the churchill newsletter 2014

ChurchillTheNEWSLETTER 2014

We were delighted to launch our new College website in February and I hope that youwill find time to visit the site, join the alumni online community and explore the newsand events, as well as take the opportunity to get involved in one way or another.www.chu.cam.ac.uk/alumni/login/

I am very pleased to introduce two new members of the team: Alumni Officer, SarahFahle and Development Officer, Tim Bell; both started work in the Alumni & Developmentoffice at the end of January. Hilary embarked on her maternity leave in February and isnow the proud mother of Zachary Stimpson.

We say goodbye to the Master and Lady Wallace in July and wish them well for thefuture and hope that they may continue to be regular visitors to Churchill. We welcomeProfessor Dame Athene Donald as the new Master in September and I hope many ofyou will take the opportunity to attend the Churchill Association Dinner on Saturday27th September to meet her on this occasion.

This edition of The Churchill Newsletter reflects the international nature of ChurchillCollege which is proud to be a truly global community. You will also find this edition hasan international flavour which you can recreate at home with a delicious recipe from ourHead Chef, Mark Slater. Enjoy! And, as always, we welcome your comments.

Finally, I also want to say farewell as I will be stepping down as Development Director atthe end of July. I have had a wonderful eight years at Churchill College at an auspicioustime in its history celebrating its 50th Anniversary. I don’t need to tell you that ChurchillCollege is a remarkable place and it is the students, staff, Fellows and, not least, alumniwho make it so. I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the supportyou’ve given me, not to mention the fun along the way, and I look forward to playing anactive role in the College community and staying in touch with the friends I have madewell into the future.

Sharon MatherDevelopment Director

2 THE CHURCHILL 2014

Welcome!The ContentsPAGE 3Message from the Master

PAGE 4Academic orange-picking

PAGE 5Une entente très cordiale

PAGE 6BIFS in Paris

PAGE 7Global Churchill

PAGE 8Not Your Usual Cup of Tea

PAGE 9Banking on Travel

PAGE 10Broadening Horizons

PAGE 11The Students were Revolting

PAGE 12The International Community

PAGE 13Clash of Culture

PAGE 14A Bridge

PAGE 15Young Scientist Exchange

PAGE 16Beijing or Qingdao?

PAGE 17A Leap of Faith

PAGE 18Freud’s Doppelgänger

PAGE 19Pâté de Volaille

Published byChurchill CollegeEditors: Noelle Caulfield and Sharon Mather Storey’s Way Cambridge CB3 0DS. Tel. 01223 336197; Fax 01223 336177; [email protected]

Design & layout: www.cantellday.co.uk

All texts, photographs and illustrative material, except where acknowledged otherwise, are © Churchill College 2014. We are grateful to contributors for permission to reproduce illustrations and photographs.

3THE CHURCHILL 2014

Message from the Master

My thoughts go first to thank everyonewho makes any association with theCollege so enriching and fulfilling.

Pride of place must go to students. Youare our raison d’être, our renewal and ourfuture. Since I have no responsibilities foreducation or discipline (!), I can say thatinteractions with undergraduates andpostgraduates have always been a delightand at the same time take no credit forjust how well you have been doingacademically. The leadership by the JCRand MCR executives has been exemplary.On the social side, for a Scotsman, tohave the Hall filled with approaching 400students at Burns Supper is a particularpleasure. Music has been great. I haven’tbeen able to enjoy as much student sportas I would have liked, but when I have, ithas typically been to the detriment of myspeaking voice.

Of course it hasn’t always beencompletely plain sailing! Students here in 2007 will recall the dispute over howmuch you should be allowed to drink at formal hall. The Council decision of “two glasses of wine, we served, youpaid” resulted in a boycott of formal hall.Change was needed, but I can just seeolder alumni shaking their heads at ourwisdom. There was one good outcome:Elizabeth and I kick-started the subjectcommon tables to which alumni are alsonow invited. We reviewed the schemesome 12 months after and settled on thehappy compromise of students sharing a bottle they could bring.

The Fellowship at Churchill College wasextraordinary from the beginning, andcontinues so. It engenders an amazingintellectual life, and one we will miss greatly.The various schemes for Visiting andOverseas Fellows bring a wonderful rangeof ideas and experience to the College.

Churchill is blessed with dedicated staffof high quality in all its operations, and it

shows in our financial strength andreputation, including the Archives with its expanding treasures and the MøllerCentre (my proudest decoration is the pin badge of its Queen’s Award forEnterprise) as well as all our operationaldepartments. It is easy for me to say thatbecause I have no direct responsibility fortheir achievements: being Master of aCollege is a contradiction in terms.

Your College is in very good shape, andalumni should take great pride in that, notleast because the College’s reputation isdependent on your own success in life; andreciprocally, the reputation of the College inthe future will redound to your credit.

From its very founding, the strength of your College benefited from thegenerosity and support of friends. Givenpublic funding trends, your support will beeven more important in the future,whether through gifts and legacies orthrough engaging with and promoting theCollege in whatever way you find fulfilling.

To Athene and Matthew, I offer my verybest wishes for every success andenjoyment at Churchill. This is a veryspecial place: as an alumnus onceperceptively remarked “Churchill is notjust a Cambridge College; it is a national,indeed international, institution”.

My final thanks must be to Elizabeth,whose support for me and the Collegehas been unstinting, in the face of all my obsessions.

David WallaceMaster

When you are nearing the end, it’s hard to know where to begin.

ABOVE: Second Row (left to right): JingyiWANG, Jin XU, Cong LIU, Siyi HU Front Row:Jianjun MEI, Elizabeth Wallace, David Wallace,Dun LIU


Considering simple statistics, Cambridge isa really rather small city approximately 80km north of London, with an old, medium-sized university, organised in unusualfashion into further small communities of“colleges” with dining and accommodationfor students and academics alike. Themany traditions (the week starts onThursday, obviously) obscure language(tutors don’t actually teach their tutees,obviously) and often-fevered “politics”(obviously) might suggest an inward-looking collection of architecturallyimpressive ivory tower-dwellers cut off fromthe rest of the world. However, reality couldnot be further from this myth beloved ofthe media. Listen to the voices at lunch, atmorning coffee and at afternoon tea in anyof the departments, research institutes andcolleges of the university and one will hearaccents and intonations from all over theworld, drawn here to push back thefrontiers of human knowledge.

Academic research is of course a globalcollaborative (and competitive) effort, andCambridge with its interlocking networks of departments and colleges has played,and continues to play, a leadinginternational role. In my personalexperience as both a student andacademic, Cambridge supports andencourages an inherently internationalapproach to research. Cambridge bothattracts talented people from all over theworld and gives those people the skills to thrive in diverse environments whenthey leave.

The colleges play a central role in all thisof course. Initially, colleges provide awelcoming “soft landing” for both long andshort term visitors, assisting greatly insmoothing over all the administrativedifficulties of finding housing and settlinginto a foreign country. More importantly,the college community facilitates thedevelopment of networks and contactsacross disciplinary, cultural and nationalboundaries; networks that can lead to newand exciting avenues of research

opportunity. When I was a PhD student inthe ‘80s and ‘90s, I learnt so much fromactually getting to know people from NorthAmerica, from Asia and Australasia, andmy horizons were expanded every day bybeing exposed to different approaches tothe same objective of becoming anexcellent researcher. The skills I learnt as aPhD student have stood me in good steadthroughout my career, a career that hastaken me to research and to teach on fourcontinents, in typical modern academicfashion, following the vagaries of fundingand opportunity, and to publish papers withnationals of 18 different countries.

