St Catharine’s Fellows will be taking up senior positions at the British School at Rome, the University of Edinburgh and Trinity College, Cambridge from this summer.
Professor Abigail Brundin has been appointed on secondment from the University of Cambridge as the next Director of the British School at Rome (BSR). Professor Brundin will be the BSR’s first female Director, when she formally starts in September 2021. The directorship is due to last for up to 6 years, with Professor Brundin to return to Cambridge by 2028.
Professor Brundin joined St Catharine’s as a Junior Research Fellow in 2000. Within a few years, she was elected an Official Fellow of the College, and she is now Director of Studies in Modern & Medieval Languages and History & Modern Languages.
Professor Brundin commented, “I am honoured to be taking on the role of Director of the British School at Rome, to lead this valued institution into the next phase of its long and distinguished history. While I will be departing from Cambridge for a few years, I will retain strong links with the University and with St Catharine’s, not least via the many ongoing research collaborations between Cambridge researchers and the BSR across disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences.”
Professor Sir Mark Welland, Master of St Catharine’s, remarked, “It is my great pleasure to welcome the BSR Council’s decision to appoint Professor Brundin as their new Director, which reinforces her position as a leading scholar of Italian culture and literature. This secondment undoubtedly enhances the international reputation of the St Catharine’s Fellowship and adds to the growing list of accolades achieved by former Junior Research Fellows who benefited from College’s support at the start of their academic careers.”
Professor Brundin is preparing to take up her secondment as Director of the British School at Rome.
Dr Jerome Neufeld has been elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, effective from 1 October 2021. Dr Neufeld has been a member of St Catharine’s since 2009 when, like Professor Brundin, he was offered a Junior Research Fellowship. His new position will allow him to align his College and Departmental teaching responsibilities at the interface between mathematics and its application within the natural sciences, as already embodied in his role as Reader in Earth and Planetary Fluid Dynamics, a University position jointly held between the BP Institute, Department of Earth Sciences, and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.
Dr Neufeld said, “I have enormously enjoyed my time at St Catharine’s, and it is with no small amount of sadness I move onto new pastures. St Catharine’s is the Cambridge college I have academically grown up in, first as a Junior Research Fellow, and lately as an Official Fellow and Director of Studies in Physics. It has been a wonderfully engaging and supportive community, from the two exceptional Masters I have experienced, to the brilliantly warm and stimulating fellowship, and the fantastic student body. I will miss it greatly, and hope to be able to return to visit on occasion.”
Drs Neufeld and Candy will be leaving St Catharine's this summer.
Dr Peter Candy will also be leaving St Catharine’s from 31 July to take up his new role as Fellow in Roman Law and European Legal History at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Candy was elected as a College Teaching and Research Fellow in Law when he joined St Catharine’s in 2019, and has since served the College community as Sir John Baker College Lecturer and Research Fellow in Law, Director of Studies in Law, and Tutor.
Dr Candy recalled, “In taking up a fellowship at St Catharine’s in 2019, I joined a scholarly community committed to excellence in teaching and research. During my time at the college, I have not only had the opportunity to develop as a scholar, but to teach a cohort of brilliant students in an intellectually stimulating environment. Their fortitude and resilience during this challenging period has been an inspiration to me, and I wish both my colleagues and students all the best for the future.”
Sir Mark added, “On behalf of the St Catharine’s community, I want to wish Jerome and Peter the very best of luck in their new roles. Jerome has been an outstanding colleague in all respects and his effervescent company will be missed. Peter’s generosity with his expertise and words of encouragement has been appreciated enormously by students, staff and Fellows alike. I sincerely hope they will both stay in touch so we can share in their future successes, of which I’m certain there will be many.”
The College looks forward to welcoming eight new Fellows at the start of the next academic year. Among this group will be Dr Liana Chua and further details about these elections will be confirmed before the start of Michaelmas Term.
