News In Brief

Award-winning success for the River Room

The River Room and North Range extension triumphed in the Best Conservation, Alteration, or Extension of an Existing Building (over £2m construction costs) category at the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards in March 2024.

The judges praised the River Room and North Range extension, acknowledging its significant contribution to Clare’s broader initiative to rejuvenate Old Court as the beating heart of the College and create communal spaces for students. They felt that the project, years in the making, was ‘both subtly elegant and visually striking’.

The judges commended the project for its ingenious use of previously overlooked spaces, resulting in the establishment of a new riverside café and improved accessibility to the public spaces within Old Court.

Clare members recognised in the New Year Honours

Congratulations to:

Maurice Biriotti (1984) was awarded an OBE for services to Business, to Academia and to Philanthropy. Maurice is a founding Trustee of The SHM Foundation and Chair of Medical Humanities and Enterprise at UCL, as well as a visiting Professor at Yale.

Elizabeth Hogben (1993) was awarded an OBE for services to Science in Government. Elizabeth is an experienced science adviser, supporting and informing policy development.

Stuart Murphy (1990) was awarded a CBE for services to Opera. Stuart has recently completed 5 years as CEO of the English National Opera, following a successful career in media, launching TV channels including BBC3 and Sky Atlantic.

Gillian Tett (1986) was awarded an OBE for services to Economic
Journalism. Gillian has recently become the 45th Provost of King’s College Cambridge, following a distinguished career at the
Financial Times.

Honouring Eric Ashby

The College’s striking portrait of Eric Ashby (Master 1959–1975)
by Bryan Organ is now proudly displayed in Hall, above the Gallery on the west wall. The picture is one of Clare’s most significant and valuable artworks. The Governing Body explained, ‘We consider that Eric Ashby earns his place in the Hall because of the reforms, overseen by him during his time as Master, which ushered the College into the modern age.’ He will be joined later this year by a newly commissioned portrait of the current Master, Loretta Minghella.

Professor Bill Harris

Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Fellow of Clare, Bill Harris was one of four 2023 inductees into the UK Ice Hockey Hall of Fame. Established in 1948, this recognises individuals who have rendered outstanding service to British ice hockey.

Professor Bill Harris has been largely responsible for maintaining, developing, co-ordinating and delivering the ice hockey programme in Cambridge for over a quarter of a century. He led a 22-year-long fund-raising campaign, turning the initial £1 million into £5.5 million, with £2.5 million donated by Cambridge University. The 1,000-capacity Cambridge Ice Arena – known locally as the Gattiker Ice Rink – was completed and opened in August 2019. It now hosts seven teams and is proving to be highly popular with the new generation of hockey players in Cambridgeshire.

Former Head Gardener, Brian Arbon dies aged 87

After a long illness, former Head Gardener, Brian Arbon, died in
November 2023. Brian joined the gardening team at Clare in 1951 at the tender age of 15 and ten years later became Head Gardener – a position he held for four decades until his retirement in 2001. He was responsible for preserving the special features in the Fellows’ Garden, and he took particular pride in establishing it as the best college garden in Cambridge. In recognition of his contribution to horticulture, Brian was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s medal for distinguished long service.

Alumnus takes pivotal role in the climate change agenda

In November 2023, Jim Skea CBE (1975) was elected Chair of the
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,) the United
Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Following his PhD in energy research at Cambridge, Jim moved
to the US to work on energy and environmental policy. He then
returned to the UK to take up various high profile roles both in
higher education institutions and national organisations, most
recently as Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London.

Jim is the co-author of several IPCC publications including the 2022 report on the Mitigation of Climate Change. He was awarded an OBE in 2004 and CBE in 2013 for his work on sustainable transport and sustainable energy.

Abigail Malortie appointed partner of the UK's oldest private bank

Abigail Malortie (2001) is a tenth-generation descendant of the founder of C. Hoare & Co., Sir Richard Hoare, and the 51st partner in the bank’s history. She joined the bank in 2020 and has held a wide range of roles in the Product, Risk, Private Banking, Finance and Treasury teams, as well as working with Messrs. Hoare Trustees Limited. Prior to joining the bank, Abigail worked as a strategy consultant in the private sector, and in Whitehall as a strategy adviser. She also has significant experience in the charitable sector, where she co-founded an educational charity, Centre for London.