconstrained by term dates and College activities, which take priority. The expendituretable includes depreciation of the College’s buildings, of £1 million, which means theCollege runs an operating deficit in most years.

Income source 2006/7 2005/6

Fees (constrained by government) £2 million £2 million

Student and conference income £3.2 million £3.3 million(rents, catering, rooms)

Investment income (including income £2.4 million £2.3 millionfrom donations/endowment)

Profit on sale of properties £0.7 million

Total £7.6 million £8.3 million

Expenditure

Type of expenditure 2006/7 2005/6

Education £2.8 million £2.6 million

Residence, catering (conference and student) £5.3 million £5 million

Total £8.1 million £7.6 million

The College’s endowment – its investment capital, as shown in the table above – isused to support the deficit College faces on its education account supporting ‘core’functions, such as teaching posts, learning, research Fellowships and research expenses,as well as scholarships, bursaries, and prizes. Plugging this funding gap costs between£700,000 and £1 million per year. In addition to this, there are deficits on residence asthe college receives no state funding to maintain or improve its historic buildings, whichmakes alumni support for improvements critical.

Is Girton rich or poor?

The College’s endowment of £45 millionmakes it about the 15th largest inCambridge University. The mean size ofendowment is about £80 million, butonly seven of the 31 Colleges in theUniversity have endowments larger thanthat. For the size of its operation, Collegeneeds an endowment fund closer to£100 million. It is most encouraging thatthanks to alumni donations, and goodmanagement of the funds, theendowment has grown considerably; theincrease last year was £5.1 million.

Girton is stretched by educating morestudents than the (mean) average inCambridge, and depends on a less thanaverage-sized endowment to do this,therefore it has a lower than averageendowment per capita. Arguably, Girtonbears a disproportionate share of thecost of Collegiate Cambridge, as itdirectly employs many teaching officersrather than relying more on University-funded posts.

This is common to some otherColleges, and indeed the comparisoncan also be made internationally.


Cambridge (Colleges and Universitycombined) has an endowment ofapproximately £3 billion, whereas Yaleand Harvard, institutions with which itdirectly competes, have endowments of£8.5 billion and £14 billion respectively.In terms of per capita endowment,Harvard has £600,000 for each student,whereas Cambridge has £150,000.To remain at the forefront of education,Cambridge and its Colleges have nooption but to raise funds.

Alumni and friends continue to supportGirton, just as they have done from theearliest days of the College. In fact such

support is the key to our ambitions toexpand the funded base for teaching,learning and research which previousdonors have initiated. College is fullybehind fulfilling its original accessmission by enabling Girton to give betteracademic and financial support tostudents. Donations also enable us tonarrow the gap between Girton’sper capita endowment and that of othercolleges. The gift that will add£5 million to its endowment base andteaching provision is a start on thepath to financial sustainability, andwith your help, the College will continueto prosper.

The Tower Wing

The refurbishment of most of the

students rooms in the Tower Wing is

now finished, thanks to the support of

alumni and friends of the College. Most

works were completed in the long

vacation. Many of the bedrooms at the

front of the College now have basins,

and all bathrooms, kitchens and

corridors have been rewired,

redecorated and refurbished.

There is still some work to be undertaken

on the ground floor, in particular to the

historic public rooms such as the Stanley

Library and Reception Room, which have

to be sensitively restored.

The Sports Pavilion

The fundraising for the new Pavilion

building has nearly reached the half-

way stage, with near to £400,000

being pledged and donated for the

new building. This year, we celebrate

the 25th Anniversary of the first ‘old

boys’ rugby match on 29 November

2008, and it will be the first old boys

match to take place on the redeveloped

and full-size rugby ground.

There will also be a Sports Dinner

taking place at the Oxford and

Cambridge Club in London on 8 May

2009, to highlight the fundraising

campaign for the Pavilion.

Projects Update


Development


A Canadian Idyllbut not idle

I have always loved Canada and itsinhabitants. So it was with greatpleasure that earlier this year I receivedam invitation to visit my “kid sister”(now in her mid 70s but still playingboth tennis and golf) at her house,which runs down to the River Rideau inManotick on the outskirts of Ottawa.

It should be understood that my sisterhas certain rather fixed views whichinclude “Visitors are like fish - afterthree days they start to smell and mustbe removed”, so I realised that I reallyneeded an extra excuse for pollutingthe air with aeroplane generatedcarbon dioxide, and arranged with theGirton Development Office to base atour of my beloved Canada on visits tomy old students from Girton (andDowning) coupled with a lecture on thehistory of the Boat Race. I fondly saw it

as three weeks, tripping gently round alittle country on the other side of ‘thePond’ with genial company at intervalsalong the way.

An idyll (a pastoral or sentimental scene– s.o.e.d.) it certainly was, thoughcertainly not idle, because it involvedjourneys of over 5000 miles by air, landand water between touching down inVancouver Island and departing fromToronto Airport for my hop back toCambridge – but in the event, awonderful three weeks. I only hopethat the people that I visited viewed itsimilarly. Certainly they were politeenough not to tell me otherwise.

My first stop was in Nanaimo onVancouver Island to visit one of myDowning medical students from the mid1950’s, a chap who arrived fresh from

convalescent home, having been injuredas a commando during the Suezdebacle. The commandos had taughthim the art of a ‘good life’, but not howto concentrate on academia and he hada little trouble persuading the examinersthat he was worthy of progressing tothe clinical course. A stay over someweeks in our home helped matterssomewhat and produced a life-longfriendship. I touched down to have aquiet few days recovering from the jetlag and perhaps enjoying some salmonfishing (I still have a photo at home ofthe salmon I caught during my previousvisit to him – all of six inches long!)

