intouch autumn 2012

A cautious sense of optimism is spreading across Myanmar, better known as Burma. There have

been peaceful, open elections in recent months, and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has travelled abroad to meet with world leaders.

Thanks in part to Dr Phillip Ambler, several thousand Burmese are seeing this quiet revolution with their own eyes.

For more than two decades, Dr Ambler has travelled to Burma at least twice annually to perform sight-restoring surgery for impoverished

glaucoma. A GP for most of his career

job was in St Thomas’ Eye Department and he has remained active in ophthalmology.

Dr Ambler saw a Christian Medical Fellowship advert seeking physicians to provide medical care for Burmese refugees. He signed up with Consultant Eye Surgeon Frank

Green, and the two of them have been

in a portion of Burma held by pro-democracy forces, but the ruling military junta took control of that

operated in clinics along the Burmese-Thai border, usually for two weeks at a time.

Small incision cataract surgery – inserting a plastic lens into the eye – is the most common procedure. While Dr Ambler is trained to lead on several types of eye operations, this is not one of them, so he assists Dr Green. They

In the service of society

perform the operation quickly and with minimal equipment, up to

‘Eye surgery lends itself to this type of work. You can go in for two weeks and accomplish quite a lot,’ he says.

The Burmese government has been aware of the clinics for many years but hasn’t hassled Dr Ambler and his colleagues. ‘They probably respect that we’re not a political organisation.’ In fact, he and Dr Green aren’t really part of any organisation. Although they

formed a small charity called Karenaid – named in honour of Burma’s Karen ethnic minority – they prefer to link up with on-the-ground organisations such as the International Rescue Committee, Malteser International and Médicins sans Frontières.

Expressions of gratitude come in the form of modest, heartfelt gifts, such as a jar of honey or a woven shirt.

‘The people themselves are so inspiring. They possess a remarkable gentleness and fortitude. We’re lifted up by them.’

The people themselves are so inspiring

ContentsPage 4

Vision and hope in Burma

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2 IN TOUCH AUTUMN 2012 AUTUMN 2012 IN TOUCH 3

PhD law student Katherine Grainger, left, already Great Britain’s most successful female rower, brought home gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Having won silver medals at Sydney, Athens and Beijing, Grainger and her rowing partner Anna Watkins captured gold in the women’s double sculls at Eton Dorney. The pair won in dominating fashion before

a thunderous home crowd, pulling away from the competition

seconds ahead of the Australian runners-up. Grainger and Watkins are undefeated in their 23 races together.

What about Rio in 2016? Will

Grainger isn’t saying yet.

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IN TOUCH

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Jim Winslett

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In Touch

In Touch

Belfast;


Much has been written in the past year about changes to how the

higher education. Government funding for teaching in English

cent, and beginning this autumn undergraduate students from the UK and other EU countries are

Less has been written about how universities are helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Because we are committed to equal access, universities such as ours clearly must develop a suite of programmes that will help talented young adults who come from families with

performing schools.The principle of equal access to higher education

has always been a central part of King’s mission.

a degree through evening study, dating back

many of our peers. In recent years, we have launched innovative

initiatives such as our successful Extended Medical

disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to

Students in the programme must pass all

assessments at the same level as other students,

follow the same course and must reach the same pass standard in degree examinations.

The Extended Medical Degree Programme

several hundred highly talented doctors. It has been praised by Universities Minister David Willetts and also by former Labour Minister Alan Milburn.

Our Dental Institute is now introducing a similar scheme: King’s Enhanced Support Dentistry Programme. The course is similar to the standard

provides additional help to the student. Entrants to this programme will come from widening participation schools linked to King’s, or schools

with low achievements in

At the same time, our

aid programme means that by

undergraduate students will

towards tuition fees or living costs, and some students will not pay any tuition fees at all.

The generosity of alumni and friends is an important part of

bursaries established by alumni

you to consider how you can invest in the future of our students.

Together we can ensure that no student with

will be denied entry because of his or her

Professor Sir Richard Trainor

Equal access is a central part of King’s mission

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King’s is committed to welcoming every student with the ability to succeed

From the Principal

King’s students help London youths learn how to save lives

In a warm, humid secondary school gymnasium in Southwark, three King’s students slowly and precisely explain each step in performing CPR.

The two dozen girls gathered in the St Saviour’s & St Olave’s School gym watch intently. A few nervous laughs erupt as they pair up and take turns pumping the manikins’ clicking chests

lips – with a King’s student guiding each girl through the procedure. There are many questions and a genuine interest in getting it right. Maybe one of these girls will one day save somebody’s life.

In fact, one student from this very school did exactly that a few years ago, treating someone who had collapsed at a bus stop.

organisation called Saving Londoners’ Lives. It’s a society that brings medical and nursing students from King’s and

primary schools across London. Pupils

CPR, recovery position and DR ABC (danger, response, airway, breathing

student Natali Vigneswaran is the organisation’s President.

‘We are trained personally by the London Ambulance, who are volunteers of St John Ambulance, twice a year at King’s, to ensure all members have the same level of teaching,’ says Vigneswaran. Since

as lead instructors; the university students provide assistance and often connect with the pupils in a way teachers can’t. ‘When we explain it, we explain it in their language,’ she says.

Androulla Kouppas, Assistant Head at St Saviour’s & St Olave’s, says the girls sit up and take notice when

someone from outside teaches a class. ‘They respond well to having other people coming in,’ she says, ‘rather than it being taught by the same faces they see day in and day out.’ As an

get to see poised young adults, often women, who are pursuing careers in medicine and nursing.

‘My favourite memory is from my

Vigneswaran. ‘I remember being really anxious about whether I would be a good enough trainer for the pupils, but I had a really receptive group that listened to every word and perfected

when some of students asked if I was coming back next week, and I couldn’t believe how much of an impact I seemed to have made.’

are now part of Saving Londoners’ Lives. Vigneswaran says the group

+44 (0)20 7848 4701

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King’s Policy Institute is building a bridge between academics and policymakers in the UK and beyond

From theory to practice

Update


Silence is golden If The Artist

As Chair of King’s Policy Institute, Nick Butler, a former economic and business policy adviser to Gordon Brown, explains, one of the Institute’s major challenges is to cut through the myriad urgent issues to focus on areas where King’s can have most impact

everything,’ he says. ‘So we prioritise areas where there’s a good match between unresolved policy issues and King’s expertise.’

The Policy Institute was set up to provide a swift response to pressing political, economic and social issues, bringing King’s unbiased expertise to leading policymakers in the UK and beyond. With the eurozone in crisis, it’s no surprise that Europe is currently at the top of the agenda. Two current

defence and security, are providing unique opportunities for academics,

politicians and policymakers to share ideas. New French president Francois Hollande came to the Institute in February while still a candidate. Dominique Moisi, founder of the French Institute of International Relations, and Sir Nigel Sheinwald, former British ambassador to Brussels, are visiting professors.

The Institute’s agenda includes three other priority areas. Professor Alison Wolf of the Management Department is looking at the future of universities, while Bill Park of the Defence Studies Department is focusing on how Turkey manages the tensions between Muslim traditions and growing Western

the Institute’s Director, is leading work on the future of defence policy in times of austerity.

Another important aspect of the Institute’s work involves raising the

Coming soon: a revamped website and digital In Touch

a new website for alumni, providing you with a fuller picture of what’s taking place across our campuses and within the alumni community.

As part of this overhaul, we are going In Touch in an electronic

version – an important change for alumni living overseas, as it can sometimes take two or more weeks for the magazine to reach your home.

Of course, even if you live in the UK, you might prefer to read the magazine on your iPad (or other tablet), computer or handheld.

The electronic version of In Touch

hidden gems’. These include groups such as the International Centre for Security Analysis, led by Dr Joanna Kidd, which specialises in open source data gathering. ‘They’re doing great work, including on Iran and nuclear proliferation,’ Butler says. ‘Now we

knowledge and skills beyond the academic arena.’

The Institute is keen to attract support for future projects. ‘The key criterion is a close match between our academic work and the interests of any external sponsors,’ says Butler. ‘Take Europe. So many jobs depend on what happens in the eurozone and there are

from a proper analysis of what’s happening there. That’s the kind of partnership we’re interested in.’

Butler is also looking to build links within King’s. ‘A big part of our remit is to reach out and work with people right across the College. Health, law – there are so many areas that overlap

taught me the value of embracing new ideas and knowledge. That’s exactly what we’re doing at King’s – drawing on our collective expertise to shape the agenda and directly tackle some of the biggest issues facing us today.’To learn more about the Institute, email Butler at [email protected] or Professor Uttley at [email protected]

It will conserve resources; by printing fewer magazines we’ll save vast amounts of paper annually

You’ll have the magazine in your hands much sooner

It will save the College thousands of pounds, meaning we can redirect that money to other priorities

happen? Please email us at InTouch@

to let us know that you want to receive In Touch electronically. The digital version of In Touch will have all of the articles, news and class notes of the printed magazine, plus added bonuses, such as links to videos.

Hugo

Dracula

montage

Most people have seen The Cabinet of Dr Caligari or Battleship Potemkin, usually in an educational setting. Great

give the impression that silent cinema is a rather intellectual, avant garde art form. In fact, as the dominant mass entertainment of its day, silent cinema can be as dumb, as thrilling, as funny

or action blockbuster.Thanks to The Artist, there are more

big screen than there used to be, and – crucially – accompanied by live music. In London, BFI Southbank and the Cinema Museum have regular screenings, and you can learn about events at other venues by visiting www.silentlondon.co.uk. If you can’t get to the cinema, here are some suggestions for your DVD wish list.

So many areas overlap with policy-making

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Michael Luck Immersed in a science that touches us every day

We’re trying to address the societal challenges

The particle predicted by Professor Peter

now what does it do?

The start of a new chapter

Update

8 IN TOUCH AUTUMN 2012 AUTUMN 2012 IN TOUCH

We’rto adthe schall

research is limitless. The easy answer is that it’s evolving continuously, dramatically and very, very rapidly.

In ways that we don’t even think about: mobile phones, TV, internet, Facebook, apps, electronic payments, etc. But the changes are only seen when things go wrong, like the recent problems with computer failures at NatWest.

Well, we’re recruiting, and we hope

to address societal challenges, working on interdisciplinary projects with

security, for example. It’s here that

It’s easy to forget to unwind, but I try to ensure that I watch my football team, Chelsea, on TV when they are playing. I inherited this allegiance from my father, and this year we’re both delighted that they are European champions. Apart from that, we have a really good atmosphere in the department, and I often hang out with our PhD students for a few drinks on a Friday evening.