Now that I am a “senior” member of thecollege, and fortunate enough to besupervising postgraduate students, whoteach this old dog new (and oftenforeign) tricks every day, if anything, theuniversity is even more international. Now,there are brilliant people from all over theworld bringing their skills to Cambridge,with a noticeably increased Europeanpopulation from east and west, north andsouth, and a growing presence fromAfrica and South America. Cambridge

gives me the opportunity to welcome andwork with a steady stream of students,postdoctoral researchers and senioracademics from everywhere andanywhere, and to explore new areas atthe interfaces of traditional disciplines.

I’d really like to write more, but I have tosort out that manuscript with my seniorvisitor from Hangzhou, the project withmy intern from Santiago, and thatresearch proposal I’m writing with apostdoc from Lausanne…

Dr Colm-cille CaulfieldFellow & (G87)

Academic orange-pickingThe international nature of research

Multi-national Summer School, Woods Hole, MA 12 nationalities (and 6 Cambridge alumni!)

5THE CHURCHILL 2014

Une entente très cordiale

The French Government Fellowshipscheme was established 40 years ago.The brainchild of the College’s firstMaster, Sir John Cockcroft, it was createdthrough an initial donation of 100,000Francs from the French Government. The scheme flourished over the years assupport for the Fellowship increased onboth sides. In a letter to the College’ssecond Master, Sir William Hawthorne,the French Ambassador at the time, M. de Beaumarchais, defined Frenchsupport in the following terms: “Le but decette donation est de favoriser lesséjours de chercheurs scientifiques etlittéraires français au sein de l’Universitéde Cambridge, tout en leur permettant debénéficier de l’environnementpluridisciplinaire que procure le cadre duCollège”. Recalling this original intentionduring the celebration of the 30thanniversary of the Fellowship in 2004,the College’s fifth Master, Sir John Boyd,declared that it would be hard to improveon that summary.

Looking through the publication that wasproduced for the 30th anniversary, it isgratifying to note the views of the Frenchacademics who had been the recipients of this prestigious Fellowship. ProfessorClaude Bergman, (FGF 1976/77) recalledthat it was “L’un des plus heureuxmoments de ma vie”, Dr Jean-MarieDubois (FGF 1982/83) thought it was“the most fantastic” year of his life as aresearcher, and Professor Jean-ClaudeGaley (FGF 1988/89) felt that itrepresented a turning point in his career.Reflecting on her time as a FrenchGovernment Fellow, Dr Lyliane Rosetta(FGF 1993/96) thought that theFellowship was a support for collaborativeresearch and an opportunity to set upinternational programmes. In 2004 shesaid “I sincerely wish that the FrenchFellowship will still be supported for manyyears to allow French scientists to benefitfrom this rare experience which evidentlycontributes to improve scientificcollaboration between British and Frenchscientists.” Dr Yannick Champion (FGF1999/2001) similarly saw his time as apoint de départ for reflecting upon and

evaluating his work and Dr FrédéricThibault-Starzyk (FGF 2003/04) said that“the interdisciplinary atmosphere ofChurchill College is the ideal setting …Thecuriosity and the openness of spirit whichexists (at Churchill) allows a permanentexchange of ideas … I have been able tothink more deeply about the organisationof research and of universities, living withina College system, and having informaldiscussions at High Table with academicsfrom all over the world”.

That the Fellowship continues to thrivetoday is self-evident in that, thanks to thesupport and interest of the currentCounsellor for Science & Technology at theFrench Embassy, M. Cyrille van Effenterre,we are able to welcome an unprecedentedfour new French Government Fellows toChurchill during 2014. They are Dr DanielaDragomirescu from the Institut Nationaldes Sciences Appliquées, Université deToulouse, Dr Sofiane Guessasma, from theInstitut National de la RechercheAgronomique, Nantes, Dr Eric Parent fromAgroParisTech, Ministère de l'Agriculture,de l’Alimentation, de la Pêche et desAffaires Rurales, Paris, and ProfessorJean-Christophe Thalabard, Professeur desUniversités Biostatistiques - InformationMédicale, Université Paris Descartes.

On 20 July 2014 the College will becelebrating the 40th anniversary of theFrench Government Fellowship atChurchill College. Current and formerFrench Government Fellows will be invitedto join the celebrations along with theFellowship and in particular those Fellowswho have worked closely with FrenchGovernment Fellows over the years. An allday event is being planned culminating ina formal celebration dinner hosted by theMaster and the French Ambassador, M.Bernard Emié. French Government Fellowsare being asked to contribute a 15 minutetalk on their research work during theirtime at Churchill and a publication tosupport the event is being planned.

Vive l’entente (très) cordiale!

Paula HalsonRegistrar

Anny KingFellow

BELOW: French Government Fellows, 30th Anniversary 21 June 2004


Sunday 19th January was a bright clearday in the City of Light as a group ofChurchillian BIFS assembled outside theSir Winston Pub, one of the oldestEnglish-style pubs situated near the Arcde Triomphe, having already enjoyedbrunch with Sir David and Lady Wallace.Such was the weather that a promenadedown the Champs Elysée was in order, thedestination for afternoon tea being theCercle de l’Union interalliée, established in1917 as a place of welcome providingmoral and material resources to theofficers and personalities of the Alliednations, in order to develop the united lifethat had just begun and today, offeringreciprocal membership with the Oxfordand Cambridge Club in Pall Mall.

Life cannot get much better than this …but it did.

On the following Tuesday, 15 Churchillians,including the Master and Lady Elizabeth,attended the annual dinner of theCambridge Society of Paris, held in theMaison des Polytechniciens, the clubhouseof the prestigious Grande École, ‘X’. Theguest speaker was none other than ourvery own Vice-Chancellor, “Boris”, who wasen route to Davos to beat the Cambridge

drum. At the dinner, he spoke, withoutnotes, of his role as V-C, of the University’saspirations and responsibility in the fastchanging world of academia and lessonsthan can be learned from our peers. Thehwyl that emanated from his Welshupbringing, imparted to the audience hisevident energy, enthusiasm and sincerity.

He also chose to mention the WestCambridge Development. Some of theolder alumni will smile when theyremember the once-named and, at thetime, remote ‘Madingley Road Tech.’ (akaChurchill College) which will now find itselfnot only high on the list of Universityachievers but in the centre of thephysically new Cambridge. Don’t seek thecentre but let the centre come to you!

In the same week, the École nationaled'administration, (ENA), from which ahuge percentage of French politiciansand CEOs are chosen, announced that itwould dedicate its academic year2014/15 to Sir Winston Churchill. This isa great honour as very few years havebeen dedicated to a non-French national.All-in-all, a very good week for ChurchillCollege and perhaps a wake-up call for

those College alumni living in Belgium,Italy, France and Switzerland to join theBIFS. Membership is free, there are noobligations but the opportunities thathave been – and can be – created bypooling our contacts and opening doors,will surely increase each member’snetwork many times over.

