St Cross College, Oxford

The Master's Report, 2003–2005

My report this year is in two parts and covers the period since the Founders' Feast in 2003.

The academic year 2003-4

The most notable development in the College is that after almost a quarter century of uncertainty we seem to have come to an amicable agreement with our neighbours, Pusey House. We now await the lawyers to do their work. I salute the good sense and flexibility of Father Jonathan Baker in making this happen. The results of this include not only the breaking out of goodwill and peace, but also the tangible benefits of such features as a new Porters' Lodge (completed in September 2005), and the successful renovation of various rooms, including the new Van Heyningen Room. For the first time in many years we have held our Carol Service in Pusey House Chapel and then retired to Dr Pusey's Library for mulled wine and mince pies.

The College has also had detailed plans drawn up by the Oxford Architects Partnership for the development of the North and West Wings of the second quadrangle. For this we need around £8.5 million. The College has also renovated the Lodgings in 10 Wellington Square for my use, and my family and I moved in early in 2004. Certain improvements have been made to our charming college grounds by Suki Wolton, notably the paving of the area outside the chapel and the clearing and replanting of the long herbaceous border.

In 2004 the College instituted its first lecture series and this ran in association with All Souls. The theme was the Ethics of Collecting. It attracted large audiences.

In 2003-4 we saw the retirement of Glenda Abramson, Peter Mackridge, and Jim Williamson, all dedicated stalwarts of the college, and all now elected as Emeritus Fellows. We also said goodbye to our Junior Research Fellows, Iain Lauchlan, Susy Giullari and Leanne Peiser. We were also sad when one of our Honorary Fellows, Ben Pimlott died tragically young. However, in 2003-4 we welcomed to our midst Heather Hamill, Professor Harold Jaffe, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Margaret Pelling, David Perrow, Emilie Savage-Smith, Mark Robinson, Kate Venables, Joanna Ashbourn, Margret Frenz, Marzena Szymanska, and Madhav Thambisetty. Professor Elizabeth Eisenstein was elected to an Honorary Fellowship.

With regard to our graduate students, in October 2004 we admitted 130, which is double the number admitted 10 years ago. We continue to be a very international body, with three quarters of those admitted being from overseas.

Next, I should mention some of the distinctions that came to members of the College in 2003-4. For example, we congratulate Diarmaid MacCulloch on being awarded the Wolfson Prize for his splendidly received book on the Reformation. Secondly, Emilie Savage-Smith produced a wonderful exhibition in the Bodleian on 'Medieval Views of the Cosmos' which was opened by that Python, Terry Jones. The following evening, saw the opening of A treasured Inheritance – 600 years of Oxford College Silver in the Ashmolean, and St Cross lent some of its pieces for that occasion. Before she left us to return to the LSE, Professor Jane Lewis was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. The College also received more distinction titles in 2004 than any other college. We congratulate Drs Adam, Chatty and Taylor on receiving Readerships, and Jane Endicott, Chris Gosden, Nick Mayhew, Mike Parker, Mark Robinson and Stanley Ulijasek, on being awarded their well earned professorships. We also congratulate Sam Behjati, one of our graduates on being awarded the Radcliffe Infirmary Essay Prize in Surgery for 2004. Likewise we congratulate Alexis Vlandas on winning the Perspectives Poster Competition at the British Association's Festival of Science. Our Fellow Rana Mitter was awarded a Philip Leverhulme prize worth £50,000. In October some of us went to a reception in the Divinity School to mark the 80th Birthday of one of our Emeritus Fellows, Peter Glare: family man, college man, Pressman, Bodley man, rugby referee, crossword devotee and one of the greatest lexicographers of the twentieth century.

Academic year 2004-5

At our Founders' Feast in 2004 we were very pleased to welcome the Chancellor, Lord Patten, and also the Head of our sister college in Cambridge, Clare Hall, Professor Salje and his wife. Later in the academic year the new Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, came to our Hilary Term feast.

Following the appointment of Joëlle Hoggan as our first Alumni and Development Executive, we have been active both in fund raising and in keeping in touch with our alumni. We held a Christmas Party for alumni in London at the Royal Society, we had the annual Fred's lunch for local alumni in the spring, a garden party in high summer, and a Gaudy in September. We reinstated the going down dinner in July, so that we could say goodbye properly to those students who were leaving us. We have also mailed out a fund raising brochure, a legacy brochure, and a new form of newsletter, called Crossword. I greatly value the efforts of the Alumni Committee, chaired by Peter Benton.
We were successful in obtaining some money to boost our endowment from the College Contributions Fund, part of which has been granted as matching funds for the donations we receive as a result of our fund raising efforts. In the summer, through the great generosity of an anonymous donor, we were able to establish the Crawford Miller visiting fellowship in Human Consciousness and Spirituality.