Informatics is concerned with the study of the representation, storage, processing and communication of

aspects, including computer science,

bioinformatics. In the Department of Informatics at King’s, we’re working on fundamental challenges and problems in all of these areas, as well as their application to biological sciences,

We believe we’re strong in all of our areas, but we’ve just recruited the

group in the country, giving us a unique

expertise in the area of intelligent systems and robots. We’re also developing some of the most advanced algorithms for bioinformatics.

computing is everywhere. Even our credit cards have chips these days, and the potential for exploitation of our

discoveries typically lead to more questions. So while physicists cheered in early July when they learned of the

boson, the inevitable question followed: what next?

predicted the existence of a property that binds all matter, scientists at the CERN laboratory announced that

certain they had found the particle in July of this year. The historic announcement in Geneva came in a progress report from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator.

‘It’s the end of one chapter in particle physics and the start of another,’ says Dr Malcolm Fairbairn, who works in the College’s Theoretical Particle Physics & Cosmology Group. ‘We don’t know what comes next.’

Dr Fairbairn said the discovery could well help physicists understand knotty questions such as why there is more

study particle interactions involving the Higgs boson at the LHC, we are probing the conditions which existed

The next stage is to study this particle

predicted it should do, or something else, which of course would be even more interesting.’ Professor Higgs predicted that there must be a property – some have termed it ‘cosmic treacle’

particles with mass, or else all particles would remain massless and race

through space at the speed of light.The hunt for the Higgs boson – a

boson is a type of subatomic particle –

challenges of the past half century. Scientists announced to the world

certain they have found a new particle.

which describes all of the particles and forces in the universe.

community have heaped praise on Professor Higgs, with some calling for him to receive a knighthood or other recognition. Following the announcement at CERN, Cambridge Professor Stephen Hawking told the BBC that he believes Professor Higgs deserves the Nobel Prize, but also conceded that discovery of the particle

physicist that it wouldn’t be found.Despite losing this bet, Professor

Hawking acknowledged the Higgs

opening of the Paralympic Games. As the centre of the Olympic Stadium morphed into the LHC, he said, ‘The recent discovery of what looks like the Higgs particle is a triumph of human endeavour and international collaboration. It will change our perception of the world.’

Dr Fairbairn hopes the Higgs boson

of many great Large Hadron Collider discoveries. ‘This is just the beginning of the LHC. They’re still tuning the thing.’

We don’t know what comes next

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thousands of laughs, the three members of Instant Sunshine continue to poke gentle fun at all that is English.

Instant Sunshine comprises three doctors who graduated from St

of a certain age’, they are Peter Christie (guitar, trumpet and ukulele), David Barlow (guitar, mouth organ and

(bells, whistles and assorted bird noises). Happily orbiting on the fringes of the show business universe, they’ve

squeezing performances into evenings and weekends.

stage, singing at a Mayfair restaurant

pounds a night and a free meal,’ he recalls. They premiered at St Thomas’

an act which had cancelled due to the

Bring You Sunshine’, led to their name.

as ‘quintessentially English – slightly

We go down rather well with British

More precisely, we remind them

‘We never intended this to be anything but a hobby,’ says Christie.

became a quartet with the addition of double bass player and humourist Miles Kington and found themselves voted ‘Hit of the Fringe’ at the

Stop the Week

with Robert Robinson. The programme posed a rigorous weekly challenge: to prepare a song relevant to the discussion without being told the topic until a day or two before recording. As songwriter, Christie often had less

lyrics, all the while still seeing patients.The constant time pressures on

writing and rehearsing have given their performances a ‘slightly impromptu’ style, Christie says. ‘But this is part of our act. We’re not – ’

‘Luckily, most people think we put the mistakes in deliberately,’ says Christie.

Instant Sunshine recorded several albums at Abbey Road and travelled to New York to perform at a small theatre in Greenwich Village, receiving rave reviews. This led to an invitation to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, America’s

Due to their day jobs, they declined, becoming quite possibly the only band ever to turn down an opportunity

to perform on Carson’s show.‘That’s NHS loyalty for you,’

But they did perform for the Royals. Booked to sing at Badminton House, they were surprised to learn at the last minute that Her Majesty The Queen and several members of the royal family were in the small audience. The Duke of Beaufort introduced them as ‘Immediate Sunshine’.

the original three are now supported

on double bass. Instant Sunshine are celebrating

Greenwood Theatre, Guy’s Campus. To book tickets for their November concert, visit www.ticketweb.co.uk or

Let the sun shine

For most of the past half century, the Quadrangle tucked between the King’s Building and Somerset House East Wing has sported a coat of macadam and served as a car and bicycle park. Not surprisingly, it hasn’t been the most popular place to mix and mingle.

And on stormy days, students and

have endured steady streams of rainwater leaking through the ceilings.

As In Touch went to press, the College was about to select an

renovation of the Quad, turning the heart of the campus into an

The Guardian

Interview with the Vampire

The Observer

The Quad will soon be a place to meet and greet

Car park to showcase

aesthetically pleasing ‘learning commons’ for members of the King’s community and the general public. Designed correctly, the Quad will

without feeling crowded, says Oluchi Uduku, Senior Project Manager for the College. ‘If you think of South Bank on a sunny day, there’s so much happening and yet people can still move around easily,’ she says.

consultation, to learn how students

design competition through the Royal Institute of British Architects. The

concepts were on display for viewing through the latter half of August.

In addition to transforming the Quad into a handsome space where

project will provide an additional

and student facilities.

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Campaign Update


The period immediately before, during and after birth is a critical window for future health. What happens to babies at this time can have a profound impact on the rest of their lives. For example, lack of oxygen around the time of birth – or birth asphyxia – accounts for about

developed world. Heart disease and meningitis in the newborn period can cause brain damage, and autism and ADHD can also develop at this time.

Foundation has an impressive track record of supporting research in this crucial area and recently agreed to fund important research at King’s new Centre for the Developing Brain. The Centre is led by Professor David Edwards, who came to King’s in

Weston Neonatal Research Group at Imperial College. Professor Edwards’

successful treatment for birth asphyxia, which is now in use throughout the

NHS and around the world. Now that Professor Edwards and

King’s, they will be able to draw on the College’s expertise in neuroscience and paediatrics and build links – for example, with colleagues in the Institute of Psychiatry – to expand their work in areas such as autism. New projects are planned, including

treated as newborns and extending MRI capabilities to improve the diagnosis and care of autism and ADHD.

will support one of the Centre’s key priorities – to engage with parents and children, and help them play an active role in the research.

Research Programme, we can make sure that we are addressing the problems that really matter to families,’ says Guy Weston, chairman of the

Professor Edwards and his team can gain a better understanding of how treatments work, so the

interventions and help more children to lead healthier lives.’

King’s is at the forefront of dental education in the UK and beyond.

The GuardianInstitute trains one in four dentists in the UK and provides professional training for practitioners in nearly

its innovative online learning.

The Maurice Wohl General Dental Practice Centre, which opened in

the success of the Institute with its commitment to excellence in teaching and learning, supporting research that

students the opportunity to train in

Wohl, a successful property developer turned philanthropist, supported a wide range of causes during his lifetime

but always took a particular interest in dentistry at King’s.

‘Maurice Wohl was always very aware of the excellent work of the Centre and the high regard in which it was held by its patients,’ says Nairn Wilson, former Dean of the Dental Institute. ‘Occasionally, patients would inadvertently telephone his business

or extol the Centre’s virtues. Maurice Wohl would always listen patiently and with amusement before putting them

Now, the foundation’s trustees are building on that legacy by providing further generous support. The Maurice Wohl Chair in Primary Dental Care and Advanced Dental Practice will be named in perpetuity, while students

supported by the new Vivienne Wohl PhD Studentship will help to train general dental practitioners in research skills, as well as pursuing their own research. The Centre’s aim is to

based clinical research and building a robust evidence base, enhancing both patient experience and outcomes.

Strengthening the link between academics and practitioners is an essential part of the Dental Institute’s

practice research network that brings together researchers from across the UK and internationally. Working alongside practitioners will also create opportunities for research to take place

the materials and techniques being developed will eventually be used.

As a young woman Sheila Doak (née Charter) hoped to become a doctor. Immediately after the Second World War, however, with thousands

universities, few medical schools were accepting women.

As an option, Doak came to King’s and studied natural sciences. With her degree in hand, she accepted a job at the Chester Beatty Institute for Cancer Research. Her major project was based on the need to understand how the lives of heavily irradiated individuals could be prolonged, brought home by the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From those early days, research progressed rapidly and now bone marrow and organ transplants are everyday occurrences.

She says King’s gave her the

that has lasted a lifetime. Today,

of cytogenetics, analysing cell cultures for chromosome abnormalities. ‘I have my microscope and although my mobility is now limited, my eyesight still allows me to make the most of my skills and knowledge.’

Doak says her King’s education shaped her interests, skills and professional life, and therefore helped her overcome inevitable bumps on the long road of life. In gratitude to her College, Doak has been supporting King’s for many years. Moreover, she has pledged a gift to the College in her will.

‘My means are very modest, but King’s has always been important to me and I would like to help in whatever

way I can,’ she says. ‘There are thousands of us alumni, and our gifts add up. So I feel that my bequest to my alma mater is the best way to give future generations of young people the same start in life that I had all these years ago and the same satisfying career that I still have.’

One of the misconceptions surrounding legacies is that it’s a means for only the wealthy to give – which simply is not true. Through the generosity and foresight of people like Sheila Doak, the cumulative impact

Legacies can support scholarships, medical and other research, student societies and a nearly endless range of projects that enrich students’ learning, research, cultural and career opportunities. Relatively small amounts of money make a tremendous

MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology were able to explore

anatomy teaching. Finally, legacy gifts to the College

themselves. Under UK inheritance tax

into consideration the value of their home, car, savings, pensions and personal belongings, many people have an estate that exceeds this amount. By leaving a portion of their estate

King’s, UK residents can reduce their inheritance tax burden. Financial planning is a personal matter. However, if you have questions about where to turn for planning help, please contact Legacy Manager Elena

[email protected]

committed to future generations of students

Legacies:

the wealthy

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opera and more to King’sacademic programmes and student activities possible

Alumni support continues to provide a rich mix of academic programmes and student activities.