How to join? – simply [email protected], and,hey presto, your name will be on themailing list.

Bob Bell (U65)

BIFS in Paris with the Master

Members of the Belgium, Italy, France and Switzerland (BIFS) alumni group gather in Paris, Francewith the Master of the College, Sir David Wallace, in January 2014

www.chu.cam.ac.uk/alumni/get-involved/alumni-groups/

The Churchill College Group of Australia and New [email protected]

The Churchill [email protected](Belgium, Italy, France and Switzerland)

The National Group of [email protected]

The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Torontowww.linkedin.com/company/oxford-and-cambridge-society-of-toronto



The Regional Group of Hong [email protected]


The Churchill Regional Group of NewYork, New Jersey and [email protected]

Churchill College InternationalAlumni Groups

I lived in Durham, UK for 10 years and hada hard time accepting the move away fromthe Northeast. After all, a perfect start tothe day is to gaze upon Durham Cathedral.Yet, I was surprised how quickly Iembraced the city of Cambridge and, morespecifically, Churchill College. The people,scenery and architecture won me over andI now feel very much at home.

Hopefully you too embraced Cambridgeand Churchill during your studies andwould welcome the opportunity to return.Although, we recognise this isn’t alwayspossible. We are thus delighted to haveinternational alumni groups that are a truetestament to the enthusiasm of ouralumni. For us, these groups are essential,as they enable us to make the best use ofour resources by supporting activitiescreated and led by our alumni. The realpurpose of these groups, however, is toenable Churchillians around the world tomeet, share ideas, have fun andstrengthen their relationships with eachother and the College.

We have groups located on most continentsand they are in different stages of theirdevelopment. Some are still gauginginterest from individuals in their region whileothers are planning and hosting events.There have been alumni gatherings inBrazil, Singapore, Sydney and New Yorkand the Master has hosted events in HongKong, China and France, in conjunction withvisits to those countries. The Oxford andCambridge Society of Toronto verysuccessfully utilises social media in order tonetwork, plan social events and fundraisefor talented Canadian students.

Bob Bell (UG65) is the leader of theBelgium, Italy, France and Switzerland(BIFS) group which boasts 25 activeindividuals (and counting). BIFS has stagedevents in Paris host a third event inBrussels in May 2014. He says: “As aChurchillian of no matter what matriculationyear, we have all spent time in the samelibrary, dining hall, common room, refectoryand possibly rooms as our peers andpredecessors. After congregations, the

friendships and experiences of three yearsin Storey’s Way start to fade and so doesthe potential benefit of networking with ourChurchill colleagues. Events organised byalumni groups are unique, being arrangedby alumni who hold keys that open doorsnot accessible to ordinary mortals. It costsnothing to join the mailing list and, whoknows, it might just open that door onwhich you have been knocking to no avail?”

I encourage you to contact one of themany alumni groups below or email me if you are interested in starting your owngroup. The College’s Alumni Office canfacilitate contacting alumni in your regionon your behalf and are always availablefor support. We will also notify groupleaders about Churchill College andCambridge University events occurring inyour region. Alumni groups are led byyou, for you, and thus can be anythingyou want them to be.

Sarah FahleAlumni Officer

Global Churchill

Social Media and our online communitiesare a perfect example of just how globalChurchill really is. Our audience is madeup of alumni, current members, archivesvisitors, prospective students, friends and followers. This variety, spread acrossthe globe, gives us a wonderfully widespectrum of news and features to shareonline. The Churchill community isoutward looking, not bound by tradition,and enthusiastic: we try to keep thesevalues at the heart of all our Social Mediacontent. We want to bring a little bit ofChurchill into the daily lives of our alumni,wherever they may be.

Here at Churchill we love Social Media,we want to have fun with it, be differentand to try new things. We do this byfeaturing nostalgic photos from alumni onFacebook for #ThrowbackThursdays,getting current students to sharesnapshots from their daily lives onInstagram, broadcasting lectures live onTwitter, featuring postgraduates’ researchon Pinterest, or exploring the relationship

between Art and Science on Tumblr. Wehope to communicate just how manyexciting things are happening at Churchilland we strive to make it accessible to all.Recently we have joined the Chinesesocial network, Weibo, with the help ofthe China Alumni Group Vice-President,Helen Ding, so that we can engageChurchillians in China, who may not haveaccess to our other networks.

We are always looking for new ideas and features, so we would love to hearfrom you.

Come and find us on:

Facebookwww.facebook.com/ChurchillCollegeCambridge

Twittertwitter.com/churchillcol

LinkedInwww.linkedin.com/company/churchill-college

Pinterestwww.pinterest.com/churchillcol

Google+plus.google.com/+churchillcollege

Instagraminstagram.com/churchillcol

Tumblrartsciencechurchill.tumblr.com

YouTubeplus.google.com/+churchillcollege/videos

Vinevine.co/u/946462126501937152

Weibowww.weibo.com/u/3974905200

A GLOBAL ONLINE COMMUNITY

7THE CHURCHILL 2014


Not your usual cup of teaThe first thing that strikes you – it sounds preposterous, I know – is justhow high the Himalayas are.

I have been a keen, but not veryproficient, climber since my days with theChurchill College Mountaineering Club. Inthe years since, we have been benightedon alpine ridges, chased off Cambridgerooftops and (the only time I wasresponsible for getting Churchill in thenational news) stretchered off Scottishcliff faces. We still climb – a group of us,all alumni, have just returned from an iceclimbing trip; the only difference todaybeing that such expeditions requirechildcare arrangements.

And yet, despite all this experience, thesewere still very different peaks. Here Iwas, flying in for the start of a month

reporting for The Times on the 60thanniversary of the ascent of Everest, andthere was more mountain above me thanbelow. Along our little aeroplane’s entireroute, as it bounced over ridges andpasses before plummeting to land on anangled runway facing into the slope, wenever reached the snowline.

I had anticipated many things aboutreporting from Everest, but I had notanticipated my awe at the mountain itself. It was perhaps understandable.

Sixty years on and, somehow, the Evereststory had changed. Over time, themajesty of its summit had been obscuredby the darker clouds of politics andcommercialism. By the time I approachedbase camp I had covered minorcontroversies about ladders on the HillaryStep, major controversies about near-homicidal fights below the Hillary Step,and the perpetual controversies ofovercrowding and littering of the world’shighest mountain.

In the weeks since landing there hadbeen professional successes: I hadreached 5,000m not only without gettingpulmonary oedema but also (moreimportantly so far as the news desk wasconcerned) in a fit state to file a story; a fellow traveller had taken a picture of a cloud-free Everest that would workfor the front page; I had managed to eke enough battery power out of thesatphone to be able to send them both;and I had tracked down a Sherpa fromthe 1963 expedition, the last livingmember of the high altitude team.

There had been the less successful bits: I had a hacking cough; I had run out ofImodium; a clean pair of pants was adistant memory. Oh, and when I foundKanza Sherpa, the last living survivor fromthe expedition, my dream interviewee, hewas living in a monastery and had takena vow of silence.

But all along the way, with the exceptionof that flight in, I had neither seen, norwritten about, the actual reason I washere - the formidable 8,848m tower ofsnow, ice and rock that, for 150 years,had held the imagination of the world'sclimbers. There had been too manyclouds, and too many stories of litter andovercrowding.