Much to my annoyance it was not to be.He had booked a trip up to his daughterin Smithers some 400 miles north inBritish Columbia. His daughter, Sarahwho had also stayed with us during her


Alumni Events



Alumni Events

student days, reading law, had recentlystarted up a legal practice in thisdeveloping outpost, with her partner andthey thought that I would love to see theNorth-West territory. Despite my initialannoyance at having my plans changed,‘love it’ I did and would not in retrospecthave missed it for anything. Smithers(some 700 miles north of Vancouver) is arapidly growing township surrounded onthree sides by the Rockies, and the fivelaw partnerships cover an area of 450miles by 350 miles and everything fromconveyancing to defending in murdercases. It is nothing for them to have totravel over 200 miles each way to dealwith a case.

They took me around the area. A forestwilderness, with bald eagles flyingoverhead, refreshments in ‘wild west’saloons, ancient paddle steamers thattook the original settlers into the area(Old Hazelton), long houses and totempoles (K’san village), railways with longtrains with their ghostly “whaa whaa”warnings and ravines with racingtorrents from thawing snow, even inlate May (Moricetown canyon).

The North-West territory bordering onthe Yukon is wonderful to visit but Iwould hate to settle there. NoUniversity library!

And so, after four glorious days back byplane to civilisation in Vancouver, whereI was met by Cicely Bryce (Ford, 1976)who took me over on the car ferry tothe lovely little Bowen Island inVancouver Bay, where they have aholiday home looking down over thetrees and sea. Cicely is now not onlyrunning a cancer programme, butbringing up a charming family ofteenagers (yes such paragons of virtuedo exist!). Cicely had offered to host abuffet reception for VancouverGirtonians at Sunday lunchtime, a smallbut delightful gathering. Medicspredominated, for in addition to Cicely,Jane Hailey (1981) and Karen Kruse(1974) had also settled in Vancouverand came with their partners. I onlyhope that the non-medics whoincluded Marian Coope (Robinson,1953), Judith Fairwood(Wood/Fairbrother, 1959) and AlanLund (1984) did not feel too isolated

from the conversation. A delightfulgathering in lovely surroundings, forwhich I want to thank Cicely.

Then back to Vancouver and on theTuesday the short flight (a mere 600miles) over the Rockies to Calgary.There, over a two-day stop I met upwith two Girtonians, though myfriendship with the first of these SusanChivers (Campbell-Ferguson, 1961)dates well before Girton times. Not onlywas she the daughter of my GP when Ifirst came to Cambridge, but (aged 5)she was very briefly (fortunately for hersake) my patient. I cannot say that shehas not changed since I first met her, asI can say about many of those I saw onthis trip, but she was as delightful as Ihave found her on all the occasions thatour paths crossed in Girton over theintervening years. The following day itwas a more recent friend, Gwyn Bebb(1980), who has been a regular visitorback to College, for he has commutedback to play in the annual Old Boysrugger match, most years since he left.After leaving Girton, where he read Nat.Sci. (and sport) he changed to medicine

Left to right: Dr John Marks, Mrs Dara Robinson (Beard, 1975), Dr Janet Payne (Williams, 1972), Mrs Marilyn Macre,Mrs Katharine Rapoport (McLellan, 1971)



Alumni Events

and like two of the three Girton medicsin Vancouver is now involved in cancertreatment. A short stop, but one that Iwould not have missed.

Then, the longest hop of the trip apartfrom those across the pond, the 2100mile journey to Ottawa. There, I wasnot only going to spend some timewith my sister but give a lunchtime talkabout the history of my favourite topic(the Boat Race) to the CambridgeSociety of Ottawa and meet up withDonald Ramsay (St Catharines, 1941),who was at school with me and hiswife Marjorie (Findlay, 1944). Donald isthat exceptionally rare breed, a rowing(wartime) ‘blue’ who became an FRS.Donald was in great form, still working

and writing papers. Sadly Donald hasdied suddenly since my visit.

After a delightful week in the Ottawaarea, where I not only really got to knowmy sister for the first time in our lives(we were separated first by an age gapand then the North Atlantic), but hadthe pleasure of a trip on that remarkableman-developed waterway, the RideauCanal, I was taken by car to Toronto.

My first day was spent meeting theCanadian members of the familyincluding not only nephews and niecesbut great nephews and nieces, whichwas great fun since the age rangestretched from a graduand, the primereason for the gathering, to a charming

babe in arms, who does not look a bitlike me, apart from a lack of hair.

And so to my last Girton gathering ofthe trip in the Albany Club in downtownToronto. I am very grateful to Mrs DaraRobinson (Beard, 1975) for suggestingthis venue, a lovely Victorian woodpanelled club around which we weregiven a guided tour by Lindsay Shaddy(1975), and with helping with theorganisation. Some 12 old Girtonians(including Mrs Janet Payne (Williams1972), Mrs Diana Burnett (Hargreaves1957), Mrs Katharine Rapoport(McLellan, 1971) and Mrs Clare Orchard(Brind 1983), attended and I hopeenjoyed the gathering at which I tried toassure those who were up in the timebefore co-educational Girton, that themen had not totally destroyed either thefabric or the ethos of the College. It hadthe same wonderful community feel as ithad when the then women Fellowswelcomed me in as the first male Fellow.Did I succeed? To judge from some ofthe kind letters that I have received sincemy return, I did.

So have I any regrets about the visit?Yes one. That in those previous years inGirton and after I retired, when I jettedround the world so much, I did notmake the time, during those trips tomake visits to other Girton Alumnigatherings. I have no doubt that had Imade the time, I should have enjoyed itas much as I enjoyed this one. Mythanks to all of you that I met this trip.

