St John's College Alumni eNewsletter - September 2025
College News
St John's academics recognised in 2025 Recognition of Distinction awards
Congratulations to the two St John’s academics who have been recognised in this year’s Recognition of Distinction awards, and who now receive the title of full Professor.Mark Cannon becomes Professor of Engineering Science and Laurence Hunt becomes Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Professor Goodwin awarded Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowship
Professor Andrew Goodwin, Professor of Materials Chemistry and Professorial Research Fellow, was one of three Oxford researchers awarded a Faraday Discovery Fellowship for 2025. The Fellowships, supported by a fund from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, provide exceptional mid-career researchers with grants of up to £8 million over 10 years to pursue high-quality original research and develop world-leading research groups in the UK.
Research Fellow in Chemistry wins ERC Starting Grant
Dr Dan Congrave, Research Fellow in Chemistry at St John's, has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Dr Dan Congrave is among twelve researchers at the University of Oxford to be awarded an ERC Starting Grant. These grants are designed to support outstanding researchers at the early stage of their careers to become independent research leaders. Find out more about Dr Congrave's research, and that of the other Oxford ERC Starting Grant recipients, here.
Engineering Student wins IET Prize
Current student Zaheen A-Rahman (2023, Engineering) has been awarded the Institute of Engineering and Technology Prize by the University of Oxford. The IET Prize is available to every university department offering an IET accredited course, awarded to their most outstanding student.
Donald Russell Memorial Lecture 2025
We are proud to announce the third annual Donald Russell Memorial Lecture, taking place at 5pm on Thursday 23 October 2025. Professor Ewen Bowie, Emeritus Fellow in Classics, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, will be delivering the lecture, on the theme of 'Mesomedes and his fans'. Find out more and register here.
Alumni News and Publications
Rachel Kolb (2013, English) was born deaf in 1990, the same year as the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, and she grew up among the first generation of deaf and disabled people to gain accessibility services in the United States. Now, in ARTICULATE, Kolb examines a life lived between Deaf and hearing worlds, narrating the complexities of communicating in both English and American Sign Language. Among other cross-cultural moments in this debut memoir, Kolb recounts the years she spent in the UK from 2013-2015, as a postgraduate student at St John’s.
Alumni Reunion
'The reunion was organized by Richard Wang and his wife Liza Wang. The Wangs live in Pennsylvania USA, and were looking to rekindle memories of Oxford on the occasion of many of our friends turning 50. So they reached out to this group (and some others who could unfortunately not attend) and we agreed to have a weekend together in Oxford, visiting the College, going to some of the local pubs (Lamb and Flag, Jude the Obscure, and The Crown), and having dinner at Jamaal's in Jericho (a favourite when we were students).
We enjoyed a jaunt around the College grounds, marvelling that you can now walk on the Great Lawn and the grass in the Canterbury Quad.
It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends, celebrate our milestone birthdays, and then return back to our busy daily lives.'
The Reunion: Alex Cameron (1993, Modern Languages), Simon Draycott (1991, Psychology, Philosophy and Physiology), Dan Evans (1993, Physics), Katy Harrad (1993, English Language and Literature), Rebecca Moss (1993, Modern Languages), Adam Sandman (1993, Physics), Richard Wang (1993, Engineering and Computer Science) and Stephanie Wild (1993, Modern Languages)
Submitted and written by Adam Sandman
Introducing the SJC Boat Club e-Newsletter
The St John's College Boat Club will be releasing a termly e-Newsletter for alumni, starting from Michaelmas, covering all their latest news, race results and exciting events.
Sign up here if you would like to receive news from the SJC Boat Club. If you have any questions, please email boatclubalumni@sjc.ox.ac.uk. To support the SJC Boat Club, please visit our contributions page.
Looking for contacts in Australia!
My name is Judit Molnar and I am a DPhil student of Anthropology. I was a Duveen scholar in 2023, an experience which showed me how strong the St John's identity is all over the world. I am moving to Australia for a postdoctoral position soon and since I don't know anybody there, I thought I would see if there are any alumni in the country.
I will be based at ANU in Canberra but I would love to hear from anyone in the whole of Australia or even in countries nearby as I will be travelling a lot for conferences. Please get in touch through my college e-mail address, judit.molnar@sjc.ox.ac.uk, which is still functional until the end of the year. I would love to hear from you!
Calling all Journalists!
Current student Alexander Prvulovich (2023, PPE) would love the chance to speak to alumni working in journalism, whether in print or broadcast.
Alexander has not decided on a specific sector, so would be interested to talk to people working in politics, economics, or culture. If you would like to get in touch, please email alexprvulovich@gmail.com.
Alumni Events
Thursday 25 September 2025
SJC Women's Network Event: An Evening with Alex Bollen (Zurich)
Tuesday 30 September 2025
Torrance Society Medical Reunion 2025
Friday 3 October 2025
Donald Russell Memorial Lecture
Thursday 23 October 2025
Alumni Carol Service - Save the Date!
Saturday 13 December 2025
Holdsworth Society Dinner - Save the Date!
Friday 13 March 2026
Gaudy for the Years 1975-1977 - Save the Date!
Friday 20 March 2026
Gaudy for the Years 2016-2017 - Save the Date!
Friday 27 March 2026
Gaudy for the Years 1978-1980 - Save the Date!
Friday 3 July 2026
Gaudy for the Years 2018-2019 - Save the Date!
Friday 10 July 2026
College Events
Oxford Art Society Open Exhibition 2025
20 September - 4 October 2025
Exhibition: The Oxford Florilegium
9 October - 23 October 2025
25 October - 16 November 2025
International Piano Series: Steven Osborne OBE
Tuesday 28 October 2025
Black History Month Lecture 2025
Thursday 30 October 2025
Friday 7 November 2025
International Piano Series: Vadym Kholodenko
Sunday 7 December 2025
International Piano Series: Angela Hewitt
Sunday 25 January 2026
International Piano Series: Junyan Chen
Friday 27 February 2026
International Piano Series: Mishka Rushdie Momen
Thursday 7 May 2026
Alumni Guest Room Bookings
Alumni are welcome to book Alumni House rooms online. The booking system can be found on the Alumni Benefits page of our website where you can check availability and pay.
To make a booking, you will need to enter a promotional code to identify yourself as an alumnus/a and this can be found below:
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.
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