The Annual Fund, made possible through the generosity of alumni and friends, touches the lives of students on every campus, every year, making innovative academic programmes and popular student activities possible.

Over the years, donors to the Annual Fund have brought music to the

teaching techniques, helped students

clubs – in short, some of the most enriching and memorable experiences for students.

Annual Fund grants, distributing more

and academic programmes to improve curricular and extracurricular activities,

From women’s rugby to medical

manikins to a trilogy of Shakespearean parodies, the Annual Fund provided

of projects. Three examples:

establish a Moot Library, comprising reference materials that will help law students prepare for mooting competitions. These competitions – highly contested and realistically simulated court proceedings – provide excellent experience for students. The Dickson Poon School of Law has recorded several successes in moot competitions over the years; students staged a brief moot for Her Majesty The Queen during her February visit.

Department to establish a series of readings that will bring six prominent

helping to further establish the College as a hub for modern writing and performance. ‘Novelists at King’s will act as a creative resource for current students and academics at King’s, provide a focus for alumni engagement within the life of the College, and will reach out to the wider community,’ says Professor Andrew O’Hagan. ‘None of the London colleges has found a way to celebrate the art of writing as we can do here at King’s with this initiative, and I

platform.’Students will be involved in

designing the programme, liaising with novelists and organising the events.

allow the student opera company

academic year. The grant will help the company lease a venue, purchase costumes and props and develop publicity and programmes, complementing the College’s emphasis on bringing a wider range of cultural activities to the campuses.

‘King’s Opera provides a rare opportunity for young instrumentalists to play in an opera,’ said Imogen Rose Burgess, President of the King’s Opera Committee. ‘There are a number of chamber ensembles as well as the university symphony orchestra for King’s students, but no other means by which a classical orchestra can get experience in being the backbone of an operatic production, a skill they can take into their future careers not only as instrumentalists, but essential to any career where teamwork and coordination are paramount to success.’

created a series of successful businesses

questions|King’s

Campaign Update


£1 million and counting

Members of the College’s giving circles have invested in the future of King’s

donations.

of students, in every school and on each campus. Circle donors have funded scholarships, grants for students

needed kit for sporting clubs. Such gifts

opportunities that do not occur elsewhere, and, in turn, the students learn valuable skills that enable them to

Given the seismic changes in how the government funds higher education, the circles are now an especially important way for alumni to give back in recognition of their time as a student.

austerity, I’m proud to help keep King’s a global centre of excellence and return the enormous contribution the College has played in my life for the generations of students to come,’ says Robin Taher

Starting with eight individuals in

College through the circles during the past six years.

Three of the circles – the Principal’s, Medical and Dental Circles – honour

or more in a single year to the College. Twenty per cent of circle members

‘The growth of the circles in south east

the issues King’s is tackling. The circles are becoming a truly global community,’ says Dr Yee Cheau

To learn more about the circles, please

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Douglas HoweGuy’s, Dentistry, 1937

After qualifying, Douglas Howe went directly into the Royal Navy. He had several assignments during the war, sailing with a battleship and a submarine depot ship. He received a permanent commission after the war and retired as a surgeon-captain.

I was appointed to a battleship in Barham. I joined her

in Portsmouth and we went straight out to the Mediterranean. Going into action I teamed up with the medicos. I was in charge of stretcher parties around the ship.

home from the Mediterranean and

a German raider got out.

I was in my cabin at the time when we were hit. The cabin I was

the bowels of the ship. It was a

happened. I rushed out of my cabin because I wanted to see daylight. A vertical ladder goes up the four

with an increasing number of chaps trying to get on it. After a while we were all sitting on each other’s shoulders going up this ladder. The chap who was in front suddenly yelled out when his head

he ended up still sitting on the shoulders of the chap below him while the chap was walking on

Unfortunately we lost four men. They were down in the

was it for them. It took four days to get back

dock that could take us at that time. I was relieved from the Barham then – I’d done my two years. I went to the Royal Marine

of the Battle of Britain. I came out

went belting along a corridor to get to underground air raid shelters. I came up against a beam. They had reinforced the ceilings. I didn’t know this. I had only joined them in the afternoon. I hit my head

I wouldn’t be here. Little things like that would cheer you up.

London wasn’t in London;

to Bristol. Guy’s Hospital was treating patients at its home by London

had been relocated to Tunbridge Wells.

had sent its students to Surrey.

shared memories of life during the Second World War with In Touch in recent months.

generation ignored the destruction around them as best they could. Most of them

sport and theatre and lost countless hours

The stories here are not intended to paint

we asked alumni to share their most potent memories from those years.

stories collected during the past few months on these pages – there were simply too

longer versions of the recollections on these

We invite you to share your wartime

university student or adult during the war.

recollections to the website. Please email them to [email protected] or post them to In Touch,

we thank all of these alumni for sharing

to share yours. James Bressor, EditorPhotography by Michael Donald

REMEMBERING THE

WARAUTUMN 2012 17 16 AUTUMN 2012

Shyam SarwalKing’s, Engineering, 1944

Shyam Sarwal left India on

the UK and France declared war on Germany. As a King's student in Bristol, he founded a youth organisation that participated

and destruction of air raids.

I booked my passage for England on a merchant ship coming from Australia. It was on the second

I had made all my preparations.

the centre of India. I travelled all the way south to Bombay to catch this ship.

a telegram from the maharajah of the kingdom of Bikaner – where we lived and who had given me a scholarship to come to England

do not go against the wishes of the

how long the war would last. He decided to ignore the telegram and the day after I had sailed he sent a message back to the

too late. Son already sailed.’

On the ship right up to Aden we had no problem. Through

Then through the Mediterranean we also had little or no problem and made for Gibraltar to join a naval convoy. We had been waiting four days in Gibraltar for the naval escort when our captain got the devastating message

alone. Make as fast as you can for Liverpool.’ The captain’s face was drawn. He was really in a panic

the easiest way for a lone ship to be sunk.

as you can because if you’re sunk the food is of no use. It’ll all go down to the bottom of the sea.’

you that? Orange juice three times a day. Food to our hearts’ content. Ice cream as much as we could eat.

made it to Liverpool!

King’s, Civil Engineering, 1943

King’s, Geography, 1944

Navy after graduating and served

She later became a lecturer at Southampton University College, and he was a bridge engineer for Hampshire.

Joyce: when in Bristol. It was a useful bit of pocket money. I was watching atop the mortuary. We had to go through the bodies under cloths with a torch. We never had any

We had hops on Saturday mornings occasionally at the

was to go out and have beans on toast or something very simple to eat because we were not given to eating very much.

There wasn’t much cash about the place. The whole country was in a tough way.Joyce: I remember that some of the

little relationship to meat proper.

The food was horrible.Joyce:

and sang and kissed each other. A

north Africa – and he’d been down the mines – would come home.

and me because we had our brother in the war camp. It was more immediate. We kissed strangers.

The British aren’t famous for kissing strangers. Joyce:

with an old school friend when we heard the news. I knew that

would come back.

Dr Roy WebbGuy’s, Medicine, 1943

Dr Roy Webb served as a surgeon-lieutenant on HMS

D-Day, at Sword Beach, and

Minister Churchill an opportunity

then were many miles inland.

The Kelvin guns and they were jolly good

accurately at about four miles.We had a bombardment

who was great fun. He would be given a target and it was

a role until we got a signal to go back to Portsmouth – fast.

I’m not supposed to tell you

people aboard I can tell who aren’t

AUTUMN 2012 19 18 AUTUMN 2012

aboard. We’re going to take him so he can have lunch with Montgomery.’

In due season we came alongside

way. We got him aboard. He had a nap while we were going back

like hell. The sailors were picking up his cigarette butts as souvenirs. The ship’s motorboat took him ashore to meet Montgomery.

aircraft ammunition and paraded

up and down in case any German aircraft appeared.

I suppose we did this for

then we were meant to pick

what we did. We were ready to rush him back to Portsmouth.

He was supposed to have

of course he didn’t. He went

was at his station above the guns

enemy there.

Germans. Get on with it!’ And

It was only after it had all gone

King’s College School of Medicine & Dentistry, Dentistry, 1940

and four months at the University of Edinburgh, Donald Leggett (see

serving with Coastal Forces before

an escort aircraft carrier.

witnessed the Japanese surrendering ending

the Second World War.My nearest attempt to getting killed

the guns that normally point forward sometimes point straight

was checking circuits in the thing

came straight through the steel

and straight through two more steel decks underneath before they came to rest. If I had been in my bunk I would’ve been dead.

ship with a wooden deck. If we had to do the job that we were sent there

have lasted an hour. But of course the nuclear bomb saved our lives. It brought the war to a very abrupt end. It was obvious even to me that the big battleships had been

Only the carriers and the escort vessels would continue to have a role.

We heard that this bomb had

later they’d dropped another one. Then there was a silence. We just

were making up their minds whether they had to surrender or not. They decided it would be futile to go on.

We all went into Tokyo Bay. It was the most unbelievable sight. I realised that we were seeing something nobody would ever see again. There were scores and scores of warships. We had an enormous

the American ships as well. There were just warships at anchor as far as you could see. It was intensely emotional.


King’s, Mathematics, 1941 and 1947

King’s, Mathematics, 1947

two years, when the College was in Bristol, and returned for one more

an MSc. Monica Robinson arrived

return to London. She remembers going to VE Day celebrations with her two roommates.

Our maths faculty was tucked in a building called the Royal Fort. That’s where I spent

walking there in the morning. And I was out of touch with everybody else in the university

were doing maths degrees.

up afterward. Because we were mathematicians and potentially

We enrolled on the same day in September. We were immediately

I spent about three months there. They didn’t know what to do with

we embarked on the same boat.I had a most magical night

in Port Said. All the troops had

the few who were left to look after the ship overnight. It was a

in the sky. And all night was spent embarking – but you couldn’t get

by ferry – Italian prisoners of war.

It was the most magical night I can remember in my life.

ferry coming across with Italian prisoners. The happiest lot of prisoners you could ever imagine. And they were all singing – singing arias from Italian opera. I had never been to an opera at that time.

went out together. Now Brompton

from Buckingham Palace. So we walked down to Buckingham Palace and we were in the crowd

I could have rubbed shoulders

it’s alleged she went out into the crowd outside Buckingham Palace that night. We cheered until

on the balcony. Then we walked on to Whitehall and stood there

to come out. He came out on

and he spoke to us. My memory of that was that he had certainly been drinking. But he had earned it. We just joined up with the huge crowd of people that went into the centre of London to celebrate.

