St John's College Alumni eNewsletter - July 2025
Alumni Donate Historic Photograph of St John's
The College gives thanks to Stephen Barber (1974, Mathematics and Philosophy) and Mark Bedingham (1974, Agricultural and Forest Sciences) for their generous donation of a photograph of St John’s, taken c. 1857 by the pioneering British photographer, Roger Fenton. The donation was made in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of their matriculation and first encounter at the College. You can view the photograph here.
Professor Edward Brian Davies FRS
The College is sad to announce the death of Professor Edward Brian Davies, Honorary Fellow and former Fellow and Tutor in Mathematics, on 2 June 2025. Professor Davies was Lecturer, and then Tutor and Fellow in Mathematics, at St John’s College (1970–81). He was an undergraduate and graduate at Oxford, and elected as an Honorary Fellow of St John’s in 2003. Colleagues and friends across Oxford will remember Professor Davies warmly. In accordance with his wishes, there will be no funeral.
Postgraduate Recognised as Young Explorer of the Year
The College congratulates Max Han (MSc Environmental Change and Management) on being named as one of the National Geographic Society’s Young Explorers for 2025, in recognition of his climate justice advocacy and leadership. Max is the co-founder of Youths United for Earth (YUFE), Malaysia’s leading grassroots nonprofit, which mobilises youth for climate action through advocacy, storytelling and campaigns, reaching over 50,000 people.
President awarded Honorary Doctorate
Professor Lady Sue Black, President of St John's College, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Glasgow Caledonian University. At a ceremony on 1 July at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall, The President received a Doctor of Science degree in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the scientific field of forensic anthropology and to academic leadership. The President credited her success to the support of those who believed in her when she didn’t yet believe in herself. 'You have achieved it,' she told graduands. 'But you have not done it alone − and none of us do.'
Winners Announced: Kendrew Songwriting Competition 2025
Congratulations to Tegan Addison and Oliver Spooner, co-winners of this year's Kendrew Songwriting Competition. The Kendrew Songwriting Competition is open to all current students at the University of Oxford. Submitted songs must be original but may be in any genre, style, tradition, or language. This year's winning songs are 'Worst Best Thing' by Tegan, a second-year Music student at St John's College, and 'Golder’s Hill" by Oliver, a first-year music student at Lincoln College. Listen to the recordings here.
Alumni News and Publications
'Mathematics for Biosciences' Textbook Launch
In May, the University's Biochemistry Department hosted the launch of ‘Mathematics for Biosciences – from Theory to Worked Examples and Applications’, written by St John's alumni Dr Nicola Laurieri (2007, Pharmacology) and Professor Elspeth Garman (Emeritus Fellow, Brasenose College). Joined by guest speaker Professor John Fink (Kalamazoo University, USA), the authors engaged the audience with interesting insights into the book’s key themes and its relevance to the field. The textbook covers mathematical topics and worked examples aimed at first-year undergraduates studying a range of different Bioscience disciplines, edited by World Scientific Publishing Co.
TW is the annual College magazine, named after our Founder, Sir Thomas White, and you can read previous publications here. Alumni news for the next edition of TW is always welcome! If you have any news that you would like to share with the College and alumni community, please do contact us. In addition, we always love to hear your memories from your time at St John's, so please do send in your stories and photographs! Finally, we encourage you to keep in touch with the St John's alumni community via LinkedIn and to stay connected with the College by following us on Instagram and other social media platforms.
'Friends of the 50s' Lunch - Reminder
For the past two decades, many St John’s alumni who matriculated in the 1950s have held an annual ‘Friends of the Fifties’ lunch meeting in London. Last November, twenty-two such alumni met at the Savile Club in London.
Providing there is sufficient support, it is proposed that the next Friends of the Fifties lunch will be held on Wednesday 19 November 2025, again at the Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, London W1K 4ER.
Any alumnus who matriculated in the 1950s and who would be interested in attending should contact Henry Amar (1957, PPE), whose e-mail is hamar@rhamar.com for further details.
Alumni Events
Torrance Society Medical Reunion 2025
Friday 3 October 2025
Donald Russell Memorial Lecture
Thursday 23 October 2025
Alumni can check availability, book and pay for rooms within Alumni House online. The booking system can be found on the Alumni Benefits page of our website.
To make a booking, you will need to enter a promotional code to identify yourself as an alumnus/a and this can be found in the monthly e-newsletter:
Promotional code for 2025: 1555SJC
FAQ’s
Please click here to find answers to frequently asked questions, along with further details about the Alumni Guest Rooms. Any further questions please email us.