John MarksLife Fellow

Left to right: Mrs Diana Burnett (Hargreaves, 1957), Dr Anne Thackray (1970),Mrs Clare Orchard (Brind, 1983)

Left to right: Mrs Dara Robinson (Beard, 1975), Dr Janet Payne (Williams,1972), Mrs Marilyn Macre, Mrs Katharine Rapoport (McLellan, 1971)


Gifts from the UKAll UK gifts, whatever the payment method, are

tax-efficient. Tax can be reclaimed by the College,

increasing the value of your gift by nearly a third –

for example a gift of £20 increases to £25.60.

A gift of £10 per month over three years will be

worth £461 once College has reclaimed the tax.

This applies to all gifts made by cash, cheque,

credit and debit card, and all gifts in installments,

such as standing orders.

Regular GiftsIt is possible to donate by standing order by

completing the form attached. If you prefer, you

can also set up a direct debit online by visiting:

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development/giving

One-off GiftsThese can be made by cheque payable to ‘Girton

College’, by bank transfer, or by credit or debit card.

We accept all credit cards (except for American

Express) and all debit cards. We also accept CAF

Vouchers (payable to ‘Girton College’). Please

complete the attached form or visit our website,

which has a secure online payment facility, at

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development

Giving SharesDonations of shares and investments have become

one of the most tax-efficient ways of giving.

Income Tax relief applies to gifts of quoted shares

and certain other investments by individuals and

companies, whether resident in the UK or not. This

is in addition to the relief from Capital Gains Tax.

• The amount the donor can deduct is the market

value of the shares or securities at the date of

transfer plus any incidental cost of disposing of

the shares.

• Donors can claim tax relief at the top rate of tax on

their Self Assessment or Corporation Tax return.

Which shares and securities qualify?

• Those listed or dealt in on a recognised stock

exchange, whether in the UK or elsewhere,

including shares traded on the Alternative

Investment Market.

• Units in an authorised unit trust.

• Shares in a UK open-ended investment

company; and

• Holdings in certain foreign collective investment

schemes (offshore funds).

How do I donate stocks and shares to Girton?

Please contact the Development Director on

[email protected] or on

+44 (0)1223 339893, who will ask the

College’s brokers to send you the relevant

forms to transfer stocks.

Donation Form

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Worked examples

CASH GIFT

Donor Girton College Donor Girton College

Cash Gift £500 £500 £50,000 £50,000

Basic Rate reclaim (20%) £125 £12,500

Higher Rate reclaim (20%) (£125) (£12,500)

Transitional Relief (2%) £16 £1,603

Cost / Benefit £375 £641 £37,500 £64,103

A GIFT OF QUOTED SHARES

Donor Girton College

Gift of Shares* £50,000 £50,000

Income tax relief (40%) (£20,000)

CGT saving (40% of gain) (£16,000)

Cost / Benefit £14,000 £50,000

*Shares example presumes a taxable income of £100,000+, and that the shares were originally purchased for £10,000 and the donor’sannual CGT relief had been utilised elsewhere.

Girton Newsletter Form.qxp:Layout 1 31/10/08 11:36 Page 1

Gifts from EuropeIf you are resident and paying tax in Belgium, the Netherlands, France or Germany, it is possible for you to

make a gift to the College tax-efficiently through Transnational Giving in Europe. You should stipulate that

your gift is for Girton College and contact the relevant organisation in your country. There will be a 5%

commission on gifts then transferred to Girton, but this method allows you to use tax relief in your country

on charitable giving. It is of course possible to send funds directly to Girton by other methods such as a

cheque or credit card, but no tax-relief will apply.

Contacts if you are donating from Belgium, France, Germany, or the Netherlands. If you pay tax in any other

European country except the UK, no tax-efficient vehicle for giving currently exists.

King Baudouin Foundation Oranje Fonds

rue Brederodestraat 21 J.F. Kennedylaan 101

1000 Brussels, Belgium 81 CB Bunnik, The Netherlands

Tel: +32-2-549 02 31 Tel. : +31-30-656 45 24

Fax : +32-2-549 02 89 Fax : +31-30-656 22 04

E-mail : [email protected] E-mail : [email protected]

Maecenata International e.v. Fondation de France

c/o Maecenata Management GmbH 40 Avenue Hoche

Barer Straße 44 75008 Paris, France

D- 80799 München, Germany Tel. : +33-1-44 21 31 90

Tel.: +49-89-28 44 52 Fax : +33-1-44 21 31 54

Fax: +49-89-28 37 74 E-mail : [email protected]

E-mail: [email protected]

Gifts from the USAYou can give tax-efficiently through Cambridge in America, Cambridge University’s 501(c)(3) in the USA,

stipulating that you would like to support Girton College. The contact details are as follows:

Cambridge in America

PO Box 9123 JAF BLG

New York, NY 10087-9123

www.cantab.org

If you require more information, do email us on [email protected] and we can send you a

Cambridge in America giving form.

Gifts from CanadaCanadian donors can also donate and claim tax-relief on their gift. If you make a donation to the College

we can request an official receipt from the University, which is recognised as a charitable institution by

Revenue Canada.

Leaving a LegacyLeaving a bequest to a charitable institution can make a huge difference, and has tax advantages for your

estate within the UK. If you require more information, or a legacy brochure, please contact us at the

Development Office, email: [email protected]

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DONATION FORMPlease complete and return to the Development Office FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE.If you are a taxpayer, please complete the Gift Aid declaration below, as we can now reclaim tax at the basicrate on your donation.

Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________

Home address: _________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ Postcode: _______________________________

Telephone: ___________________________________________ Email: __________________________________

I wish to donate to:

21st Century Fund (Unrestricted Funding) Sports Pitches and Pavilion Choir Endowment Fund

Teaching Fellowship Fund* Boat Club Millennium Fund Childcare Bursaries

Postgraduate Endowment Tower Wing Refurbishment

*If you would like to support a priority subject, please tick box below:

Priority subjects: Economics English History Law Mathematics Modern and Medieval Languages.

