A Year in Review 2022
Throughout 2022 we have published more than 300 news items and features on our website, celebrating academic and professional achievements, sporting accomplishments, new publications, musical events, diversity, inclusion, and great lives well lived. It is always such a pleasure to hear about the amazing achievements of our extended Univ family and an even greater pleasure to share them with you.
Below you will find Univ’s Year in Review, which brings together all we have achieved as a College family; with the obvious exception of some of our sadder announcements, we hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed writing it.
January
Dr Antone Martinho-Truswell (2015, DPhil Zoology)
Our year started with the news that Valerie Amos, Master of Univ, had been made a Lady Companion to the Noble Order of the Garter, Britain’s highest order of chivalry, whilst Avin Rabheru (2001, PPE), Housekeep founder and CEO, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship and digital innovation.
The first of our new series of student-led reviews, Helen of Troy by Bettany Hughes, was published online and we were delighted to report that Jess Steadman (2020, English) had been appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Blue.
In other journalistic news we announced that Dr Antone Martinho-Truswell (2015, DPhil Zoology), former Junior Dean, had written a book, The Parrot in the Mirror, based on his DPhil research.
Read all of our January news.
February
Professor Tamsin Mather
In February Godwin Ogbole, Associate Professor of Radiology, arrived on a six-month visit to the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, as part of the Africa Oxford Initiative. He was attached to University College and hosted by Professor Peter Jezzard, Vice Master.
Sage Goodwin (2017, DPhil History) designed a Valentine’s Day card for sale in Sainsbury’s and Professor Tamsin Mather, Supernumerary Fellow in Earth Sciences, became the new chair of the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group.
College was also delighted to report that David Frederick (1983, Politics), a prominent appellate attorney in Washington, D.C., was appointed as a University College Foundation Fellow in recognition of his exceptional support of the College.
Read all of our February news.
March
Stavs’ orchard
At the start of March we marked International Women’s Day and celebrated Dr Sonja C Vernes (2003, DPhil Medicine), one of just nine scientists across the UK to be recognised in the prestigious 2022 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Many of our extended Univ family joined our Head of Grounds Maintenance, Robbie Eason, our Head Gardener, Bruce Taylor, and their team to help rejuvenate the Victorian orchard at Stavs and, in our latest Sustainability News story, Elizabeth Adams, Univ’s Librarian, reported on working with the Oxford Conservation Volunteers.
Read all of our March news.
April
Daisy the cockapoo
April began with a true shaggy-dog story as we celebrated National Pet Day with a gallery of (mostly) furry gallery from Univ staff and students.
The latest edition of The Martlet was published online, as was the UCBC newsletter, and we also celebrated the fact that Stefan Dascalu (2018, DPhil Bioscience – Interdisciplinary Bioscience (BBSRC DTP)) was awarded the Order of the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs; one of the highest distinctions of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
In other alumni news, NASA awarded a prestigious astrophysics research fellowship to Dr Ryan MacDonald (2011, Physics).
On April 27 over 100 students of different faiths and none gathered at University College, Oxford, to celebrate an interfaith iftar.
Read all of our April news.
May
Team Univ in Main Quad
The first Univ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Day took place on 6 May to celebrate College’s diversity and help set the College’s EDI agenda.
Team Univ was back on form on Sunday 8 May with more than 60 staff, students and alumni tackling the Oxford Town and Gown 10k, and in more academic-mode we celebrated the virtual unveiling ceremony of the CAMS Oxford Institute with Professor Tao Dong, Univ Supernumerary Fellow, named as the director of the new institute.
UCBC had a fantastic week at Summer Eights, with the highlight being W1 taking the Summer Eights headship for the first time in history.
Read all of our May news.
June
Rebecca Colquhoun
In June we were delighted to report that Professor Laura Herz, Supernumerary Fellow in Physics, had won the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Mid-Career Award, whilst Rebecca Colquhoun (2020, DPhil in Earth Sciences), Disability and Accessibility Officer, was highly commended in the Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Awards.
On 13 June we welcomed our Master Valerie Amos’ Investiture and Installation to the Order of the Garter, becoming the first black person to be appointed to the Order.
At the end of the month College published its sustainability action plan, with a range of ideas and suggestions for a greener Univ life.