Chelsea, Geology, 1942

Chelsea, Mathematics, 1943

Peter Sabine attended Chelsea for one year before moving on to Imperial. Peggy Sabine started at Chelsea in

Peggy:

the war. They were most peculiar

right behind them and the privates and others would be in the back. And they never spoke to each other.

The only time I had trouble was

teach them fractions?’ I went down

were supposed to learn fractions. But I couldn’t teach them. For one

Peter: I was in the volunteer

stretcher party. It involved being on duty one night a week or two

a mile away.

up to a school which had been bombed. A lot of kids had been killed. By the time we were there

casualties had already been taken away. But there were still piles of

it by hand.One aspect of the war was that

both young teenagers. Peggy is

second childhoods.

one dressed as Hitler and one as

which led the procession slowly down the Strand. This held the

nonsense. The rest of us all walked behind them to the end of the Strand and then turned around and came back all the way back

making fun of Hitler and Mussolini.

took a really dim view of Hitler being mocked and complained to

Emel RochatKing’s, French, 1949

Emel Rochat was living in south

I arrived in September or

digs. There were no hostels in those days. What did we have for our supper? A packet of crisps between

There was even more rationing

to be no rationing. I remember

St Thomas’, Medicine, 1942

in the opening days of the Blitz and

Called into the army after the end of the war, he served in the occupational

spiral staircase behind where the head porter used to sit just inside

a high desk and he ruled the roost. Behind him there was a little door and a spiral staircase down in to

very convenient for students and

I got down there at about half past seven in the evening. We were

I was down there and I heard something coming down – a noise

a cluster of bombs coming down

followed. This spiral staircase was just showered in glass. It was enclosed in glass as it was outside

I collected my thoughts and

We agreed it must have been in the road outside. We walked through

connected right through all of the blocks. We could see there was

walked up there and realised that

completely useless.The whole dispensary had gone

leaders on the mat and gave them

was a very poor show.

troops there. We went up to a place

British troop to enter Rome. We were told by our commanding

with my batman and corporal I went into Rome and I had my

Please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk/WW2stories to read the complete reminiscences of the 15 alumni featured in the magazine and the wartime memories of the alumni listed below. The website also

photographs.

David Baker, Guy’s, Dentistry, 1945Dr John Barham, King’s, Medicine, 1944Dr Thomas Calverley, King’s, Electrical Engineering, 1940 Commander Clement Cambrook, King’s, Physics & Mathematics, 1944

St Thomas’, Medicine, 1947Alwyn Carruthers AKC, King’s, Mathematics, 1945Margaret Audrey (Dodds) Chadwick AKC, King’s, English, 1942Joan Ellison, KCHSS, Household & Social Sciences, 1948

Dr Jack Fine, Guy’s, Medicine, 1948Harold Fletcher, King’s, Mechanical Engineering, 1945Hedley Grabaskey, Guy’s, Dentistry, 1944Reg Grant, Dr Leslie Hale, Dr Bill Jeanes, Guy’s, Medicine and Dentistry, 1943James Kirkwood, Guy’s, Dentistry, 1945Alec Leggatt, King’s, Civil Engineering, 1948Denis Mace, Guy’s,

Dr Betty Mather, KCSMD, Medicine, 1950Dr Oliver Musgrave, King’s, Chemistry, 1949The Revd John Ouless, AKC, Theology, 1949Denis Reid, Guy’s, Dentistry, 1945Dr Thomas Richards, KCSMD, Medicine, 1945

Dr Tony Sampson, KCSMD, Dentistry, 1940Margaret Thresh, Normanby College School of Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy, 1948Anthony Titford, King’s, Civil Engineering, 1939Dr Walter Walker AKC, King’s, Theology, 1942Professor Robert Walton, Guy’s, Medicine, 1945Dr Robert Welch, St Thomas’, Medicine, 1945

Lest we forget,

King’s, Theology, 1948

Stephen Davis was a POW for

years in Stalag XXA, a complex with

He studied theology after the war and became a priest in the Church

A lot of people were brought

I missed the boat. So the Germans caught me. I was made to march

Then we packed into a cattle

the cattle trucks on the outside

and everybody had to defecate and urinate in their boots and then tip it out the window. The place stank to hell. It was hideous. And it was one of the hottest

It was absolute hell.

have to go out and work with everybody else. The prisoners had

Terrible jobs. Being in the Royal

in this hospital.We had a commandant

called Scarface. He had been a prisoner of war in England in the First World War. He was very friendly. The Gestapo came to

He would come around before

or cigarettes we’d give them

in his pockets and then bring it all back to us afterward.

King’s College School of Medicine & Dentistry, Medicine, 1942

King’s College School of Medicine & Dentistry, Medicine, 1946

Brandon Lush remembers a pre-war parade that insulted the German ambassador. After qualifying,

forces that swept across north Africa, invaded Sicily and successfully landed in Italy, where he was nearly

Lush remembers doing her pre-

temporary home for KCSMD. Margaret: At one occasion at

so I didn’t go back to the digs where

coping with the air raid casualties. The landlady wouldn’t let me in because she must’ve felt I was no better than I should be turning

wouldn’t believe that I could have been in the theatre all night.

Street getting up toward the palace.

took a really dim view of Hitler and Mussolini and – it couldn’t happen

student body got a procession going in the Strand and Fleet Street.

landlady when we were in London.

was rationing into well after the war.

What was outstanding was

It was very moving.

We had veterans coming to

been in war. They had served.

their lives. But they never talked

through into the basement. It just went sshhp,was a lot of surgical spirit amongst

so we didn’t know what was going on beyond that.

We discovered that the bomb had

alongside where they had built these

This bomb had come down and

theatre. A couple of house surgeons

The patients in the theatre survived. But the house surgeons – one was Sir Bernard Spilway’s son.

We tried to make ourselves useful.

all the electrics were gone. Heating pipes and water pipes were all pouring water. We went into theatre

clear those cupboards and take them down to somewhere safe. We can’t

somewhere else.’ She was so cool.

our hospital function as it should in our clinical years.


Whether exploring how the brain functions or pioneering treatments

A NEW ERA OF CLINICAL RESEARCH

All of us

fromworking

Professor Alan McGregor

The days of the lone researcher beavering away unsupported in an underground lab are long gone. It’s now recognised that the best research results come from collaboration between institutions, plus a critical mass of researchers.

That’s the thinking behind the brand new Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (CRF), a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to moving experimental medicine from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside in areas as diverse as preventing heart disease and treating phobias.

The CRF is based at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the Denmark Hill Campus of King’s College London. Within King’s Health Partners, it’s the result of co-operation between the College, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital, culminating in a successful bid to the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health via the

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry will lead studies in neurosciences and mental health.

The academic drivers include specialists in cardiovascular disease, haematology, haemato-oncology, liver disease and diabetes, along with psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience experts. Consequently, the CRF will serve a wide range of clinical and academic interests.

‘The ethos of King’s Health Partners is that the best patient care will come from clinical care which is integrated with academe,’ says Alan McGregor, Professor of Medicine at King’s College London, Campus Dean for Denmark Hill and the Director of the Wellcome Trust CRF. ‘All of

can enhance the academic performance of the two NHS

clinical expertise and skill and will ensure that issues such as governance are managed appropriately.’

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Being diagnosed with hepatitis C two summers ago was a big shock to Joan Thomas, 51. She’d been experiencing hot sweats, dry skin and a fuzzy brain but thought this was due to the menopause.

After diagnosis, Joan was referred to the liver clinic at King’s College Hospital in September 2010. It was then that she

to participate in clinical trials of two new drugs. ‘Of course, I had concerns,’ she says. ‘I was going to be testing out drugs that hadn’t yet been tested fully. Also, I was worried which group I’d be put in. I wanted to go for it, so I didn’t want to go in a low-dosage group, or the control group that had a placebo!

‘But it was very well organised and I was regularly monitored. For example, when my white blood count dropped, it was picked up straight away.’

Being on the trial was hard work and

physical and emotional

says, it was worth it. The new drugs worked and her viral load has gone from almost nine million to negligible. She is now cured.

Joan adds: ‘What would have made the experience even better would have been an automatic referral to a specialist community organisation such as the Hepatitis C Trust,

holistic, practical non-medical support. But overall, I’m so glad to have been given the opportunity of being part of the trial. I’d like to say a big thank you to King’s and especially to my wonderful liver nurse, Gin.’

The CRF will consist of three main areas. The Experimental Medicine Facility (EMF) will have an intensive care unit for brain-injured patients. It will be equipped with the very latest neuro-imaging and EEG technology, enabling researchers to study brain function as well as brain structure, and will have a virtual reality suite for investigating patients with behavioural disorders.

The Cell Therapy Unit (CTU) will be the largest single purpose-built cell- and gene-based therapy unit in Europe.

potential, says Professor McGregor. ‘But to date they have under-delivered. There’s been a lot of hype and not a lot of end output – partly because the biology is very complex but also because you need the capacity to do the studies. The CTU will provide capacity for such therapies, as well as routine but complex clinical treatments such as bone marrow transplantation. But we will also be developing novel stem cell and gene-based therapies. Currently, those programmes have either been in a test tube with human cells or in animal models. We are now getting to the stage where people are utilising gene and stem cell treatments in humans.’

And thirdly, commercially sponsored trials will also

UK at the moment in attracting and sustaining clinical commercial trial activity,’ says Professor McGregor.

in the UK but also the capacity. That’s why we’ve created a purpose-built, high-quality facility that meets the expectations and criteria of the pharmaceutical industry.’

However complex the science and technology, the aim of the CRF is simple – to help develop better treatments for patients. The virtual reality suite, for example, may sound like a Star Trek-style fantasy, but it’s actually a hugely practical tool.

‘For example, you could study people who are frightened of animals,’ explains Professor McGregor. ‘You could expose them to animals in the suite and see how they react and then you could modify their behaviour and, hopefully, help them.’

The College is already a major centre for neurosciences, and it’s hoped that the quality of the research will match the quality of the new building, resulting in even better outcomes for patients. ‘In King’s College Hospital, we have one of the best performing acute stroke units in the country,’ says Professor McGregor. ‘We can carry out novel, interventional assessments and treatments in the

facility, when it opens, will actually be in stroke medicine, using the neuro-imaging facilities of the EMF.’