Gifts to Teaching Fellowships will be matched with a 1:1 ratio (excluding the Gift Aid element)

Other fund not listed here: ______________________________________________________________________

If you would like your details passed on to the University Development Office to make a donation, please tick this box.

One-off gift

I enclose a cheque (made payable to Girton College) I wish to donate by credit / debit card

I enclose a CAF Voucher (made payable to Girton College)

Card type (e.g. Visa): ___________________________________________________________________________

Please debit the sum of £ ___________________________________ from my account.

Number: __________________________________ Card Security Number (on reverse of card): ____________

Valid from: _____________________ Expires: ______________________ Maestro Issue No: _______________

Regular gift

To the manager, ___________________________________________________________________________ Bank

Bank address: __________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ Postcode: _______________________________

Bank account number: _________________________________ Sort code: ______________________________

Please pay the monthly quarterly annual sum of £ ______________ commencing on _____________

and ending on _______________ to Girton College, Cambridge, Account No. 40207322 at Barclays Bank plc,

Bene’t Street, Cambridge CB3 3PZ (Sort Code 20-17-19)

Signed: ______________________________________________ Date: __________________________________

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THIS FORM TO YOUR BANK

Donors to the Development Campaign will be listed in the College Annual Review. If you do not wish yourname to appear, please tick this box.

If you have any queries, please contact us on +44 (0)1223 766672 or (0)1223 338901, [email protected], or visit our web site www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development

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Gift Aid declaration

Please treat all donations I have made in this tax year, and in the previous six tax years, and all donationsI make from the date of this declaration, as Gift Aid donations, until I notify you otherwise.

I understand that I must pay an amount of UK Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the taxthat Girton reclaims on my donations in each tax year.

Signed: ______________________________________________ Date: ________________________________


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Please complete and return to:

Development Office

FREEPOST ANG6880

Cambridge

CB3 0YE

UK

Please use a stamp if posting from outside the UK

Tel: +44 (0)1223 766672 or (0)1223 338901

Email: [email protected]

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/development

Girton College Cambridge



Alumni Events

The alumni events calendar continues to

grow and record numbers of Girtonians

were welcomed at various College-

organised occasions. 2007 began with

the annual Geographical Society Dinner in

February which brings current geography

students, Fellows and past geographers

together for a convivial evening. After

dinner Mr Jon Pike (1983) spoke

enthusiastically about his time at Girton,

his experiences on field trips and the

influence these had on his working life.

As in the previous year proceeds from the

evening and a raffle held afterwards went

to the Dr Jean Grove Memorial Fund,

which is a fund set up to assist with

undergraduate dissertation costs.

At the end of March 2007 the College

hosted dinners for those who had

returned to collect their MA degree that

year and for those who matriculated 10

years ago in 1997. The 10 year reunion

was presided over by the Vice-Mistress

Dr Julia Riley. Dr Riley welcomed back

the alumni and their guests and

informed the attendees of the College’s

progress in recent years.

As the academic year drew to a close a

number of alumni attended the termly

Alumni Formal Hall, this popular occasion

gives Girtonians a chance not only to

relive their student days but is also an

opportunity to bring friends, partners and

relatives to the College to show them

what it was like to dine in Hall. The

Alumni Formal Halls are advertised via

email, please contact the Alumni Office to

ensure we have your latest e-mail

address. Alumni may attend Formal Halls

on other dates, once again please contact

the Alumni Office for more information.

In the summer Senior Life Fellow

Dr John Marks met a number of our

Canadian alumni on an extended visit

to Canada (see page 10). A few weeks

after Dr Marks returned to the UK,

he presided over the 20 and 25 year

reunion dinner for those who

matriculated in 1982 and 1987. Once

again alumni travelled from near and far

to attend this celebration. There was

much reminiscing and story telling and

guests were delighted to hear Dr Marks

speak about the College and the

changes since they were in Cambridge.

2008 started off as busy as 2007. The

February Geographical Society Dinner

was as well attended as previous years

and has now become an established part

of the College’s reunion programme.

The MA Dinner, held this year in March,

continues to grow in popularity, and is

becoming a much anticipated evening.

April saw two ‘firsts’: the first

15 year reunion dinner for those who

matriculated in 1993, which was held

together with our regular 10 year reunion

(for those who matriculated in 1998),

and the first Medical Reunion Dinner.

The Medical Reunion Dinner, presided

over by Dr John Marks, was attended

by over 200 current and former medical

students, Fellows and their guests.

Alumni Events 2007 / 08

The coming year’s calendar of events promises to be every bit as busy,particularly with the University commemorating its 800th anniversaryin 2009 and Girton celebrating not only her 140th anniversary but also30 years since the admission of male undergraduates. More informationabout the College’s programme of events can be found on our website,www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni-roll, and information about the 800thcelebrations can be found on the University’s website, www.800.cam.ac.uk.



Alumni Events

Girton has the well-earned reputation of

being a friendly College. It is sometimes

said that a good friend remembers what

we were, knows who we are and sees

what we can be. The support of friends

is integral to the success of Girton, so

the College has established a number of

Friends Groups to ensure that a variety

of important veins of college life, which

may have played important roles in your

life when you were here, are supported

and safeguarded into the future.

We also hope that such groups will

encourage people to come into the

fold and become part of the College’s

extended family – you don’t have

to be alumni to be a Friend.