It is particularly sad to report the death of one of our founding fellows, Dr Arthur Williams, who died on 2nd September, a few days after his 100th birthday. He had been Director of Postgraduate Medical Studies from 1961 to 1972. We are also sad that James Allan and Bob McLatchie retired during the year. Equally we are delighted to have been able to elect them to Emeritus Fellowships in recognition of their long and devoted service to the college in many capacities. We also note the Departure of Dr Kurt von Mettenheim (formerly University Lecturer in the Centre for Brazilian Studies), who went back to Sao Paulo after only 2 years with us and Dr A. Baltag resigned his Fellowship in the summer.

However, as compensation, we have once again welcomed a number of new fellows to our midst: Mr Colin Dexter and Dr Doug Parr have been elected Fellows by Special Election. Colin is the author and philanthropist and kindly gave a speech at the Gaudy. In his appointment I have taken something of a risk, as in the Morse films heads of house are almost invariably portrayed as villains and perverts. Doug is the Chief Scientist of Greenpeace. Other new fellows since last year's crop are Oliver Watson, the new keeper of Eastern Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Dr David Anderson (African Politics), Dr Sloan Mahone (History of Medicine), Dr Lee Sweetlove (Plant Sciences), Dr Julie Scott Jackson (Archaeology) and Maria Hoellerer (E.P. Abraham Junior Research Fellow in Biochemistry/Molecular Biophysics). We welcome them all most warmly.

In December 2004 Cambridge was soundly defeated in the Varsity Rugby match at Twickenham. This was entirely because no less than four members of the victorious Oxford team were from St Cross – the biggest contingent from any college in either University.

In a more general sense it was an excellent year in the social life of the College, for under the Presidency of J. Patrick Hornbeck II, now sadly lured away to Christ Church, the Common Room was particularly active. They even managed to have a cricket team, for which I provided a bat, purchased second hand from a charity shop in Little Clarendon Street. For me the highlight of the social year was our hall to celebrate the Greek Orthodox Easter – we had Greek food, Greek wine, Greek Music, and Greek exuberance, all in high measure, though no plates were thrown. We also had a beautifully organised summer ball, with the theme of the Moulin Rouge. Brian Harrington and his team are to be congratulated.

On March 16th 2005, the Fellowship processed in their fullest finery to the House of Convocation for the installation of Dr Frank Pieke as Assessor. They then processed back, with me acting and feeling like the Grand Old Duke of York, for a memorable lunch in College. Another fourteen or so years will now go by before we have to provide one of the proctors.

Members of the College accepted numerous accolades during 2004-5. Professor David Warrell received awards for his remarkable career in tropical medicine: Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant from King Bhumipol Aduliadej of Thailand; the Guthrie Medal from the Royal Army Medical Corps; the Mary Kingsley Centenary Medal of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; and Professor Honorario from the Universidad de San Marcos, Peru. Dawn Chatty was awarded a major research fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust to complete research and prepare a book on Forced Migration in the Middle East: Community Cohesion in an impermanent landscape. In December Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch was awarded first prize by the British Academy for his splendid book on the Reformation, while Dr Rana Mitter's book A bitter revolution was granted runner up prize by History Today. During the year Professor Chris Gosden was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. Ben Hebbert, former Graduate President of Common Room, was awarded a senior fellowship – the Sylvan C. Coleman and Pamela Coleman Memorial Fund Art History fellowship – from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Professor Wendy James has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Copenhagen.

Finally, Sara Dickson, the Master's Secretary, retired on September 30th 2005 after 23 years of service to the College, in which she served with Godfrey Stafford, Dick Repp and myself, three of the College's four Masters. Her knowledge of the College and her sagacity were of tremendous assistance to me in my first two years in office, and her great interest in old members, degree ceremonies, the college art collections, and college dinner arrangements were especially valuable. The College is greatly in her debt, as it is to all its staff in the College Office, the Bursary, the Lodge and Kitchens who work so hard, cheerfully and well on its behalf.