The CRF is already partially open and the partners are aiming to have the entire building fully operational by April

time to be a clinical researcher in King’s Health Partners.‘I want to advertise widely to the very active academic

and clinical community to ensure that they realise what a fantastic facility we have, what huge potential there is to work in it and that much of this work will be subsidised by

art equipment and facilities to allow investigators to carry out studies that they previously only dreamed of being

themselves. It is a fantastic opportunity.’ Joan Thomas

group

RESEARCH IN THE REAL WORLD: HOW DRUG TRIALS CURED JOAN’S HEPATITIS C

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Thanks to a remarkably generous gift, The Dickson Poon School of Law is set to become a pioneering force in transnational law

With half of the funding coming from Hong Kong philanthropist Dickson Poon CBE, King’s

its law school, transforming it into a world leader in the

study and analysis of legal issues that extend beyond national boundaries.

the College’s history, and the largest ever to a British

uniquely amongst law schools, of being able to look to

resources we need to overcome the challenges that the

Europe, King’s law school is in the midst of a remarkable

renovated landmark.

due to the globalisation of business and legal practice. Part of the outstanding balance will be raised from alumni and friends of the school in the coming years.

King’s will use Mr Poon’s gift to drive a worldwide recruitment campaign for eight new distinguished

is being a member of an academic community of the very

the school, in the eyes of the world, as an unrivalled centre for legal research.’

through a scholarship programme targeting the best and

students resident in Hong Kong or mainland China.

scholarships as both ‘an incentive for students to constantly seek to improve themselves’ and ‘much-needed assistance to students, especially in this current economic climate’.

diversity within the student body and King’s global standing. ‘As an Asian myself, I think that this will put

law faculties and will bring in a lot more students from Asia in the future.’

Dickson Group of Companies and is well-known for his philanthropic support of education and healthcare.

in legal education and research,’ Mr Poon said at the

on transnational law will groom the future leaders needed to guide an increasingly connected world.’

Also speaking at the announcement, the Principal,

project has only been made possible thanks to the

a regular Davos-like transnational law conference, a major legal meeting for all the top contributors to create a global

and a distinguished visitor series.

‘We will have to show ourselves to be worthy of the investment that has been made in us, worthy of the fabulous physical setting in which we now work, worthy of the lofty ambitions that the Dickson Poon project has set

eye is capable of this.’

This will put King’s

light

MORE INFORMATIONHelp make King's the leader in transnational law. Call +44 (0)20 7848 4701 or email [email protected]

LAW FOR AN INCREASINGLY CONNECTED WORLD

Left, Dickson Poon in Somerset House East Wing

29 28

30 IN TOUCH SPRING 2012 AUTUMN 2012 IN TOUCH 31

learning about the history of tea-making and how varieties such as oolong and

session included a slurping competition, as attendees learned the correct way to

Speaking at Saturday’s lunch, the Principal, Professor Sir Richard Trainor, thanked everyone for the many

highlighted the Annual Fund, which in

‘I hope that coming back here today has brought back memories of encouragement and inspiration,’

always welcome to visit the campus

You can see more photos from this year’s Alumni Weekend at Alumni Online, alumni.kcl.ac.uk. Hold the date for next year’s Alumni Weekend – King’s: your global passport –

Community

Catching up with friends

JIM

WIN

SL

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Organise a reunion in 2013!

30 IN TOUCH AUTUMN 2012

2012 Alumni Awards

Start the countdown to Alumni Weekend 2013 – King’s: your global passport. Download your global Reggie and take a picture with him wherever you are in the world! For details, please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk/reggie

Tea, Dickens and a stunning addition to the Strand Campus highlighted this year’s Alumni Weekend, a three-day

attended, making it the College’s most

Friday’s events were especially popular and included a tour

of the Imperial War Museum and an after-hours visit to the Museum of London, where alumni learned about Charles

Dickens’s relationship with the city that served as his home

The much-discussed stunning addition was Somerset House East Wing,

now renovated to its

The Georgian landmark houses The

Dickson Poon School of

Law, which made the East Wing tours particularly appealing to law alumni, who recalled decades of students toiling

a student, the building was, well,

it was dilapidated – that’s the wrong

but in a rather nice way,’ said David

is a tremendous improvement, and I hope it has enhanced the students’

His law classmate Rochelle Gelman

having a twisting staircase leading to the

so narrow you couldn’t pass each other,’

at Somerset House and thought,

The Twinings tea-tasting workshop drew a large crowd, with alumni

Alumna of the Year Award, for

Anne Dudley

Reggie Award, for contributions to Alumni Weekend and the King’s alumni community

Reunion Award, for contributions in bringing together the alumni communityMalcolm Forsythe

to alumni and supportersProfessor Alan Read Professor of Theatre and Director of the Performance Foundation

This year’s Alumni Weekend provided the perfect setting for groups of alumni who wished to reunite with their classmates back on the

A wide range of subject groups,

From law to medicine, French to physics, geography to the AKC Group, many alumni celebrated milestone anniversaries of their

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the

After enjoying a complimentary drinks reception, reunion alumni attended the Principal’s Lunch and Alumni Awards, where they were acknowledged by the Principal,

alumni celebrating a reunion received a commemorative engraved glass to

Celebrating LondonFrom brewing the perfect cup of oolong to exploring the Bank of England, our amazing city and its traditions headlined this year’s Alumni Weekend

Helen Hudson Award, for exemplary contributions to the College or to the alumni bodyInternational alumnus: Trevor Moniz

UK alumnus:

Annual Giving Award, for commitment through philanthropy and promotion of the annual giving programme

mark the special occasion and were able to see archive photographs from their student days, a source of

was also on hand to capture the special day and reunion alumni received a

Now is the time to start thinking about leading a reunion group for next

or the Dental Alumni Weekend,

be delighted to help you organise your

at this year’s Alumni Weekend,

From left, above, gathering at the Museum of London, mingling on the Strand Campus and sharing smiles and tea

Want to get involved?

or call +44 (0)20 7848 3053

Get involved!

Tell us your favourite

Reggie tale

AUTUMN 2012 IN TOUCH 3332 IN TOUCH AUTUMN 2012

university, King’s recently opened

the College opened a base in Delhi

the College’s activities in their regions, facilitating research collaboration,

College to step up its overseas alumni

King’s opens bases in India and the US

We met at King’sProving that grey clouds really do have a silver lining, a burglary in one of the world’s most romantic cities sparked love between Emma and Brad Sandford (both French with English, 2006). They were married in September of this year.

Brad: Although we often chose similar classes, we didn’t really speak until

Emma:

coming down from my skylight –

when the police came – my knight in shining armour! This was the turning point and after returning to London,

Brad: After a while we started to speak more and more on the phone and many a time those calls would run into the

we were together watching the movie Home Alone. Emma couldn’t believe it

The Incredible Adventures of ReggieElephants may never forget, but Reggie probably wishes he could forget this unfortunate day more than 80 years ago.

Reggie has ruled the Strand for many

Dr AJ Sampson (King’s College

the shoulders of several well-meaning

That year’s procession included four Indian elephants, and Reggie’s sudden

‘My mother was a volunteer St John

member of a contingent from Surrey who were on duty at the Lord Mayor’s

the Strand as the procession came past headed by the elephants, when students from King’s paraded Reggie in front

fright and stampeded into the crowd lining the route, causing several

News of stampeding elephants on one of London’s most famous streets

appeared on the front page of newspapers from Miami to Montreal

the information in a straightforward fashion: a student rag spooked four elephants, causing them to run through

Some news articles, however, scolded the King’s students for an

stated that it was fortunate that no

Noir, a restaurant where you eat in

Emma:and joked and all the awkwardness of eating in front of someone you

Brad: The South Bank and Waterloo

We used to go for long walks and eat

Emma: The gardens at the Maughan

would have picnics there in breaks from

Brad: I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat

wrong as I love my food! At the proposal I cried – a lot!Emma: Brad suddenly got down on one knee, told me how much I meant to him

remotely glamorous, but I felt like

Brad: We call ourselves ‘Team Bremma’, so I guess our hope for the future is to have lots of team members!

Community

If they can mistake a rag lion for a live lion they might easily have scattered fragments of an undergraduate over the Thames Embankment before

King’s: now in Delhi

Events

National Theatre Live

Alumni are invited to take advantage of this exclusive discount to attend the National Theatre Live screening of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, with

alumni ticket price includes the choice

KCLA Annual Dinner and AGM

King’s College London Association

details and to book, please contact the

Law Alumni Autumn Lecture

For more information, please contact

KCSMD Dentistry Class of 1979 Reunion

The Old Bell Hotel at Malmesbury is reputed to be the oldest purpose-built hotel in England and provides the

Rooms are limited and will be available

Advent Carols at King’s

The candlelit Advent Carol service includes readings and a classical music performance by the Chapel Choir, followed by a reception with mince pies

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Community Carols

Join a traditional carol service in St Thomas’ Hospital Chapel to bring together the community of Guy’s and

Denmark Hill Community Carols

Enjoy a carol service in King’s College Hospital chapel to bring together the communities of King’s College Hospital

For more information, contact

KCLA Address

Lord Carlile, right, will give the

‘Terrorism and Human Rights: Law or Politics?’ To learn more, please contact

Greek Play

King’s Greek Play will be Sophocles’s directed by Ian

The Principal’s South-East Asia Tour

The Principal, Professor Sir Richard Trainor, will host a series of events in

For more information, please contact the

Dental Alumni Weekend

Dental Alumni Weekend brings together

professional development and social

opportunities for alumni and friends

programme will include specialist section meetings and the annual Dental Dinner on Friday, followed by Clinical

posted on Alumni Online in early

Fundraising events in aid of King’s Health Partners hospitals

For information on any of the following

Brighton Marathon

A beautiful coastline marathon

London Marathon

One of the world’s most popular fundraising events

BUPA 10,000

London’s most famous sights

Nightrider

at night

Team Bremma

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For more information on alumni groups call +44 (0)20 7848 3053 or see alumni.kcl.ac.uk

Can’t see your country on the list below? Would you like to volunteer as a country contact? For details on getting in touch with a country contact, please visit UK ALUMNI SUBJECT GROUPS