You can subscribe to these groups at

one of two levels, namely as a Friend or

as a Patron, and, amongst other things,

you will be invited to events. Theses

groups include the Friends of Girton

College Chapel, Friends of Girton

College Choir, Friends of Girton College

Gardens, Friends of Girton College

Library, Friends of the People’s Portraits

and The Infidel Boat Club.

An outstanding College needs

exceptional supporters and we continue

to be impressed by the interest and

generosity provided by the Friends Groups

of Girton College, and hope that you too

will consider becoming a supporter. If you

decide that you would like to subscribe to

one or more of the groups or to renew

your subscription before 2009, your

membership will include the remainder of

this year and 2009.

If you are interested in finding out

more about the Friends Groups, please

contact [email protected]

and we can send a copy of our

new brochure to you, or visit

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni-

roll/friends-girton

A good friend remembers what we were, knows who weare and sees what we can be…

This year’s Friends of the Library Annual

Event, held on 12th July 2008, was a

great success with Old Hall packed with

Friends and Patrons of Girton College

Library and Members of the Roll. All had

attended to hear Sheila Mann talk about

her work in the fascinating archives of

Aelfrida Tillyard. Aelfrida, a novelist and

mystic born in 1883, left her intriguing

diaries and papers to the College, where

both her daughters came to study. The

audience was captivated by stories of

Aelfrida’s complex life, which seemed to

be punctured with tragedies. The display

of some of Aelfrida’s work at the end

of the talk also created much interest

and discussion.

The Library and Duke Building were also

open for most of the day, with Girton’s

exquisite Book of Hours on display for

the first time. Visitors donned white

gloves and were allowed to look

through this beautifully illuminated

manuscript (15th Century Flemish),

which until recently was housed at the

University Library, and is a real treasure

to behold.

Friends of the Library Annual Event

Detail from the Book of Hours


The refurbishment highlights the

ways in which the collection has

grown in the years since the

foundation of the College. The

completion of this significant project

means that the College’s wide range

of important artefacts and antiquities

are now on show in their full glory, in

state-of-the-art display cases, and with

full-supporting information.

The Lawrence Room is home to three

major collections, namely Anglo-Saxon,

Egyptian and Mediterranean, which

include significant, and in some cases

unique pieces such as Hermione

Grammatike, a named portrait mummy

from the Fayum. The College has

acquired many of these interesting

exhibits from its benefactors and

supporters. However, the Anglo-Saxon

material came from a cemetery

excavated on the College site in 1881.

A key part of this project has been the

development of a complete, illustrated

electronic catalogue of the collections,

which will eventually be available on the

web. The refurbishment will help to

preserve the Lawrence Room’s

collections for the benefit of future

generations, and its reorganisation and

electronic catalogue will enhance access

for teaching and research.

The Lawrence Room appeal was

launched in 2007 to raise funds for the

housing, conservation, cataloguing and

display of these collections. Generous

donations have enabled the acquisition

of new display cabinets and, as a

consequence, some of the Anglo-Saxon

and Roman material from the 1881 dig

on the Girton site has returned to the

College from the Museum of

Archaeology and Anthropology, where it

has been held on loan since its discovery.

Many Girtonians and outside experts

have given generously of their time and

skill in aiding this significant

undertaking, and Girton hopes that the

Lawrence Room will prove to be an

outstanding resource for teaching and

research in years to come.

Currently, access to the Lawrence Room

is by appointment only (please give at

least 24 hours notice). If you are

interested in seeing the room, please

contact the Lawrence Room Committee

at [email protected].


Alumni Events

8th AnnualDonors’ Dinner2008This year’s Donors’ Dinner was a little

special, for not only did we fill the Hall’s

capacity with well over 200 guests, but

it was also the final Donors’ Dinner

hosted by our current Mistress, Professor

Dame Marilyn Strathern – in 2009 the

Donors’ Dinner will be replaced by a

special 800th Anniversary Dinner. Please

see events on the back page for details.

The level of noise in the hall is always

considered to be an accurate measure of

the success of an evening, and as there

was a constant low roar, which only

abated during the Mistress’s speech, it

might be deduced that everyone was

having a jolly good time. New

friendships were made and some old

friendships were rekindled, which was

lovely to behold.

There was a particularly good turn-out

of donors who had supported the

Lawrence Room refurbishment, many of

which were eagerly awaiting the

opening celebrations of the Lawrence

Room the next day. The winner of the

Lawrence Room Appeal Florrie Plate

prize draw was announced by the

Mistress, with Cicely Kerr (née Fillmore,

1945) being presented with the plate.

The Lawrence Room opening celebrations

The refurbishment of Girton College’s very own small museum, the

Lawrence Room, has now been finished. A celebratory reception

opened the new display on Sunday, 13th July 2008 with over 130

supporters in attendance, keenly anticipating a tour of the room.

Hermione, Girton’s 1st Century ADportrait mummy



Alumni Events

2007 People’s Portraits Reception

In September 2007, a new portrait wasadded to the People’s PortraitsCollection at Girton College. At thereception, we were delighted that theDirector of the National Portrait Gallery(NPG), Mr Sandy Nairne, spoke andunveiled the new portrait. Mr Nairnehas been the Director of the NPG since2002, and prior to this held posts at theTate Galleries and was Director of theInstitute of Contemporary Art (ICA).

The new addition is entitled JohnMcWilliam, and is by Benjamin SullivanRP. Benjamin Sullivan graduated fromthe Edinburgh College of Art in 2000with a BA (Hons) degree in painting.Whilst there, he was awarded theAndrew Grant Memorial TravelScholarship (Edinburgh College of Art)and the John Kinross scholarship toFlorence by the Royal Scottish Academy.Benjamin has received a considerablenumber of prizes and awards, includingthe Purvis Prize for Painting and the

Painter-Stainers' prize, among others.His works have been exhibited at BPPortrait Award exhibitions, the RoyalAcademy, and the RP’s summerexhibition. He is the youngest artist tobe elected to the Royal Society ofPortrait Painters.