Then, one evening, I was sitting over a cup of tea cursing my satphone –a device with all the technologicalsophistication of a Packard Bell computercirca 1995 – and also cursing the fact Iwas having another bloody cup of tea. On climbing trips I am used to real ale,not this drink whose ubiquity here wasonly matched by its blandness.

I was feeling – there really is no otherword – grumpy. Then, coming out of thetea house, all that suddenly changed.Because the clouds had dropped.Outside, in the evening light, the firststars were visible. Beside me, the miststill hung in the rhododendron forestsand beyond, pink in the last of the sun,there it was: at last.

Seemingly floating on a bed of clouds,guarding the head of the valley, wasEverest. It was spectacular. It was reallyrather high. And, I wasn’t grumpy anymore.

Tom Whipple (U00)

9THE CHURCHILL 2014

But I wasn’t sent down (perhaps DavidNewbery, my DoS, had a generous wordwith my tutor), so what was I to do ongraduating in 1969? I chose bankingsimply for the reasons that it offered moreholiday (three weeks a year instead of two)and, above all, it offered me travel – incomfort and at somebody else’s expense! Iremember asking whether one received anannual bonus and my boss sternly lecturingme that; “Banks do not pay bonuses asthat encourages bad behaviour”;unfortunately times have changed.....

In the first five years I lived in New York,Paris, and had stays in Beirut, variouscountries in the Gulf, Jordan (during the1970 civil war), Ethiopia, Kenya andUganda - I ran out of pages for visas in mypassport! In 1975 I was appointed as thechief executive of a bank in the Congowhich was operating out of Kinshasa. At27 years of age I didn’t really know muchabout banking – airplane tickets hadbecome my forte – and I had been warnednot to repeat the mistake of a colleaguerunning the bank in Somalia, who hadincurred a large bad debt in lending to acamel-breeder: when checking thesupposed stock of around 200 camels, hefailed to notice that actually they were thesame five camels that had been paradedin front of him 40 times. Manyextraordinary things happened in the threeyears I spent in the rather lawless Congobut thankfully no bad camel loans. I didhowever unearth a small fraud which hadbeen kept hidden through the bank clerkeating the debit and credit vouchers.

After the Congo, I was sent to run a bankin Greece. I encountered forceful unions –I learnt Greek and learnt very quickly that“apergia” meant strike. I endured militantlypicketed branches of the bank, and many

interminable 36-hour union negotiations.Following the two years in Greece, camethree in Cyprus. We had strikes there too,and an incident when, being on strike wewere unable to operate the bank branchesin the British military bases. In order thatthe British troops could get their pay, I hada cheque for cash (a few million pounds),prepared on my bank’s account with theCentral Bank, which I gave to the Britishcommander. Given the amount of cash, forsecurity reasons he organised acombination of helicopters and armouredcars to collect the cash at the CentralBank. Unfortunately the Governor, whom Ihad failed to notify, seeing helicopters,armoured cars and troops “invading” theCentral Bank, phoned the President ofCyprus to inform him that a coup wastaking place, consequently I had to go onbended knee to apologise to the Presidentthe following day.

I spent two wonderful years based inHong Kong responsible for all the bankbranches and subsidiaries in the PacificBasin, which meant travelling all over theFar East, and three years based inMelbourne in charge of ANZ Bank’scorporate lending. The gipsy life endedeventually, and for the last twenty yearsI’ve been living and working in London.

So what have been the most memorableevents in international banking? I willrelate two:

In the mid-1980s, as the RegionalDirector responsible for the Middle East, Iinsisted on a meeting with a large baddebt customer (who was nonetheless verywealthy) of the Peshawar branch in NorthPakistan. We met outside his ruinedtextile mill in desolate countryside. As Iand my colleague got out of our car, the

bodyguards of this local warlord raisedtheir AK-47 machine guns, and each firedvery noisily a magazine-load of bullets justinches above our heads. My colleague, anex-lawyer, noticing my trembling said tome: “Don’t worry, whatever we agree towon’t be legally enforceable as thisconstitutes negotiation under duress.”

In the 1990s, while visiting Chad, I wasinvited to a lunch with the Finance Ministerand with the Central Bank Governor. Thiswas in a formal, but delightful, restauranton the banks of the River Niger and we satoutside under the shade of some palmtrees but somewhat disconcertingly, behindeach of our chairs stood a uniformedwaiter with a large wooden baton. I soondiscovered why: when the food arrivedtroupes of monkeys descended from thetrees to try to steal our meal – the batonswere used to fend them off so that wecould eat comparatively peacefully!

Forty-five years after graduating fromChurchill, I Chair a couple of companiesand a charity and it was a great pleasureand honour for me when the Master askedme to become a member of the CollegeFinance Committee. But sometimes I missthe ‘rumble in the jungle’ that is Africa.

Tim Ingram (U66)

LIFE AFTER CHURCHILL COLLEGE

Banking on travel

I nearly didn’t make the three years at Churchill College after my tutor, David Barrass,discovered that I was the perpetrator of the hoax medical test when 171 students dutifullyleft a variety of receptacles on the floor outside the College Nurse’s office filled with “noless than 150ml” of their urine. Interestingly one of the samples had been adulterated withblue ink, presumably in an attempt to indicate the owner’s Royal lineage.

I have particular reason to appreciate this.My most enduring international connectionis Georgia Duckworth (also UG1972). Wegot together in our second year, and Iimagine we may be one of the first all-Churchill couples. Georgia says she is halfEnglish and two thirds Brazilian, and Ibelieve her. For the last five years we havelived across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, inthe house she grew up in, although wehave moved back to the UK this year.

We moved to Brazil after working in theUK public service for over 30 years,Georgia in the NHS and I in the NationalAudit Office. Whilst I was looking for workas an international consultant, theInternational Monetary Fund invited me tojoin their roster of international experts. Myfield is called “Public Financial

Management”, which spans all the activitiesand disciplines you would associate with aMinistry of Finance and the managementof public money. Since then I haveundertaken over a dozen missions inMozambique, Malaysia, Barbados, St Lucia,Antigua, the Philippines and Nepal. I alsohad to turn down others because of diaryconflicts – you don’t get much notice ofthese missions, and sadly it’s either feast orfamine. Since the start of the year, I havehad to turn down missions in Argentina,Portugal and Zimbabwe – a great pity,since those three countries presentparticular challenges. I’ve been involved inreviewing major IT systems for publicfinances; advising on future developmentassistance; helping governments producetheir accounts more in line withinternational accounting and statistical

standards; reviewing progress towardsfiscal transparency; and improving internalcontrol in sub-national government.

In developed and developing nations, thesereforms are vital steps on the road togreater control and transparency in publicfinances, the better use of limited publicresources, and the fight against corruption.Planning, budgeting, treasury management,internal and external audit, and accounting;all these might appear dry, and certainlyunglamorous. But they are nonethelessvital to the functioning of government andto nation building. Recent IMF analysissuggests that the current worldwideeconomic crisis was in part caused by laxpublic financial management, hiding thetrue scale of government indebtedness. Forsure, the crisis has heightened attention tothe matters.