Read all of our June news.
July
Valerie Amos with David Frederick and his wife Sophie Lynn
July began with some very big news as we were able to report that College was to receive an unprecedented $35 million to support completion of Univ North, thanks to the innovative financing arrangement from philanthropist David Frederick (1983, Politics). Just two weeks later we also reported that Univ had been awarded up to £230,000 from the Wolfson Foundation towards Univ North.
Professor Barry Potter, Univ Supernumerary Fellow in Pharmacology, was formally awarded his honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Bath, and Univ marked the bicentenary of the death of Percy Bysshe Shelley (matr. 1810) with a short conference, “Shelley Remembered: The Posthumous Creation of a Poet.”
Read all of our July news.
August
Alex Benn
During August The Split, the latest novel by Amanda Brookfield (1979, English), Univ’s Visitor in the Creative Arts 2018-19, was published, as was Babel by OM Rebecca Kuang (2019, MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies).
In academic news we were excited to announce that Alex Benn (2018, Law), Senior Lecturer in Law, has set up a new module with the Law Faculty, “Hate Crime and Discrimination”, and that Professor Daniel Freeman, Supernumerary Fellow in Psychiatry, had been elected as a 2022 Fellow of the British Academy.
In the latest of our Then and Now features we explored one of the most unusual episodes in the history of Radcliffe Quad…
Read all of our August news.
September
The Queen with our then Master, Lord Butler of Brockwell in 1999.
On 8 September College joined with the nation in recording with deep regret the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We also said a very sad farewell to our much-loved colleague Dr Mike Nicholson.
Univ appeared on University Challenge and, on Sunday 11 September we welcomed almost 2,000 visitors to College as part of this year’s Open Doors celebration.
We welcomed our new Interim Development Director, Rebecca Baxter, and JCR and WCR presidents – Shermar Pryce and Michael Hutchinson wrote welcome letters to our new students.
Read all of our September news.
October
1972 Golden Reunion
We started October with two reports from OMs on recent alumni events, with Dr Lexie Elliott (1994, Physics) writing about the 1993-1996 Gaudy, and Nigel Wood (1972, English) writing about the 1972 Golden Reunion. We were also able to introduce everyone to the new UCBC Committee 2022-23 and extended a very warm welcome to Professor Mathias Thoenig, the first Centenary Visiting Professor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford.
Online it was a busy month in publishing various Graduate travel reports, which included Northern Protestant missionaries research, fieldwork in Zimbabwe, and the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference.
On 26 October, we held the latest instalment of Global Conversations from Univ with Baroness Amos in conversation with António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Finally for the month, we also published this Year’s College Record online.
Read all of our October news.
November
Ruqayah Juyel (2017, Law) our first ever Profile interviewee
At the start of November Dr Robin Darwall-Smith (1982, Classics), Univ’s Archivist, spoke at an event exploring the future of digital archives in Oxford, whilst in Univ North news we were delighted to report that SDC had been selected as the likely preferred construction contractor.
The Chapel Choir, Martlet Voices and guest instrumentalist, Richard Tunnicliffe (cello) came together for Songs of Hope in Times of Oppression, a programme of music inspired by war.
We showcased a 2022 selection publications from both our academics and OMs and also celebrated the online publication of our 150th Profile Feature.
Read all of our November news.
December
December began cold but suitably festive with Carols in the Quad returning for a second year and filling College with light, music and voice… On a similar theme we also shared our Univ music for Christmas 2022, featuring 35 seasonal recordings courtesy of our Chapel Choir, Community Choir, and the Martlet Voices.
Continuing with Christmas (what else would we do in December?) our final Treasure of the year explored a collection of correspondence about the Christmas and New Year parties held by Univ’s servants between 1932 and 1937.
Elsewhere we looked back at a year of undergraduate travel reports from Iraq and Tbilisi to Luxor and Umbria; and on the water we celebrated all-things UCBC with their MT 2022 newsletter.
Read all of our December news.
We greatly encourage and warmly welcome all news – large or small – as we move into 2023, so please share it with us so that we may share it with all; E: communications@univ.ox.ac.uk
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Sara, Ariane & Justin – Team Comms
Published: 23 December 2022
Explore Univ on social media