Left to right: Dr Alistair Reid, President of the Friends of People’s Portraits, speaksat the reception, the Mistress, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern and the Curator,Ms Frances Gandy, look on.

May Week Concert2007

In 2007, the College’s May WeekConcert took an unusual form. Billed as'Music for a Summer's Evening', theconcert took place outside in the Collegegrounds, on the croquet lawn, instead ofin the Hall. Our thanks to Dr MartinEnnis, the Director of Music, and theCollege musicians involved. We are alsograteful to current student Richard Sands(Engineering 2005), who devised theprogramme, and the sponsors, TaylorVinters Solicitors.

The programme was designed to caterfor most musical tastes, and guestsenjoyed Saint-Saëns's Carnival of theAnimals, Bach's Brandenburg ConcertoNo. 4, extracts from Bizet's Carmen andVerdi's La Traviata, Wood's Fantasia onBritish Sea Songs, and music from theJurassic Park sound-track.

The outdoor setting was only madepossible by the generous sponsorship ofCambridge firm Taylor Vinters Solicitors,see www.taylorvinters.com

John McWilliam, by Benjamin Sullivan RP

NEWSFLASH: A special opportunity has now arisen for the chance to bid

in an auction for a portrait commission by Andrew Festing. Please visit

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni-roll/friends-girton/peoples-portraits-auction-2008

for further information.



Alumni Events

US Alumni Events

After this engagement, the Mistress was

delighted to meet Girtonians in DC at a

reception at the Cosmos Club, hosted by

Professor Angela Stent (1966), a Cosmos

Club member and Director of the Center

for Eurasian,Russian and East European

Studies at Georgetown University. Our

thanks to Professor Stent, and also to

Ms Cynthia Walker (1967), who hosted

a networking lunch in DC last year, and

coordinated efforts on both sides of the

Atlantic with Professor Stent to make

the Cosmos club event run smoothly.

The Mistress spoke to 35 Girtonians

and their guests about College’s

development projects, from the triple-

award winning Duke Building to the

current campaign for the sustainable

funding of teaching, within the

University’s 800th Anniversary campaign.

The Mistress then visited New York, and

we are grateful to HE Karen Pierce

(1978), the Ambassador and Deputy

Permanent representative of HM

Government to the United Nations, for

hosting a wonderful dinner there for

our alumni and supporters, complete

with piano accompaniment. As well as

speaking about recent developments at

college, there was a lively after-dinner

debate on contrasting educational

trends in the USA and the UK.

Furthering our academic links, in the

Lent term this year, US-based Girtonian

Dr Sylvia Hewlett (1964), President of

the Center for Work-Life policy, and

director of the Gender and Policy

Program at Colombia University was

a Visiting Fellow at Girton. While here

she continued her research into

the growth of extreme jobs, a

global phenomenon.

The Stribling Award, which was

established thanks to the generous gift

of Mrs Elizabeth Stribling (Robinson

1966), was awarded to a talented

Girton graduate to enable him to

continue his PhD studies at College.

Thanks to a generous gift from another

Girtonian and Cambridge in America

Board member, Dr Ruth Whaley (1974),

the College has also established the

Ruth Whaley Scholarship from 2008.

The scholarship aims to foster further

understanding and communication

between the USA and the United

Kingdom, by assisting students of merit

holding US citizenship to undertake

studies in an Arts subject at Girton

either as affiliated students or as

graduate students.

We are delighted that we are soon to

launch a new award named after a US

academic, Diane Mary Chase Worzala

(1934 – 2007), and generously

supported by her friends and family.

Diane Worzala used the Girton Archive

extensively for her research into the

Langham Place Group, a 19th Century

early feminist group instrumental in

fighting for women’s working rights.

Diane’s family and friends are

The Mistress with Ms Anne Fosty (1970), in New York

The Mistress of Girton, Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA, was honoured with adedicated panel at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting inWashington DC in December 2007.

The Mistress speaking at the CosmosClub, Washington DC

Dan

Ow

en


Alumni Events


establishing an endowment fund in her

memory so that students wishing to

use the Archive for research can receive

a grant to travel to the UK from the US

or elsewhere to make use of our

collections.

We are currently planning a number of

events for the University’s 800th

Anniversary Campaign in 2009, which is

also the College’s 140th anniversary. The

Mistress, Professor Dame Marilyn

Strathern, will be visiting the USA in

June next year, and we are in the

process of finalising arrangements for

her visit. She will be going to New York

and Boston, and hopes to be able to

host an event in San Francisco as well.

All alumni, including those in the US

are welcome to attend any of the

anniversary events taking place in the

UK if they are making plans to visit. For

more information, please see the back

page of the Newsletter, or go to

www.girton.cam.ac.uk/anniversary

We hope all these initiatives will

contribute to strengthening our

educational and alumni links with the

USA, and we are pleased that we have

been able to reach out to more of our

US alumni and donors in the past year.

Thanks to all our US friends for

their continuing support and interest

in College.

International Alumni Gatherings

Singapore

Ms Susan Palmer (1970) gatheredtogether several alumni in placesphysically far away from Girton and theUK; from a meeting in Dar es Salaam, toa lunch in Sydney, and helped usorganise an alumni event at the RafflesHotel in Singapore. Thanks too to thosewhom the Development Director wasfortunate to meet there, in preparationsfor some events next year; Mrs Lim HweeHua (1978), and the other Girton alumniin Singapore.