The work also reveals another side to theIMF. Most people have in mind the Fund’srole as international financial policeman,keeping nations on the economic straightand narrow, and forcing painful solutions oncountries that fall from grace. But the workI do is part of the Fund’s parallel role inproviding assistance – in “diagnostic”missions to help identify problems, orproviding technical expertise to helpresolve them. The work is certainlyinteresting, often challenging, andsometimes frustrating. It requires flexibilityand diplomacy, to steer a path through thecapacity constraints or institutionalresistance that may inhibit progress. Andsolutions need to be tailored to differentadministrative and legal traditions. Butperhaps the best aspect, from a personalperspective, is that I continue to learnsomething on every mission, and broadenmy horizons; and that can’t be a bad thing.

Joe Cavanagh (U72)


Broadening horizons

One of the great benefits that University can bring is to broaden your horizons, throughthe coming together of people from different backgrounds and countries, both in a formalteaching environment but also as part of College social life.


The Garden House protest in 1970against links with the Greek military juntahit national headlines, together with itsfall-out in the courts, and later campaignsfor exam reform, student representationand recognition of the recently-formedCambridge Students Union (CSU) led tosit-ins at the Old Schools. I became oneof the faces of this ferment, chairing themain Old Schools sit-in and being electedas CSU Deputy President in 1972, theunion's first sabbatical officer to befinanced by the University.

Heady days, indeed, in which for meactivism mixed not just with study, but withtheatre (the Gods, the CambridgeUniversity Players each summer at theMinack Theatre in Cornwall, the EdinburghFestival Fringe), production work at theweekly Shilling Paper and the CambridgeReview and even, briefly, rowing. Doesanyone else remember the 'aesthetes'boat' in which we brave few of thecollege's minority of arts students (English,in my case) took a feeble and short-livedstand against the 'hearty' majority?

All proof – though to the Universityauthorities then it might have seemed inpoor taste to say so – of the truth that therichness of Cambridge lies in its extra-curricular as much as in its academicactivities. So it certainly turned out in mylife, where the mix continued. In London,after a year's teaching at a West Londoncomprehensive, I found myself working foran exiled Chilean theatre group as actor,translator and improvised audiovisual andsound technician, touring in the UK,Ireland and Europe. I translated books, andfilm soundtracks at the National FilmTheatre, hunched over a Moviola in theSouth Bank basement before readingthem for simultaneous translation atperformances; wrote about Latin American

cinema and organised retrospectives forthe NFT and festivals; and taught adulteducation classes at the superb City Lit inHolborn. No rowing, though.

Eventually I became Latin Americanresearcher at Index on Censorship, themagazine founded in 1972 to defendfreedom of expression in the Soviet bloc,but which was deepening its coverage ofcultural repression elsewhere. Harrowingand elating work – and never more sothan when visiting the countries involved,whether documenting death-squadattacks on academics in Guatemala orthe resurgent opposition press in Chile.

In 1982, I returned to Latin America towork on a documentary series about theregion’s cinema for the soon-to-be-openedChannel 4 TV, and a year later moved toChile – permanently, as it turned out – assouthern Latin America correspondent forthe Guardian, reporting also for the BBC,the Washington Post and others. For 11years, I reported the demise of the region'smilitary dictatorships and stories such as

the Sendero Luminoso guerrillas in Peruand the effects of cocaine trafficking inBolivia. Then, I took a post as pressconsultant for the United Nations’ regionaleconomic commission in Santiago, beforereturning to freelance writing.

Recently, I returned to Churchill for thefirst time - as you do, even if after manyyears on the other side of the world.There was much to bring back those rich,fervent years, but nothing moved memore than the Room dedicated to DickTizard, the greatest of Senior Tutors.Long ago, when I and other CSUnegotiators were sitting in (again) at theOld Schools, in protest at being refused ameeting, Dick arrived to tell me that if Ididn’t desist, I would be sent downforthwith. But the thunder in his face wasnot against me but at the message hehad been obliged to deliver. We diddesist, I should say, and now the memoryof that fine man comes back again asclear as ever.

Malcolm Coad (U69)

11THE CHURCHILL 2014


The students were revolting

The years that I spent at Churchill, 1969-74, must count as among the most turbulent inthe University's history. The worldwide 'student revolt' of the late 1960s had just madelandfall there, turning Cambridge into one of its least likely focuses.

…and they are still revolting (30 November 2010)


Every year I meet around 140 incrediblybright new Advanced Students who areentering a very exciting stage of theirlives. Just fewer than 80% of thesestudents are from outside the UK. Formany, coming to Cambridge may even betheir first time to Europe. They arrive witha mixture of nerves and anticipation. I amin awe of these students who are faraway from home, immersing themselvesin a different culture and often getting togrips with a new language. All this inaddition to studying for a Cambridgeadvanced degree.

The differences with which overseasstudents are faced can sometimes beobstacles to settling in, so I am alwaysthrilled to see these students makingfriends with their fellow MCR membersand learning to love life at Churchill. As aresult, Churchill has become a vibrant anddiverse community of students from allaround the world (63 different countriesat the current count!), from a variety ofbackgrounds and studying across a rangeof departments and faculties.

At Churchill we are lucky enough to have40 accommodation units to housestudents who travel to Cambridge withtheir partners and families. What a joy itis to see children from all over the worldcoming together to play in the WolfsonFlats’ garden and benefit from all thatliving at Churchill can offer. I have beenable to observe children forgingfriendships, learning English, growing upand making memories that may last alifetime.

It is my job to welcome new students totheir new home and make sure theysettle in as smoothly as possible. My roleis to support them during their transitionand for the time they are studying withus; whether it be assisting them withadministrative affairs and the complicatedand frustrating world of visas, or simplyoffering an ear or shoulder when needed.What perhaps they don’t realise is that, inreturn, I am learning from them andenjoying the opportunity of meeting such

wonderful and interesting individuals.When students drop by the office,sometimes just to say hello, my day ismade.

Often my relationship with themcontinues long after they have leftChurchill. Although it saddens me to seestudents finishing their studies with us, Iam excited by the opportunities that lay

before them. And off they fly againaround the world to begin interesting andimportant careers. It is always lovely toreceive an email or postcard from analumnus. Such gestures show me thatChurchill is still in their thoughts just asthey are in ours.

Rebecca SawalmehGraduate Student Administrator

I have the best job in College. No question.

The International Community at Churchill

The Southern African Bursary Fund wasinitially set up by a group of Churchillstudents and Fellows in 1969 to assistSothern Africans of non-European origin tocome to Cambridge, with funds beingraised from students and Fellows alike.This continues today with current Churchillstudents continuing to support this scheme

generously. Since 1981 it has been a jointscheme with Sidney Sussex, with therecipient alternating between the twocolleges. The first holder of the SouthernAfrican Bursary was Njabulu Ndebele, thenan affiliated student studying English andnow Professor Ndebele and an HonoraryFellow of the College since 2007.

Southern African Bursary Fund

Sangjin Lee from Korea and Raghabendra Kc from Nepal with Rebecca

3THE CHURCHILL 2014 13

Anxiety kicks in, it’s October and I haveyet to receive my admission letter fromCambridge. What’s going on? Finally, it’shere and I’m elated. I have beenaccepted, which means I cut it; take that,all you doom-sayers. Now for theexcitement of booking flights andpacking for my one-year excursion to theUK (which ended up being four years).My wife would have preferred that I stayin South Africa for a few more days tohelp with the impending move down tothe coast for her and the twins while I amin Cambridge, but alas, I can’t deal withthat now dear. I’m off to join the ranks ofthe ‘Greats’: Darwin, Newton, Crick, CPSnow and Hawking.

