Class Notes
Clare College

By Clare College

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Ed Gummow (1997) saw his company secure the UK MOD’s first Uncrewed Ground Vehicles contract, following over a decade of development, alongside plans for opening the UK's first dedicated UGV factory.

Ashley Saville (2017) has opened the Ashley Saville art gallery on London's Fleet Street.

Cordelia Williams (2006) will perform with violinist Tamsin Waley‑Cohen at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 6 June 2026 in a world‑premiere programme exploring music inspired by night and lullabies. The concert will feature a new work by Freya Waley‑Cohen alongside Dvořák’s Songs My Mother Taught Me, songs by Schubert and Brahms, Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel, Scriabin’s Nocturne in F‑sharp minor, and John Cage’s Nocturne.

Stephen Banfield (1969) performed in a monthly Matinee Organ Recital Series at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster in April 2026, giving a farewell solo concert. The recital was themed “Teachers and Pupils”, concluding with Toccata and Fugue by Patrick Gowers (Clare 1956), and was attended by several Clare alumni from 1969–70.

Maxine Taylor (1978) will host two art exhibitions in July 2026, one at West Dean, Sussex and another at the West Dean College London campus.

David Lehman (1970) won the 2025 New Criterion poetry prize for his book of sixty sonnets, "Ithaca." The volume was published by Criterion Books in February 2026.

David Quan 权丁文 (2020) was elected President of Oxford University Students' Union in February 2026.

Marcus Buck (2008) was elected in November 2025 to the National Trust’s governing Council, the main body responsible for making senior appointments to the Trust and overseeing its work.

Michael Blair (1959) was awarded the Order of Dostyk (Friendship) (2nd Class) by the Government of Kazakhstan in January 2022. The award recognised the promotion of international and civil consensus in society and the promotion of peace, friendship and cooperation between people.

2025

Ajay Close (1977) was awarded the Scottish Fiction Book of the Year for her novel What Doesn't Kill Us, in Scotland's National Book Awards.

Chris Swain (1973) was awarded the 2024 Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Exceptional Service.

Leonidas Cheliotis (2003) has has been promoted to a Full Professorship in the Department of Social Policy of the London School of Economics, having completed his MPhil in Criminological Research at Clare. He has also been appointed Co-Coordinator of the Society, Identity & Rights Cluster of LSE's newly revamped Hellenic Observatory.

Caroline Howe (2001) was listed in the ENDS Report Power List 2025 of the 100 most influential environmental professionals of 2025 and is one of 9 academics listed for her work with the British Ecological Society and IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). Caroline is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College and has been appointed Vice President and Trustee of the British Ecological Society.

Danny Driver (1995) performed his debut recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City earlier this year. Danny is also launching a five-concert 'Variations' series at Wigmore Hall opening in November with J S Bach's Goldberg Variations. He is also releasing a recording of J S Bach's Goldberg Variations at the end of September 2025 by Onyx Classics.

Tony Rollett (1973) was promoted to the rank of University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University last November. He was also awarded the FAME Award from the Solid Freeform Fabrication symposium in 2023 and the Bunge Award from the International Conference on Textures of Materials in July 2024.