News Articles

With great sadness, the college announced the death on March 27th of its former master Sir David Harrison at the age of 92.

Sir David had an association with Selwyn that lasted for more than half the college’s entire existence. He arrived here as an undergraduate in 1950; became a fellow in 1957; pursued his academic career in chemical engineering; and took college roles including serving as senior tutor and later as master. In between, he was a distinguished vice-chancellor of the universities of Keele and Exeter.

Roger Mosey, the current master of Selwyn, said: “Sir David was a towering figure in the history of Selwyn, and an inspiration to generations of academics, students and staff. Most of all, he was a conspicuously kind and gentle man who won affection through his charm as well as his intellect. He was an active member of the college until the end, and we will miss him more than words can say."

Sir David’s funeral was held in the college chapel on April 20th. You can watch the service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xrucAxSRzE. The photograph, by Howard Beaumont, shows the guard of honour formed by fellows across Old Court as the cortege left the chapel.

Sir David Harrison 1930-2023, RIP.

The college is pleased to announce that its flagship Ramsay Murray lecture will be given this year by Professor Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at the University of Oxford. Her title is ‘Revolution: The German Peasants’ War 1524-6’, and she will argue that this was the greatest uprising in western Europe before the French Revolution.

The Ramsay Murray lecture is an annual event, which has had a highly distinguished series of speakers – including Professor Niall Ferguson, Professor Amanda Vickery, Ms Bridget Kendall and Sir Trevor Phillips. Last year’s, given by Professor Anand Menon, received almost 40,000 views online. The lecture is designed to focus on issues of current or historical interest. This year’s event will take place on Friday May 5^th 

This lecture is now fully booked. 

Read more about Professor Roper here: https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-lyndal-roper

Photo by John Cairns

Members of Selwyn have been part of successful Cambridge University teams taking on Oxford in the seasonal Varsity matches. Here are some of the highlights, illustrating the wide range of sports enjoyed in the college and the university.

Pierson Klein (Masters student in Criminology 2022-23) represented Cambridge as number 1 seed in the recent women's Oxford vs Cambridge squash varsity match in London. She won 3 sets to love (9-1, 9-4, 9-0) as part of the overall victory. She is seen far right on the second row. In the men's team, undergraduate Isaac Milford (far left in the photo) was also a winner playing at number 5.

In Fencing, Isabella Synek Herd (3rd year, architecture) led the W2 team in their varsity match which took place in Oxford – and recorded the first W2 triumph since 2016. Isabella is on the front row, second from right, in the photo.

Selwyn was also represented in the victorious men’s ice hockey team. Oxford versus Cambridge is claimed to be the oldest fixture in the sport, with the original match taking place in St Moritz in 1885. After the 2023 version, which Cambridge won 4-0, our law student Tom Griffiths is pictured holding the original Patton cup, which has just returned from the hockey hall of fame in Toronto. Cambridge have now won 5 varsity matches in a row for the first time in their history.

We congratulate these and all other students who’ve been taking part in Cambridge’s many sports events.

We are deeply saddened by the death on February 25th of our honorary fellow Sir David Lumsden at the age of 94.

Sir David (SE 1948) was organ scholar at Selwyn during his undergraduate and MusB degrees. He went on to major posts at New College, Oxford, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. In 1982 he was appointed director of the Royal Academy of Music in London; he held that position until retirement in 1993, and was seen as a transformational leader. He was an organist, conductor, and harpsichordist, and a noted authority on Elizabethan lute music.

He was knighted in 1985 and, as well as his honorary fellowship at Selwyn, he held honorary degrees from several universities and conservatoires. David and his wife Sheila lived in Soham for many years, and he was a regular member of the congregation in chapel until they moved about 12 years ago to be near their son Andrew, director of music at Winchester Cathedral.

Sir David Lumsden 1928-2023, RIP.

Selwyn College has announced that it is setting up an annual prize, along with a travel scholarship, in memory of the broadcaster Bill Turnbull who died last year.

Bill – a former BBC colleague of Selwyn’s Master, Roger Mosey – attended a number of events at the college over the years and gave talks about the media and his career. With the kind permission of his family, and backed by an initial five-figure donation, Selwyn will be establishing the Bill Turnbull Prize for Clinical Medicine which will be given to a student in the 4th to 6th years of their medicine course. Many of Selwyn’s students are based for some of their training at Ipswich Hospital, which was one of the places where Bill received care while being treated for prostate cancer.

The travel scholarship will recognise Bill’s love of the United States, where he served as a BBC correspondent in New York and then Washington. It will give £1000 each summer to students wanting to travel to the USA for the benefit of their academic work.

Sesi Turnbull, Bill’s widow, said: “Bill would be so honoured to be remembered with this prize and scholarship from Selwyn College. Throughout his life he had a strong connection with America, where we lived as a family for some years while he was working as a BBC correspondent. Towards the end of his life, after moving to Suffolk, Bill received outstanding care from Ipswich Hospital, for which we will always be grateful. It is wonderful to know that others will get the opportunity to broaden their studies in places which were so close to Bill’s heart.”

Roger Mosey, Master of Selwyn College, said: ”Bill became a great friend to Selwyn – visiting here often, and generously giving his time to talk to students about his career and how they might themselves go into journalism. I’m delighted that his name will now be permanently associated with a prize and with support for future generations of students.”   

For more details about the Bill Turnbull fund, please contact development@sel.cam.ac.uk

The photograph shows Bill with Selwyn students during a visit in 2016.

https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/joining-selwyn/undergraduates/access-and-outreach/summer-events

The president of Selwyn’s MCR for 2023 will be Joel Kandiah. The MCR represents our community of postgraduate students working towards higher degrees. It currently has around 330 members from various nationalities and educational backgrounds.

Joel is a 1st Year PhD student in Biostatistics. He previously attained his Master of Mathematics at the University of Warwick in 2021. Before arriving at Selwyn, Joel worked for UK Health Security Agency where he aided in predicting the numbers of national infections, hospitalisations and deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes Covid-19).

As president of the MCR, he will become a member of the college council and governing body, and a trustee of the college.

Three hostels at 29 and 31 Grange Road and 1 Selwyn Gardens (a recent purchase) have been handed back to the college after extensive refurbishment by contractors.

The work has included installing ground source heat pumps, underfloor heating and high-quality insulation to ensure that the properties are environmentally-friendly. They will provide more than 30 rooms for graduate students, and will be fully operational in the next academic year. In the meantime, they are available to book for bed and breakfast along with other rooms in the college site. Booking can be done online via https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/conferences/accommodation-booking; or for more information please contact conferences@sel.cam.ac.uk. All are welcome.

Our photographs show some of the bedrooms and bathrooms along with one of the kitchens and communal areas.

We’re very grateful to the alumni and friends who have made contributions to the project as part of our 140th anniversary appeal.

It has become a Selwyn tradition that we invite students to design the college Christmas card – and we’re delighted to share this year’s winning entry. It’s a painting of the chapel and one of our visiting foxes, and it was created by Frances Dixon who is a fourth-year student of veterinary medicine.

May we take this opportunity to wish all Selwyn students, staff, alumni and friends a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.