AKC Alumni Group Peter King (Law, 1970) Bar Society Bahar Ala-Eddini (Law, 2007) Chemistry and Physics Rob Edwards (Chemistry, 1970)Dental Alumni Association Warren Birnbaum (KCSMD, Dentistry, 1971)Geography Joint School Society Jo Crocker (Geography, 1956)King’s College Construction Law Association (KCCLA) Joe Bellhouse (Construction Law, 1996) King’s College London Engineering Association (KCLEA) Graham Raven (Civil Engineering, 1963) Law Alumni Group Robin Healey (Law, 1968) Theology & Religious Studies Giles Legood (Theology & Religious Studies, 1988)

OTHER UK GROUPS

Barrie Morgan (former

King’s Alumni Theatre Society (KATS) Kos Mantzakos (German & Modern Greek, 2001)Queen Elizabeth College Association Dr Sally Henderson (QEC, Biochemistry PhD, 1980) Southampton & Hampshire Tope Omitola (Mathematics, 1994)Student and Alumni Boat Club Rachel Fellows (current student)

THE NUMBER OF ALUMNI IN EACH AREA THAT WE HAVE A COUNTRY CONTACT LISTED

01: Angola Alumni in Region: 102: Argentina 5603: Australia NSW 33304: Australia QLD 10805: Bahamas 3106: Bangladesh 7607: Belgium 64408: Brazil 24309: Brunei 10910: Canada 101411: Chile 7212: China Beijing 25613: China Shanghai 11514: Croatia 2615: Cyprus 63616: Denmark 15917: Egypt 10518: France 166319: Germany Berlin 31020: Germany Bonn 17821: Germany Munich 20822: Grand Cayman 1423: Greece 182424: Hong Kong 147025: Hungary 5426: India Delhi 18327: India Mumbai 10828: Indonesia 7429: Iran 11530: Ireland 81531: Israel 14132: Italy Milan 13733: Italy Rome 13634: Japan 54935: Kenya 14136: Kuwait 6437: Malaysia 97838: Mauritius 8739: Mexico 10640: Netherlands 33941: New Zealand 25442: Nigeria 32343: Norway 22044: Pakistan 46245: Portugal 30546: Qatar 3847: Saudi Arabia 22448: Singapore 100049: Slovakia 3750: South Korea 32251: Spain 79652: Switzerland 41753: Syria 2754: Taiwan 31355: Turkey 22656: UAE 21057: USA Boston Area 55158: USA Chicago 5959: USA New York Tri-State 116060: USA Philadelphia 6161: USA San Francisco 9862: USA Southern California 18363: USA Southern Tri-State 24764: USA Washington DC Area 60965: Vietnam 22


If you don’t see your country

listed here, please contact us at

Community

speed-dating in Hong Kong Alumni-led gatherings in the

Netherlands, Italy and Germany Duel Day celebrations in Belgium,

US and Singapore Even more is planned for the

coming year – don’t miss out! Invitations are often sent via email,

event details on our social media pages:

and King’s College London

Too good to miss!I thoroughly enjoyed my time at King’s and would be very proud to recommend it to any prospective

contact with King’s reminds me of my wonderful experiences, and I am delighted to be the contact for alumni

Tel Aviv is a bustling metropolis, with students, cafes, shops, arts and

However, there is one particular spot

Israel’s new country contactJasmine Mann

Milan’s new contactElodie Denieul Rescaldani

There are so many things to consider

a good academic record, a varied selection of courses taught by leading

and also – fun!

For me, that was King’s College

I was lucky enough to take part in the University of London Intercollegiate LLM programme, which meant

touch with many friends from all four institutions, who are now spread

Having moved to Milan recently, I came to wonder how I could meet

and learned there wasn’t a King’s contact

opportunity to meet people and to give

If any alumni happen to have an hour or two to spend in Milan, I would recommend visiting L’ultima Cena da Leonardo da Vinci at Santa Maria delle Grazie, Sant Ambroggio Church, the top of the Duomo, the parco Sempione, the department store La Rinascente, the Brera Academy Museum and the

When I had to select between the schools I chose to study at, I was told by British lawyers and law professors that King’s

Indeed, the location of King’s at the heart of London was key, as I wanted

international mix at the Strand Campus was one of the aspects I enjoyed most

in France, it was really interesting to discover the Anglo-Saxon approach,

I made lots of friends during my year

been lucky enough to be invited to the weddings of some of those I met in

Here’s a taste of international alumni events during the past year:

Receptions hosted by the Principal in Amsterdam and Chicago and by Vice-Principals in Delhi, Melbourne, Mumbai and Seoul

Drinks gatherings with visiting

Francisco and Sydney Lectures by distinguished alumni in

Boston, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur,

Joint events with other UK alumni, including a sunset cruise down the

friendly, stopping for a chat, looking after parcels and luggage, making

sure you got upstairs without falling over when you came back

the warden when it came to keeping the male and female

on the bottle, so everyone linked to the college had to

We all had to provide an

Nottingham even went and

For the latest information about all of our alumni groups go to alumni.kcl.ac.uk

Hall of residence memory: Lightfoot Hall mysteryIt sounds like an Agatha Christie plot: a bungled break-in, an arsenic-laced teapot, the unexplained death of an innocent man. Nearly 50 years on, Chelsea College’s ‘murder in a teacup’ case remains a mystery. Alumnus Keith Shaw (Chelsea, Chemistry, 1968) shares his memories of those dark days.

degree, and living in Lightfoot Hall in

when it came on the news: ‘Chelsea hall

have a phone, so I couldn’t talk to anyone about what had happened

By then the preliminary investigations had taken place and

Eve and one of the watchmen had been

hospital, he’d had a cup of tea with the caretaker and the porter, William

Barnett collapsed in a corridor and

been forced open, and a bottle of

Other than that, there was

warden had his pet theories, but we students were totally

Even if the murder was somehow linked to the break-in, why choose arsenic?

Of course, it was a shock,

In June, King’s celebrated the

international alumni mentoring programme, with a series of events

ConnectUS mentoring pairs met

The ConnectUS programme is designed to facilitate connections between recent graduates and those

ConnectUS: providing mentors on the US East Coast

interviewed my parents to check that I’d really been with them! Scotland

were no leads and I think they pretty

Personally, I still don’t have a clue

poison got in without being challenged,

someone from within the college – but

Better minds than mine have pondered

murder? Send your memories to us at

more established in their careers, and to help alumni who might

As well as one-on-one meetings, the programme also includes opportunities for all participants to get together, creating an ideal forum for networking and enabling recent graduates to gain a valuable insight into the

is free, and you can borrow books

Download an application form from

Online library journals

announce it has secured free alumni subscription to JSTOR, providing alumni with access to hundreds of

Learn a languageThe Modern Language Centre

Courses start in October, January and

Short courses: King’s Professional and Executive Development

with many available to alumni at

Special discounted rates are available for alumni if you would like to join KCLSU Kinetic gym in Stamford

Stay at King’s

King’s College London Credit CardThe King’s College London Credit

For more details,

please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk

InTouch magazine

If you or somebody you know would like to receive In Touch and currently do

E-newsletter

receive regular electronic newsletters

Alumni Online Another way of staying in touch

and you can update your personal

Alumni emailJoin Alumni Online to register for

King’s ConnectionsA careers advice directory which lists alumni willing to give their advice to

Use the librariesThe College’s Information Service Centre and libraries are available to

If you studied at King’s, or at one of the colleges with which we have merged, you are automatically a member of the Alumni Association and

discounts. Please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7848 3053 for more details.

Onlinealumni.kcl.ac.ukFacebookfacebook.com/KCLalumniTwittertwitter.com/KCL alumniKing’s Alumni is also on LinkedIn

King’s College London Association

at

ailable oin ord

redit

Elected members

Professor Patricia Reynolds

(Mathematics

President

Vice-President

Past Chairman Steven Rhodes

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

Alison Taylor

KCLA is the alumni association

of King’s and the colleges with which

encouraged to participate in KCLA’s work by attending events

will hold its next Annual General Meeting and elections on

Patron

Past President

Card has been carefully designed to provide great value while supporting

present a range of exclusive discounts

Discounts include: Avis

Cottages4you

Glasses Direct

Grange Hotels special rates


If you are based on the East Coast of the US and would like to be involved in the next round of the US mentoring

more information and application

Watch this space for news of mentoring programmes in other parts of the world!

Community

ConnectUS links alumni with current students

The KCLA Chairman

thrilled by a memorable Olympics, in which King’s played an important and medal-winning part, inside and

Ninth Alumni Weekend this past summer, with record numbers attending

alumni involvement in the life of King’s

The range of subject-based alumni groups has continued to grow and the new Chemistry and Physics Group held a well-attended reception in June,

members from the successfully

I have invited alumnus Professor Peter

We have also launched a branch for alumni of Greek origin, of which

next year marks the diamond jubilee

cast – will be performing to celebrate this momentous anniversary, probably

Sophia Murday is organising this as

I gratefully acknowledge the substantially increased grant which the College provides annually to

range of programmes, often geared to subsidising student attendance at events like the Duel Day Dinner, to encourage

We now look forward to our Annual Dinner at the House of Lords on

Remembering a tragic New Year’s Day


Malcolm Crundwell

My daughter Ellie has kept the family tradition and is now studying Spanish

King’s College London

NHE Ahlers

Glad to hear from Sybil Blackwell,

Emel Rochat

of the French Honours students plus

Also Bill Wittnall, who has written in In Touch.

Muriel Dover (now Curtis)

I am very pleased to be in touch with two friends from the Honours Maths class in spite of having to transfer to a BA General –

Mary Austin

Am still pottering around in

John Rose

Appeared earlier this year in the The Iron Lady with Meryl

of my contribution ended up on

Ronald Friar

Could I use the pages of In Touch to pass greetings to the many other

I recall the History Department, the Rugby Club, the Athletics

of these days have sadly passed on, but there may be others who

Jeremy Joel

I have virtually retired, consultancy-

very sadly, the Civil Engineering

Rose Heaword

A background in historical studies

currently engaged on archaeological

been encouraged by working as a volunteer on-site by the Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society, I successfully completed a week-long module for this subject at Birkbeck College, London

I organised an art conservation programme for Frome Museum, including fundraising and engaging superb conservators to rescue three badly damaged Georgian

and anxiety!