Hong Kong

The Development Director and AlumniOfficer also met Girtonian alumnicommunity in Hong Kong. After areception organised by the Friends ofCambridge University in Hong Kong,alumni enjoyed a dinner at theMandarin Oriental Amber restaurant.We intend to organise another alumnievent in Hong Kong in March 2009,with the Mistress, as part of the 800thAnniversary celebrations.

Foreground left: Mr Dominic Chan, of the Friends of Cambridge University inHong Kong. Right, from foreground: Miss Eva Cheng (2003), Mr Jeremy Ford(1979), Dr Emma Cornwall (1999), Mr Daniel Poppleton (1990), Mr Guy Green(1988), Mr Colin Bosher, Mrs Liz Bosher (King 1969).

Singapore: Girtonians at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore




Alumni Interviews

GirtonInterviews

Instead, Rachel took a short-term

contract at the Treasury as an Economic

Assistant: “I thought, if I go into the

Treasury, I’ll find out how things really

work, and that will be grist to the mill

if I go on to do economic journalism.

So I went into the Treasury, and of

course I ended up staying there for a

quarter of a century!” Very few women

went into the Treasury at the time:

“When I started, women at the Treasury

were secretaries. There were one or two

of us doing economics, but we were a

tiny minority. It’s changed a lot now!”

Working as an Economic Advisor

throughout the 1970s, Rachel had to

take unpaid leave to have children – but

she was able to negotiate a part-time

return to work afterwards, which was

most unusual at that time. In 1985, and

back to full-time work, Rachel was asked

to head up the Private Office of the then

Chancellor, Nigel Lawson. “Being

Principal Private Secretary is a job that

needs about 150% of your time, but it’s

fascinating, as you get to see absolutely

everything that goes on!” It was the first

time – and to date, the only time – that

a woman has held this post.

Several further positions at the Treasury

were followed by a spell as a Deputy

Secretary at the Cabinet Office, 1994-

1995. Rachel then took up a position

at the World Bank, where she was

soon asked to be Chief of Staff to

the incoming President, James D.

Wolfensohn. Heading up the President’s

Office, Rachel was able to draw on

her previous experience as Principal

Private Secretary to the Chancellor

of the Exchequer.

Rachel returned to the UK in 1996,

when she became Permanent Secretary

at the Welsh Office. “When I started,

the Welsh Office was mainly concerned

with regional development, but then

in 1997 there was a change of

Government, so I became involved with

the whole devolution process”. Once the

Welsh Assembly had been established,

Rachel moved to the Department for

Social Security in 1999, coincidentally

taking over from another Girtonian,

Dame Ann Bowtell (Kewell, 1957).

During Rachel’s tenure, a major

reorganisation saw both the DSS merge

with the Employment portfolio to

become the Department for Work &

Pensions, and the creation of Jobcentre

Plus from a merger of the Benefits

Agency and the Employment Service.

When asked about the rôle of the

Permanent Secretary, Rachel says: “It’s

changed a lot from the Sir Humphrey-

style civil servant of Yes, Minister, where

he’s very much a chief policy advisor – to

now, when it’s far more managerial

rôle.” In 2002, she moved with her

Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, to

Transport, which had to be extracted

from the then Department for Transport,

Local Government & the Regions. “This

was a bit like my previous job in reverse

– before, I had had to merge several

sections into a new department. This

time I had to extract Transport from John

Prescott’s mega-department, but it was

much simpler than before, as Transport

was only loosely joined to the Regions

and Local Government – in fact it was

still in its own building.”

Rachel was appointed as Deputy

Governor (Monetary Policy) of the Bank

of England in 2003, where she had the

responsibility of putting a proposal to the

Monetary Policy Committee each month.

Rachel Lomax (née Salmon)Matriculated 1963, Honorary Fellow 2004

Rachel came up to Girton in 1963 to read history. Whilst in Cambridge, she discovered an interest in economic

history, and after graduation, this led to her heading to LSE to read for an MSc in economics. After completing

the MSc, Rachel was keen to continue with economics, and she initially thought of going into economic

journalism, but that was not possible at the time.


The way the Committee took the monthly

decision on Interest Rates was such that

Rachel had to put the Bank’s proposal on

the table first, and then everyone else

voted, with the Governor voting last:

“It wasn’t a case of people asking me

‘Did you vote with the Governor?’ but

one of ‘Did you manage to persuade the

Committee to vote with you?’” On the

topic of an independent Bank of England,

Rachel says, “I’m in no doubt that the

process of setting monetary policy is

much better thought through now than

it ever was when I was at the Treasury,

but of course there are a huge number

of things that are well outside the control

of the Monetary Policy Committee – it’s

certainly not all-powerful! ”

Outside economics, Rachel is on the

Board of the Royal National Theatre

and a Governor of De Montfort

University; she is also an Honorary

Fellow of both Girton and LSE. Having

left the Bank of England in July, Rachel

is currently enjoying having some free

time, “More than I’ve had at any time

since before I came up to Girton!”

Samuel Venn


Alumni Interviews

Rachel Lomax (Salmon 1963)

“I thought, if I go into the Treasury, I’ll find

out how things really work, and that will

be grist to the mill if I go on to do

economic journalism... of course I ended

up staying there for a quarter of a

century!”


Sport

College Sports

College is still actively fundraising for the Sports Pavilion building to accompany

the pitches, and so far £350,000 has been raised. However, we still require

another £350,000 to make a start on the building, which will include four

changing rooms, a state-of-the-art (and fully accessible gym), and a social area.

Thanks to the support of alumni and friends of Girton, the

new sports ground is ready to play on from this Michaelmas

term. The rugby and football pitches are now full-size, and are

now aligned so that both sports can be played concurrently.

