St John's College Alumni eNewsletter - June 2025
Publication Announcement: Benefactors Magazine 2025
We are delighted to share our latest publication of Benefactors, which includes our annual Impact of Philanthropy report and the Roll of Benefactors. In this edition, we hear from current students and members of the St John's community on the variety of ways in which your generosity makes a significant difference to college life, student support, our access and outreach initiatives, and enables us to continue to excel in research and academia.
For more information on ways to give, visit our website or contact us.
Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship News from St John's College
Congratulations to Professor Tahera Qutbuddin, Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor of Arabic, on being awarded a two-year Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2025–2027), and Professor Lloyd Pratt, Drue Heinz Professor of American Literature, on being awarded a three-year Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship. We look forward to following the work of both Professor Qutbuddin and Professor Pratt over the next few years!
St John's Students Highly Commended by the Student Publication Association
The College applauds two St John's undergraduates, Laurence Cooke (2023, Philosophy and French) and Sanaya Narula (2023, English and French), on being highly commended at the Student Publication Association's National Awards for their submissions to the Cherwell. The SPA is the largest student media association, representing student newspapers, magazines, websites and other publishing across the UK and Ireland.
Professor Gillian Rose Awarded Victoria Medal
Professor Gillian Rose, Professorial Fellow in Geography, has been awarded the prestigious Victoria Medal by the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers. The RGS-IBG Victoria Medal recognises “conspicuous merit in research in geography" and has been given annually since 1902 in honour of the late Queen Victoria. Professor Rose is this year's recipient of the Victoria Medal , awarded in recognition of her outstanding contributions to cultural geography. Congratulations Professor Rose!
Zoltán Molnár elected external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Assembly of Academicians elected the new members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from among the 136 researchers on the candidate list in early May. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has been considered the quintessence of Hungarian science for the past 200 years and remains the most reliable point of reference for society on scientific matters. Professor Zoltán Molnár thanked the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and St John’s College for their continued support.
Alumni News and Publications
Welcome back to Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP
Alumnus and Honorary Fellow of St John's, His Eminence Timothy Radcliffe OP (1969, Theology) is the College's first cardinal. Following the death of Pope Francis in April 2025, Radcliffe and other members of the College of Cardinals participated in the papal conclave that elected Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost as the 267th Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV. The President and Senior Members of St John's were honoured to welcome Cardinal Radcliffe back to St John's soon after the conclusion of the conclave.
St John's Announces Alumni as New Honorary Fellows
On Friday 16 May, the President and Senior Members of St John's hosted a dinner to welcome two new Honorary Fellows to the College. Sir Chris Wormald KCB (History, 1987) and Henry Dimbleby MBE (Physics and Philosophy, 1989) are both notable for their distinction and we are delighted to welcome them back to St John's. Sir Chris Wormald was appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in December 2024 and Henry Dimbleby is one of the UK’s leading voices on food systems, health, and sustainability.
Hugh Possingham elected as Fellow of the Royal Society
Professor Hugh Possingham (1984, Bioinformatics) has been recognised by the Royal Society for outstanding research and exceptional science. Hugh has championed mathematical modelling and decision science thinking in the field of conservation and is currently a research professor at the University of Queensland.
Saki (H.H. Munro): Original and Uncollected Stories (Open Book Publishers, 2024)
Bruce Gaston (1996, Medieval and Modern Languages) has published a critical edition of some of the stories of the Edwardian writer Hector Hugh Munro (better known by his pen name Saki), republishing for the first time in a 100 years the original periodical versions and rediscovered tales.
Children's Book Project: Tackling Book Poverty with your Pre-Loved Books
Alumna Kirstin Knell (1997, Geography) is Partnerships Manager at The Children’s Book Project, a charity on a mission to end book poverty in a sustainable way.
Nearly 1 million children in the UK don’t own a book of their own. The Children’s Book Project takes donations of pre-loved books and gifts them to children through targeted primary schools, food banks, women’s refuges and to children with a parent in prison. This year they’ll gift 520,000 to children across the UK, many of whom own few, if any books of their own.
Kirstin says: 'what we’re doing at The Children’s Book Project makes so much sense to all of us who’ve had the benefit of books as children. It’s astounding that we’re the only literacy charity to use pre-loved books to tackle book poverty. Books spark imagination and the impact of book ownership goes far beyond literacy benefits, shaping the social and emotional growth of children'.
Alumni who have children’s books they no longer need can donate them by going to www.childrensbookproject.co.uk and clicking on 'give books’. For information on corporate volunteering in London, Leeds and Birmingham, or to find out how you can use your network to spread the message of book donation, please email kirstin@childrensbookproject.co.uk.
'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
Friday 27 June 2025
Friday 4 July 2025
Torrance Society Medical Reunion 2025
Friday 3 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.