Though the visa application processshould have taken more than threeweeks there was however a provisionthat I could apply for it in Croydon whileat the University. Little did I know that therules changed after the Londonbombings and so, when I arrived atHeathrow and admitted that I know Irequire a Visa but that I would get it fromCroydon, I was promptly put back on aflight to Johannesburg. Much to my wife’sdelight, because now I could assist withthe family move while I waited for theBritish consulate to sort out my visa.

When I had a closer look at thecorrespondence from Cambridge Ilearned that I was accepted by ChurchillCollege and that a small part of myscholarship was to be paid by theSouthern African Bursary Fund while thelarger component was from the CCT.

As a Mandela/Smuts Scholar I settled inat Whittingehame Lodge in Storey’s Way,where Crick lived for some of his time atCambridge – fitting I thought.

I learned later that the Southern AfricanBursary was established in the 1970’sthrough a joint venture between ChurchillCollege and Sidney Sussex for the solepurpose of giving Black (historicallydisadvantaged) youth from SouthernAfrica and ‘Apartheid’ South Africa in

particular an opportunity to have accessto a good quality Cambridge education.The first recipient it turns out was alsoone of my referees and my mentor formany years, Professor Njabulo Ndebele.Imagine my surprise and delight to befollowing in his footsteps.

Then of course there is Churchill College,built in the mid-14th century, NOT. Let’s behonest, every prospective student toCambridge for all manner of reasons wantsto be associated with one of the oldercolleges, so image my disappointmentwhen I was told I’m going to ChurchillCollege at the far end of the university… Itturns out to have been the best years ofmy life. Spacious rooms, proper heating, aswell as massive grounds for the family; thekids loved it and the time and effort boththe MCR and College staff put in toaccommodating families and their childrendid not go unnoticed. Easter egg hunts,presents over the festive season,Halloween and much more. The black tiedinners and the copious amounts of red,white, claret and port was a cultural shockon its own. Talk about “in vino veritas”, theyreally tried very hard to get you to dropyour guard and spill the truth.

Being MCR President brought its owndynamics to the fore at the College. Youare not just an MCR representative onCollege Council but in fact a full memberof the Council and have unfetteredaccess to the business of a CambridgeCollege and as such share and take fullresponsibility for its challenges too.

My four years at Churchill College willforever leave an indomitable print in mymind; my kids still today speak fondly oftheir time there, be it amongst the yellowdaisies or the white snow. My wifeconstantly reminds me and thanks me forinsisting she too complete a secondMaster’s degree, matriculating with me atChurchill College, naturally. We are, andremain forever, indebted to such a fineCollege. And in the short 50 years that ithas been around, it has already provenitself to stand tall amongst its forbearersat the University. All one can say inconclusion is keep going “FORWARD”.

God bless.

Dr Oscar van Heerden (G06)

My “Clash of cultures” experiencewhile in Cambridge


A Bridge

A bridge is several things: a structure thatsupports, a platform for reflection and aconnection between worlds. Cambridge isall of these for me. As an MPhil student Idevelop my knowledge and research skillswithin the foundation of the GeneticsDepartment; I rediscover my potentialevery day through my involvement inChurchill College; I interact with peoplefrom all over the world and can exploreother cities in the UK.

As a large research institution, Cambridgeprovides a specialized approach to trainingstudents in various fields. Whereas myexperience as an undergraduate wasmodule-based, my research in Cambridgeteaches me to seek solutions through acombination of independent thought,alacrity and effective communication. Oftenthe simplest way for me to figure out anew protocol is to chat with an expert overtea. In addition, weekly talks, seminars andmeetings supplement my knowledge.

Conferences are also a good way toconnect with different scientificcommunities. Recently my departmentheld the annual conference on‘Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics’.

Afterwards I had the honour to chat withone of the speakers at the Brew House,a popular pub among students. At thebeginning of March, I attended ‘BuildingBridges in Medical Science’, aconference at Robinson Collegeorganized by graduate students fromvarious departments. One of the guestspeakers was Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who won the Nobel Prize forher discovery of HIV.

In addition to large events like conferences,the college system in Cambridge providesseveral other intellectual and socialopportunities. Churchill College is a great fitfor me as a graduate student in science.Formal dinners are a fabulous way to learnabout the work of brilliant scholars includingJohn Gurdon, recent winner of the NobelPrize for his work on stem cells. As amember of the MCR committee, I haveorganized parties, bartended, presented anacademic seminar, and given a Burns Nighttoast. I also joined the Spring Ballcommittee, which resulted in a crash coursein event planning. Lastly, I have explored thearts by performing violin with a folk band,recording with an orchestra, and salsadancing at various venues.

Apart from life as a student, I have enjoyedseveral pleasantries while exploring theUK: punting on the River Cam, cycling toGrantchester on a sunny afternoon, touringChartwell, battling the breezes of Brightonand visiting London’s museums, parks andlandmarks. Cambridge is by far the mostcosmopolitan small town I have lived in,with cuisines from all over. For example, Ihave bought a baguette from a Braziliancafé and coffee from a German café in thesame afternoon. I can also enjoy Indianrestaurants, the famous “kabob truck” andstop by a pub now and then.

In conclusion, Cambridge has the smalltown feel of my home institution, but witha much larger student body andextensive research facilities. In addition tostudent housing, the colleges give socialand academic support both within one’sown college and through “swaps” withothers. Culturally, Cambridge is a slice ofBritish culture while featuring a buffetfrom all over the world. I was keen onbuilding bridges back home, and I foundit was possible to continue doing sowhen I came to Cambridge.

Susan Ok (G13)


Dr Anson Ma, who earned his PhD from

Churchill College in 2009, recently

participated in a US-Japan Young

Scientist Exchange Program. The

program was sponsored by the US

National Science Foundation (NSF) and

the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,

Science, and Technology in Japan

(MEXT). During his five-day visit, he

visited top Japanese universities and

research centres, where he presented his

research on nanofluids as well as inkjet

and 3-D printing.

“The visit to Japan was very intense and

intellectually stimulating – we had day-

long workshops, toured laboratories, and

discussed avenues for collaboration. It

also brought back some fond memories -

reminding me of the Japanese class that

I took and the wonderful time that I spent

with my Japanese friends while I was at

Churchill College.” says Ma.

Dr Ma started as an Assistant Professor

at the University of Connecticut in 2011.

After completing his PhD in 2009, he

spent two years at Rice University (USA)

for his postdoctoral training. He has

received a number of accolades,

including an NSF CAREER award, a

Distinguished Young Rheologist award by

TA Instruments, and a J. Evans Attwell-

Welch fellowship.

For full story, please visit:

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2014/01/yo

ung-scientist-exchange-takes-uconn-

researcher-to-japan/

Young Scientist Exchange

The Boston ivy on the wall of the Churchill

squash court puts forth new leaves again.

Every year when I observe the colour of

those leaves, from red to red, I know

another year comes to a close and my

sorrow at leaving the campus grows.