Sport


Girton staff member takes Duathlon gold!David Peck, a long standing member of

the maintenance department at Girton,

has once again achieved a notable

success in the European Duathlon

Championships for age groups from 20-

24 years up to 75-79 years, winning a

gold for Great Britain.

The event was over a course of 10 km

run, 40 km cycle and a 5km run, around

a motor racing circuit. It took place in

Serres in northern Greece, in 33 degrees

centigrade. David’s finishing time was 2

hours and 56 minutes, and he won a

gold medal in the 75-79 age group. The

GB team, of which he is a member, is

entirely self-funded.

David then repeated this success by

winning gold again, at the World

Duathlon championship which took place

in Rimini at the end of September. This

was an advance from his two silver

medals from Switzerland in 2003 and

Newfoundland in 2006.

David Peck crossing the finishing line at Rimini, and (left) receiving his WorldDuathlon Championship gold.



Sport

Danny Boy on the water for the first time

Girton received generous support for

its Boat Club in the form of a new IV,

thanks in part to a donation from

NanDee Stockler née Sugerman, the

parent of a current student. She named

the new IV ‘Danny Boy’ in memory

of her brother Danny Sugerman, and

we were pleased that Fawn Hall, his

widow, who is based in California,

was able to attend the boat naming in

June this year.

The funds to purchase the IV were also

donated by members of the College’s

alumni Boat Club, the Infidel Boat Club.

The Infidels held their annual dinner in

the Oxford and Cambridge Club last

year, and also competed in the Winter

Head and raced against the current

men’s first VIII in May. New members are

welcome, whether keen to row or just

keen to participate in social events!

GCBC

Mrs NanDee Stockler (left) andMs Fawn Hall (right) with Danny Boy

Girton’s first men in action in May Bumps, in which they moved up three places Owen Patey (2006)Ph

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GCBC would like to thank its sponsor, PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) forits generous support of College rowing.

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Girton p23 NEW.qxp:Layout 1 31/10/08 16:59 Page 1

Thursday 30 October 2008Alumni Formal Hall

Saturday 29 November 2008Alumni rugby and football matches

Saturday 21 Febraury 2009Geographical Society Dinner

Friday 27 February 2009College eventFounders’ Memorial Lecture by ProfessorHenrietta Moore, the new William WyseProfessor of Social Anthropology. She is aformer Director of the Culture andGlobalization Programme at the LondonSchool of Economics.

Thursday 5 March 2009College eventInternational Women’s Day. A seminar inLondon on the topic “Preferential treatment?Gender out of step”, at which Girton’s Visitor,Baroness Hale of Richmond, will be thekeynote speaker.

19-20 March 2009Girton alumni event in SingaporeHosted by the Mistress. Date t.b.c

21-27 March 2009Girton alumni event in Hong KongHosted by the Mistress. Date t.b.c

Saturday 21 March 2009MA Ceremony & Dinner

Friday 3 April 20091994 and 1999 Reunion Dinner

Saturday 25 April 2009Medical Reunion Dinner

Friday 8 May 2009Sports Dinner in LondonAt the Oxford and Cambridge Club

June 2009The Mistress will host Girton alumnievents in New York and BostonDate t.b.c

Saturday 13 June 2009GCBC May Bumps Marquee

Saturday 11 July 2009Roll event: Anniversary Lunch &Garden PartyProfessor Dame Rosalyn Higgins QC willbe the speaker.

Saturday 11 July 2009College eventFirst Anniversary Dinner for the GirtonCampaign.

Friday 17 July 2009College eventSecond Anniversary Dinner for the GirtonCampaign.

Saturday 18 July 2009University Anniversary eventSummer Garden Party for College & UniversityStaff at the Botanic Garden.

Wednesday 22 July 2009University Anniversary eventA major concert of Cambridge musicians andmusic in London. Ticket information isobtainable only through the University.

Saturday 12 September 20091979 ReunionCelebrating the 30th anniversary of theadmission of men as undergraduates.

Saturday 19 September 20091984 and 1989 Reunion Dinner

Saturday 26 SeptemberRoll Weekend & People’s PortraitsReception

Tuesday 3 November 2009College eventAnniversary Celebration Concert atGoldsmiths’ Hall, City of London. To includemusicians from College and the Chapel Choir,and the London Mozart Players.

18-21 November 2009University Anniversary eventWinter Light Finale with the City Council,featuring prominent University and Collegebuildings.

Events Calendar 2008/9 Old GirtoniansHonoursNew Year Honours 29 December 2007

CBE

Dr Margaret Bent (Bassington 1959),

Senior Research Fellow, All Souls

College, Oxford, for services to

Musicology

OBE

Mrs Margaret Gildea (Brierley 1973),

Executive Vice-President, Human

Resources, Rolls Royce, for services

to Business

MBE

Lady Dodds-Parker (Coster 1938),

for services to Young People through

the Fairbridge Society

Mrs Veronica Wootten (Cadbury 1951),

Trustee, Birmingham Royal Institution

for the Blind, and Chair of Governors,

Queen Alexandra College, Birmingham,

for services to Further Education

Queen’s Birthday Honours 14 June 2008

CMG

Mrs Karen Pierce (1978), UK Deputy

Permanent Representative to the

United Nations, New York

OBE

Ms Elizabeth Hogarth (1969), Head of

Women's Policy Team, Criminal Justice

Group, Ministry of Justice

MBE

Mrs Jocelyn Rawlence (Finch 1940), for

voluntary service to the community in

Pulham Market, Norfolk

Girton College Cambridge

Development Office

Girton College FREEPOST ANG6880 Cambridge CB3 0YE

+44 (0)1223 766672/338901 [email protected]

www.girton.cam.ac.uk

For more events information, and updates, please see www.girton.cam.ac.uk/alumni/


Documents

Autumn 2008 Newsletter