Wayne Thomas

Awarded an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to

John Cloudsley-Thompson

I was a lecturer in zoology under

Bob (Robert) Russell

I have been retired from insurance and associated consultancy business

Am still very much in contact with

I’m still loving my rugby and am a board member of my local club,

Alan Thomas

Norman Vaughton

Following a career as a geologist in Jamaica, an educationist in England and Papua New Guinea and then as a therapist and property developer, I am now enjoying my

an expedition through the North East Passage from Murmansk to

Richard (John) Lewis

Recently published Sampans and based on my

grandfather’s diaries from his years in Cornwall and China,

I completed a PhD at the University of

of pupils’ reading strategies in GCSE

Roger Paige

Recently published and Other Stories, my fourth collection

William Reed

Stephen Carter

I retired as a Norfolk secondary

having spent three years as a consultant on the Department for Education’s

Class notes You can view lots of fabulous old class photographs at alumni.kcl.ac.uk

accuracy. If you have concerns over any

personal records at Alumni Online.

Chelsea CollegeLorna Speid

My company, Speid & Associates, is working in the area of biosimilars and contributing to the development of regulatory systems for developing

Guy’sThomas Madden

Co-investigator in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation,

John Lloyd-Jones

Chairman of the Council of the British

Brian Pound

Family physician, psychotherapist and

at the University of Victoria School of

Michael Lavelle

even more music, both classical and

Susan Gaunt (now Overal)

It would be great to catch up with

Keith Ritchie

Jonathan Lovett

consultant child psychiatrist in the

adolescent love – painting!

Lisetta Flower-Hill (now Lovett)

masters degree in same at Keele

Recently contributed a chapter in a

Veronica Ambrose (now Ferguson)

Full-time ophthalmologist at Imperial

Anusha Arasu

Moved from consultant post at Luton and Dunstable Hospital to neonatal consultant post at King’s College

Zaki Kanaan

Have just been awarded ‘UK

KCSMDE Farley

Would like to get in touch with anyone who studied dentistry

Malcolm Gerroll

also a part-time lecturer in minor oral

Harry Oxer

I was at Cambridge, then at King’s College Hospital Medical School from

appointed as a Member of the Order of

consulting and teaching, and still indulging in my hobby of piloting my

this April, to my amazement!

Hannah Troop Bowen

Enjoying retirement from several

Ian Dunn

Retired from general practice in May to

Puppets and paediatrics

Royal Society fellowship awarded

Dr Ranj Singh

Get Well Soon, a new television series presented by paediatrician Dr Ranj Singh (Medicine and Pharmacology,

young audience about health and

music, games and puppet characters, it will help children to understand their bodies and see the medical world as an

‘I have been involved in the media for a few years now,’ says Dr Ranj, ‘mainly in an advisory or “couch

I came up with the original concept for Get Well Soon and co-developed

given me the chance to use my medical experience in a fun and entertaining way and the perfect opportunity to marry my passion for health promotion

Dr Ranj has worked at both King’s College Hospital and Evelina

‘The best thing about working with

Professor Ian MacLennan

Professor Ian MacLennan (Guy’s,

the distinguished Fellowship of the

society’s commendation, Professor MacLennan ‘has made several landmark contributions to immunology and especially to our

‘I am glad to be associated with the Royal Society,’ says Professor

research and the understanding of science both nationally and

receive this recognition from my

Much of Professor MacLennan’s research has focused on how an antibody that protects against infection is produced, and the way cells that produce antibodies that bind to the body’s own tissues – autoantibodies –

‘Almost nothing was known of the cellular, let alone the molecular, basis of antibody production, when

evidence that lymphocytes might be involved, but they way in which they led to antibody production was totally

kids in the healthcare setting is that they have a remarkable ability to deal with

best in people and it’s not uncommon for people to go that extra mile for their

sad and serious side to it and you can’t

That’s part of being human and is what

Get Well Soon is all about making learning about health interesting and

with puppets has been the best part – I’ve never had so much fun at work!’

common diseases that we associate now with autoimmunity – like

With increasing understanding of the mechanisms that regulate recognition between self and non-self, there is

An emeritus professor at the University of Birmingham MRC Centre for Immune Regulation, Professor MacLennan has no intention

fascinating and I continue to get my

so long as I have time to walk in the high hills, where I can mull over my thoughts?’ And what has been most inspirational to him over the course of his career? ‘The appreciation that there is much more to be found out while respecting,

‘Never underestimate the power of play’

Professor MacLennan


And remember you can registerat alumni.kcl.ac.uk to update your personal details

Value for Money programme,

my voluntary work as a reader in the Church of England in the Diocese

Still running the Travelling Theatre,

with English Department

Trevor Stubbs

the regeneration of Bishop Gwynne Theological College in Juba, South

administrator, we appointed a new

to hear from anyone interested in Sudan

Peter Barnett

I have retired – along with my wife Mary – to our former holiday home

and founded the Pilsdon at

Lister Tonge

I became Dean of Monmouth

following a phone call from the

do to catch up with this energetic diocese and to become of some

Jane Wallbank (Dowie) (now Reynolds)

After several years as a single parent,

Stephen, and two stepsons, Mark

I teach religious studies at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and I enjoy hill-walking, gardening, skiing

I would love to hear from anyone

Himmet Umunc

Following my retirement from Hacettepe University in Turkey

Baskent University, which is a young and vibrant centre of learning and

Andrew Skinner

After graduating, I worked as a science technician at Portsmouth

to Roehampton Institute (now

then as academic secretary, now as

to hear from King’s contemporaries in

Michael Steeden

Now working part-time for the Ministry of Defence science and technology laboratory, and grappling with the

more than take care of any ‘spare’ time not already committed to chairmanship of the Royal Aeronautical Society

Alan Mason

Working in the nuclear sector, got

Nigel Banks

Will have worked for every bank by the

Richard Hillier

Since leaving King’s, I’ve worked for IBM in the UK, US, France and South

‘retired’ and am now pursuing more leisurely interests like travel and

Mike (Paul) Schenk

Would be good to have a reunion for the

Helen Haines (now Wells)

Still teaching! Mother to three: twin daughters and a son, who sings with

love to meet up with other King’s graduates in the Peterborough area and regain contact with those who also studied English in those bygone years

David Rogers

Now working as a transitional minister assisting struggling churches in the East

David Thomas

the post of technical director of The Heightec Group Ltd, a supplier of products and training for professional

Eugene Lambert

I have left the world of high technology and enrolled in a MA programme at Bath Spa University doing creative

Gerda Mamott

Class notes

Anil Saddi

I successfully completed my MSc in

Kirsten Singleton (now Singleton-Watson)

Still working in the City but currently enjoying some time at home with our

Joanne Fisher (now Hobbs)

Married with two wonderful boys,

Sarah Carter

I have recently had a project paper,

published online on the Foundation of Nursing

supported by the FoNS Developing and Sustaining a Practice-based Strategy for Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections Programme with

Charlie (Charles) Gray

My wife Alexis and I are very proud to announce the birth of our beautiful baby daughter, Perdita Daphne Eliza Gray,

Lucy Shrapnell (now Shrapnell-West)

Duncan and I welcomed Kitty

Scott Allan

I have recently started as the lead nurse

Toby Burns

student loan is now looking dangerously like a career! Guarding the frontiers of the UK – it’s not exactly the Khyber Pass but

Simon Coulson

Alicia Heeneman (now Heeneman Wong)

Now working as a government

Jonathan McCotter

After graduating, I went on to study veterinary medicine in Grenada,

Adrian Pereira

Now married, with three children – all

for GlaxoSmithKline R&D at Ware,

Simon Robbins

I have worked at the Imperial War

published The

First World War Letters of General Lord Horne

Dirty

Timothy Martin

Retired from the Royal Navy and now

Solicitors’ Charity, based beside Wandsworth Common in south west

Neelam Halari

Rebecca Kershaw (now Dyball)

Married David Dyball at Dartington

Alexander Jackson

I received my PhD in football history from Leeds Metropolitan University in

leisure courses in German and

guide for Cambridge, which is great fun!

Stephen Spencer

Have worked for many years in the heritage tourism and visitor

ordinating passenger service experience for the new Emirates Air Line cable car linking the Greenwich

Michael Markham

I left to work for software company

from acute myeloid leukaemia and continue to be happily married to Bev with two children, Ollie

Paul Sandor

working at Legal and General in Surrey in the actuarial department

Happy memories of my time

Jean Johnson

Kabale University in Uganda made me an honorary professor in recognition of the teacher training of secondary chemistry teachers which I do (in conjunction with the Royal

I did theology at King’s and chemistry

Sarah Bowyer

Studying for a PhD with the Centre for Rural Health, University

Graeme Ware

Living in sunny California

keeping in touch with a few

Irfan Latif

Happily married to Jocelyn and

at Bedford School and just got back from Nepal having trekked to

Sacha Ackland

Living in London with partner and

Ali Zli (now Ahmed)

Now assistant professor at the Nelson

Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia

Charles Banigo

I relish the opportunity to teach as a part-time lecturer in business management and information

Anthony Banks

Recently directed Lucinda Coxon’s new play at the Hampstead Theatre and a national tour of Dennis Kelly’s Directing a new play by Bryony Lavery called for the World Shakespeare Festival, and the

Richard Osborne

am now back in London working for

Christopher Robbins

Fully retired and now live in

Noreen Shaikh

Working with a new Birth Defect Research Centre in conjunction with

An eternal conversation expressed in many formsAndre Bagoo

is comfortable using nearly any form of the written word – journalism,

‘Ezra Pound once said, “Literature

encapsulates the relationship between

‘Both aim at bringing news to the people: presenting a snapshot of the

truth and communicating something

‘Blogging is, to some extent,

journalism that involves commentary,

Bagoo says he started writing poetry in part as a means to rebel against the cultural norm of poetry being for girls

today to assert his will and to serve as ‘a

‘Or I just do it now because I like to

feel as though it is part of one long, eternal conversation that I am trying

The vivid music of the Caribbean

of poems, Trick Vessels, published

‘In Trinidad and Tobago, we

Perhaps Trinis are obsessed with it,’

Capildeo wrote a book of poems entitled Recently, another Trinidadian poet, Mervyn Taylor, published a book of poems entitled called in which

poems are just drops in one large

Bagoo’s blog Tattoo is available

Using poetry to assert his will


for advice on planning reunions and looking up old friends

Class notes

Krishan Thakker

Washington DC, specialising in

John (Ioannis) Vardakis

I am disappointed to see no new developments in the Faculty of

very much appreciate a more thoroughly engaging approach to the new developments that are being considered under the umbrella of

information is needed, as there are many wishing to take an active role in reshaping the image of past

Julia Coleman

Progressing in my new-ish career in

give a talk to PhD students and

Doing as much acting as I can this year as well!