Choosing Churchill College seems like

my destiny. When I was a small girl, I read

an article about Winston Churchill and his

saying: if something doesn't work at first,

you must try, try again, which greatly

encouraged me in my life. Coincidently, I

found that we share the same birthday,

30th November. I imagined, unreasonably,

that I may have some commonality with

this great former UK Prime Minister, such

as ‘conservation of energy’ - never stand

up when you can sit down. However, this

irrational thinking led to one of the most

successful choices in my life.

Living at Churchill is splendid. With the

largest college grounds in Cambridge, you

may always feel the peace and harmony

brought by well-planned facilities and the

delicate gardening. Whenever you are

upset with your research, you can find a

place to relax. No matter whether you are

talking at the college bar, playing piano at

the music centre, participating in the

college communities, or even just walking

on the college grounds with wild rabbits

and squirrels, you notice your

disappointment fade away.

Studying at Cambridge is difficult, as you

have to compete with the genius students

from all over the world. Fortunately, you

may always find an appropriate training

programme for enhancing yourself, such as

a language class, report-writing class and

entrepreneur training workshop. The

libraries provide you with millions of books

and countless on-line materials for

acquiring the knowledge and securing a

solid foundation for brilliant research. The

peaceful environment offers the students

enough space and time to think of the

nature of their research.

At Cambridge, I have experienced some

significant changes to myself: The doctoral

program improves my research capabilities

with systematic thinking and approaches.

The diversified student activities enhance

my communication skills with international

people, all colouring the campus life. The

challenges of leading a team organising

the PhD conference and student activities

within the department encourage

international leadership. I have become

more confident in myself. In addition, my

mother was extremely surprised by my

advanced cooking skills! Thanks to the

great cooking facilities at the College, I have

armed myself with the one of the most

important living skills for the rest of my life.

Time goes quickly. I still remember the

first day when I arrived at the Churchill

College, with a respectful and grateful

heart. I am not sure how I will feel when I

leave the campus in two years’ time,

however, I am entirely sure that it is, ever,

my loving home, for the rest of my life.

Wei Liu (G12)

Life at the Campus


Beijing or Qingdao? Deciding where Iwanted to spend my year abroad was atough decision. In the end, most of myclassmates were seduced by the brightlights (or thick smog?) of China’s capitalcity. I, however, chose Qingdao, a coastalcity surrounded by mountains andfamous for its Tsingdao beer.

I’d travelled to China many times beforemy year abroad and thought, rathernaively, that this meant I understood Chinafairly well. However, living here has beenanother experience entirely. Being able tospeak Mandarin (albeit still far fromfluently!) has given me the opportunity todelve into Chinese culture in a way thatwasn’t possible before. I feel like I’velearnt a huge amount over the past year;it would be impossible to summarise allmy impressions here, so I’ll recount a fewof my favourite moments instead.

My year abroad has been spent studyingChinese at Ocean University. It’s beenhugely rewarding and challenging havingall our lessons taught in Mandarin byrespected Chinese professors. However,it’s the experiences I’ve had outside theclassroom that will leave long-lastingmemories. One of the highlights of theyear was spending Chinese New Year, orSpring Festival, with my Chinese friendWill in his rural hometown in Shandongprovince. Will is a 24-year-old musiccollege graduate, who is currentlystudying English in the hope of doing aMasters degree abroad next year. He’sincredibly intelligent and open-minded.Discovering that he’d spent the firsttwelve years of his life growing up in thisrural village was quite a surprise; none ofthe houses had running water and mostof the villagers were farmers who couldn’tspeak standard Mandarin, only the localdialect. Will’s experience isn’t uniquehowever. Over the past 15 years, moreand more of the town’s inhabitantsmoved to the nearest city seeking jobsand a better standard of living, and nowonly return to their hometown tocelebrate Spring Festival. Thisphenomenon, a by-product of China’s

rapid urbanisation, left the village with arather eerie, abandoned feel. Still, it wasincredibly interesting to talk to variousgenerations of Will’s family and hearabout the many changes that had takenplace during their lifetime.

Chinese New Year itself was great fun –a mixture of traditions old and new, fromoffering sacrifices to ancestors andsetting off innumerable firecrackers, toconsuming vast amounts of dumplingsand beer while watching the SpringFestival Gala on TV. New Year’s Day wasspent paying visits to countless familymembers in order to wish them a happyNew Year; they were all incrediblyhospitable, if a bit bemused to see aWestern girl in their tiny village! I’d like to take this opportunity to thankMr Wing Yip for his contribution to thecost of the year abroad. Thanks to hisgenerosity, I have been able see evenmore of China, from visiting thewonderful Snow and Ice Festival in

Harbin to climbing the stunning, sacredMount Tai. All in all, it’s been a fascinatingyear, so different from life at Cambridge -although I’m very much looking forwardto being back at Churchill in October!

Ellie Sweet (U11)

Beijing or Qingdao?



This was certainly the conclusion of thetwo-day conference, Faith in Politics,which was staged by the Archives Centrein November 2013. Arising out of adialogue with alumnus Michael Lewis,who supported the event, the conferencesought to examine the various interfacesbetween faith and politics; from thereligious convictions of political leaders, tothe role of faith communities in shapingpolicy, through the impact of religiousfundamentalism, to a comparison withpractice in Europe and the USA. Therewas a keynote presentation, followed by alively question and answer session withThe Rt. Hon. Baroness Warsi, Minister forFaith and Communities, and provocativepresentations by Lord Deben and PeterTatchell (among others). By the time this piece appears in print I have faith that recordings of the main sessions will be available on the excellent newCollege website.

Another leap of faith for the ArchivesCentre has been the adoption of newtechnology to deliver access to itsholdings. The Churchill Papers collectionis now delivered on-line straight to thelaptops of our researchers. Images of thedocuments are freely available to thosewithin the physical bounds of ChurchillCollege and Archives Centre. Meanwhile,our commercial partner, Bloomsbury, isbusy selling the digital edition to otheruniversities and libraries around theglobe, thereby massively increasingaccess to this core collection.

The inclusion of the Churchill Paperscollection on the UK Register ofDocumentary Heritage, part of theUNESCO Memory of the WorldProgramme, was a timely reminder of thesignificance of this material, while theaward of a Wellcome Trust grant for thecataloguing of the papers of Nobel

Laureate Sir Aaron Klug is allowing us toopen up another important collection.

Not all things can be left to faith and theteam within the Archives Centre hasstarted to explore the likely future shapeof our service; looking at how we willpreserve, catalogue and provide access toelectronic records, and how we might bemore proactive in supporting teaching andresearch within the College and University.

As Director of the Archives Centre, I putmy faith in the excellent professionalArchives Centre team, in our ArchivesCommittee and Archives Trusts, and inour growing network of Patrons, friendsand supporters. Thank you all.

Allen PackwoodDirector, Churchill Archives Centre

A Leap of Faith

Alastair Campbell may have famously declared of the Blair Labour Government that “We don’t do God”and Churchill may have described himself as a buttress, supporting the established Church from theoutside, but it is clear that the relationship between politics and religion is more multi-faceted, complexand nuanced.


One of the more modern treasures of Cambridge University Library is the literary estate of Arthur Schnitzler,the great Austrian Modernist writerperhaps best known in this countrythrough adaptations of his plays byTom Stoppard (UndiscoveredCountry) and David Hare (The BlueRoom) or through Stanley Kubrick’slast film, Eyes Wide Shut, based onthe classic story, Dream Novella.

In 1938, seven years after Schnitzler’sdeath and in the wake of the Anschlusswhen Austria came under NationalSocialist control, his papers – carefullystored in a villa in Vienna – were inserious danger of confiscation and likelydestruction. Not only was Schnitzler aleading Jewish figure in the cosmopolitanliberal culture of Vienna in the earlydecades of the twentieth century, but hiswork had provoked scandal and attractedcensorship in its frank representation ofsexual mores and of the different formsof anti-Semitism that also characterisedVienna at that time. Freud famouslycalled Schnitzler his Doppelgänger, andbooks by both were among those publiclyburned by the Nazis in 1933. Schnitzler’swidow made contact with a youngdoctoral student from Cambridge, EricBlackall, and he in turn contacted theUniversity Librarian, who offered safehaven for the papers. On the strength ofthis, the British Consul in Vienna wasable to have them put under diplomaticseal, saving them from the attentions ofNazi officials. Not long after, the paperswere on a train bound for Britain, packedin cases and cupboards, with the keyssent on separately, for safety’s sake.

The University Library still holds thelargest part of the Schnitzler archive, withtens of thousands of pages of manuscriptand typescript. The collection includesunpublished works and versions of manypublished narratives and dramas,including some of the most famous. Andyet, remarkably for an author ofSchnitzler’s status, there has been nocritical edition of the literary works. Thisis no doubt in part due to the historical

contingency of most of the papers beinglodged in a UK archive, rather than inAustria or Germany, in part also to theextraordinarily difficult character of theauthor’s handwriting (or handwritings, asthere is considerable variation over hislifetime). The challenge in deciphering thescript is exacerbated by Schnitzler’sidiosyncratic use of abbreviations (it may,or may not, be a coincidence that he wastrained as a doctor).

Projects are now underway in Germany,Austria and the UK to open up the archivethrough critical editions of Schnitzler’sworks. The UK team is focusing on worksfrom the middle period of his career,

including some of those most concernedwith the tribulations of Jewish culturalpolitics in early twentieth-century Vienna.We have been awarded a major grant bythe Arts and Humanities Research Councilin order to produce these editions, whichwill be in electronic form and open to allusers through a digital portal hosted bythe University Library. Some fascinatingsecrets are already emerging from thearchive, and we look forward todiscovering many more.

Professor Andrew WebberFellow

Freud’s Doppelgänger

3THE CHURCHILL 2014 193THE CHURCHILL 2010 23

PÂTÉ DE VOLAILLEThis dish has special significance as it was served at the lunch in Hall attended by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on

5th June 1964 to mark the official opening of Churchill College. The menu was devised by Natasha Squire who has

a fascinating account of the preparations for that occasion. Fifty years on and classic French cuisine, like Churchill

College, stands the test of time.

Ingredients

3 corn fed chicken breasts, skin removed

100g chicken livers

180g pork belly, minced

5ml salt

10ml freshly ground black pepper

1 unwaxed lemon, zest only

2 shallots, finely sliced

2 sprigs lemon thyme, leaves picked

50g pistachios, blanched

20 thin slices streaky bacon

Method

1: Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2: Cut each chicken breast into three big slices and set aside.

3: Mix the chicken livers into the minced pork and season with

the salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest, shallots, thyme

leaves and pistachios.

4: Line a terrine mould or loaf tin with the bacon, leaving enough

overhanging to cover the top when filled. Press in the mince

and chicken pieces and cover completely with the bacon.

5: Place the mould in a roasting tin filled with enough water to

reach half way up the side of the mould.

6: Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.

7: Allow to cool for 24 hours in the fridge then slice. Serve with

pickled onions or gherkins, toast and salad leaves.

Mark SlaterHead Chef

THE CHURCHILL 2014 19

Fine Dining 60’s style

Students enjoying a meal pre-Dining Hall

Points of contactAccommodationAlumni and Past Fellows may bookaccommodation in College via the website:www.chu.cam.ac.uk/conferences/services/bandb

Alternatively please telephone the ConferenceOffice on +44 (0)1223 336164 oremail: [email protected]

Alumni [email protected]

Alumni Relations [email protected] Fahle, Alumni Officer: +44 (0)1223 336083Tim Bell, Development Officer: +44 (0)1223 336240Livia Argentesi, Alumni & DigitalCommunications Assistant: +44 (0)1223 331546

Development DirectorSharon [email protected]+44 (0)1223 336197

Churchill Review [email protected]

Newsletter [email protected]

High Table BookingsIf you would like to attend High Table pleaseemail us at [email protected]

Porters’ Lodge+44 (0)1223 336000

Møller Centre+44 (0)1223 [email protected]

Alumni Events 2014

05 July 2014 Reunion Dinner For alumni who matriculated from 1960 to 1970.

24 July 2014Edinburgh ReceptionEvening drinks reception hosted by Lord Monckton (U70).

Supporting Churchill CollegeGet involved and support Churchill. Visit our Current Appeals online:www.chu.cam.ac.uk/donate

• A single gift by cheque, credit/debitcard or via Virgin Giving

• A regular gift by Direct Debit

• A gift of shares

• A gift of property

• A payroll gift and matching giving viayour employer

• A legacy

Information on Gift Aid and tax efficient giving is also available online.

For further advice on giving to Churchill College, further details on College funds orto request a donation form, please email us: [email protected]

Shopping at AmazonThe College is a member of theAmazon Associates Scheme. Everytime you shop with Amazon, pleaseuse our Associates link. For every itemthat is despatched to you, Amazon willmake a donation to the College at noexpense to yourself. It’s a simple wayto support your College.

Follow us...Find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,Google+, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr,Pinterest and Weibo.

Join the online community atwww.chu.cam.ac.uk/alumni

For further information and booking, please visit:www.chu.cam.ac.uk/events/association-weekend-2014

For information about Cambridge University Alumni Festival, please visit:www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/events/alumni-festival-2014

Please visit our website for upcoming events:www.chu.cam.ac.uk/events

26-28 September 2014

Churchill Alumni Association weekend, AGM and Dinner

As Chairman of the Churchill College Association it is my pleasure to invite you to this year’s Association Weekend, which is to be held from 26-28 September 2014. The highlight of the weekend will be the dinner on Saturday evening, presided over by our new Master, Professor Dame Athene Donald, with Stella Dudzic (U80) as our guestspeaker. On the Saturday afternoon John Moore, Head of Grounds and Gardens, will begiving a talk and tour looking at how the College’s gardens have changed over the past20 years. Anthony Bainbridge (U64) is organising special 50th reunion events over theweekend for the 1964 matriculates and the Weekend coincides with CambridgeUniversity’s Alumni Festival which offers a wide selection of lectures and activitiesthroughout Cambridge.

Association Weekend offers an excellent opportunity to see the developments atCollege, meet old friends and new and, for those who joined the College in 1964,celebrate 50 years since matriculation.

I will be delighted to welcome you back personally to College over the course of the weekend.

Nigel Bacon (U74)Chairman

the churchill newsletter 2014

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