Johan Aps

for all you’ve taught me and for who I

Adam Hughes

Switzerland to raise funds and

more details about my journey, please visit my website at

Dougie (Douglas) Mackay

Emma Potter

Working as a management consultant at a global IT and business consultancy

Jane Johnson

Continue to work as a locum physiotherapist and love doing the jobs no one else wants! Fourth book published,

Helen Murphy

Bought a house, got engaged and run

Very happy!

Matthew Scott

I am very excited to be practising in my favourite area of law, namely stamp taxes, after a few years taken in the industry to develop some common sense of the business variety, which I am now putting to very good use in developing a market-leading tax practice!

Martin Booth

a novel about Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, due to be published by Lion

Robert Fellows

Currently serving as a company second

Robert Kippin

Studying for an MA in Music at Bangor

April Lesser (now Keller)

celebrated the birth of our son Cody in

Lisette Le Hur (now Sturt)

Christopher Mahood

Recently bought a house in Croydon

Angela Fergus (now Fergus-Stallard)

Now an independent social worker freelancing in private and public law

Christopher Jenkins

Helped London Welsh RFC to become a premiership team!

Barzan Sadiq

Nothing new in this unforgivable

Hammad Ahmed

Some of the best times I had as a student

Adrian Gonzalez

Am just completing a Graduate

Training Programme in history but will be returning to King’s this September to

oil and its impact on indigenous peoples

to being back at the Strand again!

Laura Gray

Upon graduation with my LLM, I served as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, specliaising in protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual,

Abidemi Ikharia

In June, I cycled from London to Brighton for the Bristol Heart Foundation and in March I undertook the ‘step challenge’, running up the

John Wiblin

Natalia Biglou

Juliet in at the Oval

Agnieszka Szreder (now Szubert)

I have just started my career as a DNA

Samuel Tranter

I have accepted a scholarship to read for my PhD in history at the University of

Royal Dental Hospital

Alan Howe

voluntary work as a Mental Health Act

Collection’, a group of retired CDS dentists that meet every other month at

Bryan Markwell

Would welcome contact with or

St Thomas’Harold Hetherington

Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia and

From choristers to Capone

Reunion round-up

Andrew O’Brien

Choirmaster Andrew O’Brien

led Hertfordshire’s Heath Mount School to triumph as the BBC School

also a professional singer and recitalist, says, ‘I’ve been in lots of big concerts

I really wanted the kids to win because

O’Brien, a former principal in

I covered a friend’s piano teaching at the school and within a year

At break, lunch or after school, children can be heard practising, rehearsing, composing their next masterpiece or just jamming

‘Watching the kids grow through

be yourself – they see through you if

KCH Dental 45th

Fourteen dental graduates from King’s College Hospital, plus partners,

Having donned our Reggie badges,

we caught up with one another while

Saturday saw us travelling to Sharpham Vineyard for lunch and wine-tasting, followed by a walk along

evening, taxis conveyed us to and from the house of one of the group

morning we gathered for breakfast and

and want to learn – always ready to face

them taking solo roles at the Royal Opera House or the English National Opera, or see them singing in Britten’s War Requiem

O’Brien’s passion for music was

‘I used to sit in the congregation in awe

A successful, sometimes noisy, career

were able to enjoy the coastal path and

two years and to hold another large

Martin F S Miller

St Thomas’ Medical 50th

celebrated at a dinner in the Cotswolds, including Jennifer Ashby and Michael

Hugh Pennington gave the address, and Tim Apthorpe toasted absent

a recording of St Thomas’s Christmas

Conversations continued late into the night and next day many explored local places of interest, such as the lovely

King’s Dentistry 50th

Seventeen King’s graduates arrived at the Burford Bridge Hotel at Box

from Australia for the occasion, with

The venue proved to be excellent and a warm spring day allowed us to sit in the garden reminiscing during the

amusing to guess at a distance which were in our group, and which were

of all the years, we were able to

We met in the bar before moving into a private dining room to enjoy an

tables during the meal and enjoyed

over breakfast before leaving, all agreed

time would be optimistic, but maybe

Service University of Melbourne as

Still soldiering on, despite a minor

Donald Craig

A triad of locomotor problems, knee replacement, polymyalgia rheumatica and lumbar spinal stenosis have impaired my mobility but not my

Gilbert Thompson

Edited Medicine, published by Imperial College

David Houghton

and, after junior jobs at St Thomas’, Queen Charlotte’s and Barts, was appointed consultant obstetrician and

retirement as I could no longer stand the

management’s destruction of good

Michael Frampton

Finally retiring from the NHS in July

and daughter Sarah busy working in

Pamela Walker (now West)

Husband Jonathan and I are proud grandparents to Oliver Hades West,

David Anderson

Awarded professor of paediatric cardiac

Susan Edgley

Happily married and working as a therapist with individuals and groups in

UMDSKathreena Kurian

Started brain tumour bank for the south

performing but I love the human voice

Pears once said: “a violin is a violin,

Speaking to the his dad revealed that O’Brien’s great-grandfather was Al Capone’s favourite singer, adding: ‘I just hope Andrew’s current fans are more reputable!’

organising your reunion

Bridget Barlow (latterly Mitchell) Music,

Alison Budden Shane Donovan Dr Nirav Patel Stephen Hodge

Queen Elizabeth CollegeDr Percy Praill

St Thomas’Dr Norman Crofts

John Mumford Revd John Patrick Maria Barb (latterly Randall)

George Knapp Roy Thomas AKC Reginald Browning John Andrews AKC Kenneth Waller AKC Leslie Owen Lord St. John of Fawlsley Revd Francis Madge AKC Sister Margaret Murdock Malcolm Pine Simon Nugent Revd Alfred Tedman AKC The Very Revd Dean John Lang

Dr R Orme Maurice Parkes Revd Dr Allan Jenkins AKC Revd Russell Thomson AKC

John Crawford Dr John Brown Revd Robert Jones Raymond Whitaker John Hughes Dr Adrienne Simpson (latterly Chilton)

Christopher Esmond AKC Canon Roger Mason AKC Dr Gareth Roberts Milan Civsa Michael Batchelor AKC Paul Dyer AKC

institutions.In Touch makes every

and friends, family and former

Steven K. Chitkara

A successful investment manager and visionary entrepreneur, Steven

and elegant, he could move seamlessly

environments, from startup to

Managing Director of Focus Ironclad

After King’s, Chitkara earned an MBA from Columbia University and an MS in Finance from the London

runner and inspiring mentor, he sat on the King’s College London Friends

at-risk youth and home foreclosure

wife Jessica and their children

Neil Clarke

Neil Clarke took over as chairman

with continuing the cost-cutting and commercialisation that had been

He also had to manage the organisation

in large part to his hard work, wise advice and low-key, measured

He remained a doughty and largely

Previously, Clarke had risen through the ranks of industrial and engineering group Charter Consolidated, ultimately becoming its Chief Executive and Deputy

include serving as Director of Anglo American and Consolidated Gold Fields, and as Chairman of shipping services provider Genchem Holdings and building

Dr David Lawson Medicine,

Dr Errol Edwards Dr David Lyle Dr Charles Palmer

Dr Barrie Bayston Dr Christopher Bartley Dr James Thomas Professor David Morrell OBE Medicine,

Dr Valerie Turnbull (latterly Newman)

Dr John Davis Medicine

College not known Iris Whealton (latterly Jones)

King’s College LondonRadford Dagnall AKC Edward Eates Audrey Turner (latterly Tate) AKC

Mr John Williams Rt Revd Bishop Ambrose Weekes FKC

James Rolland Dr Antony Essex-Cater Ronald Ayerst Emeritus Professor Michael Barnett

Dr Dennis Thompson Donald Carpenter AKC Revd Edgar Hornsby Peter Care

Institute of PsychiatryProfessor Hugh Freeman

Dr David Blend

KCSMD

Dr Joyce Grant (latterly Elsom) Dr Harold Cantwell Dr James Hobbs Dr Bernard Poole Dr Christopher Goodwill Andrew Eyles Dr John Bostock Dr Christopher Wallace Dr Nigel Minett

Dr Anthony Worssam Douglas Burnapp Dr John Hooper Dr Patrick Russell Dr James Vergano Dr Edward Herst Dr Derek Wilkins CBE Ian Fraser Michael O’Brien Dr Douglas Wood Dr Robert Cox Soli Lam Peter Shaw Dr Iain Hanham Dr Philip Lang Dr John Beckerson Frederick Moorhouse Dentistry,

Chelsea CollegeValerie Baynes

John Megson John Brooks Sir David Jack CBE FKC Pharmaceutical

Kazimer Strupinski Karen Stringer

Guy’sSurgeon Captain John Hanson Norman Crane Michael Hudson

Dr Robert Doy

His turbulent style perhaps explains why he never attained the bishopric or

and confessor to a great company of

and state, who turned to him when they were in trouble and found a devout

The Very Revd John Lang

The Very Revd John Lang became

the BBC’s Religious Broadcasting Department for the best part of

A high-calibre administrator and enabler, at the BBC he had skillfully secured resources which were far beyond reach not long after his

resistance to change, he set about

appointing a new headmaster to the struggling cathedral school and raising

followed, including the annual

became one of the major arts events

Lang’s career in Holy Orders began

Later he became priest-vicar of Southwark Cathedral and chaplain of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,

religious broadcasting career at the

Jean Phillips (latterly Williams)

Jean Phillips was instrumental in organising the clean-up of King’s Strand premises and the return of the

Principal said that he had never known

the Student Union to be so well run

which its President later attributed in large part to ‘Jean’s calm and upright

a teacher and went on to become Principal of Portsmouth Teacher Training College, the youngest head of

When it merged with Portsmouth

They had two daughters, also King’s

Revd Canon Eric James FKC AKC

and one of the most familiar voices on

His was an eclectic life: he grew up in

Cambridge college chaplain, vicar in a tough inner-city borough, preacher to the barristers and judges of Gray’s Inn

Firmly on the left – he always sported a red hankie in his breast pocket – he

mover behind the Church of England’s Faith in the

(‘a Marxist document,’ said

served as director of Parish and People and Christian Action, both reformist

irreverence for authority that began young: while a student at King’s, he pinched the Bishop of London’s hat and

publicly outed himself during a robust defence of homosexual priests in a

dressed in the scarlet cassock of a royal

Westminster Abbey, one of the so-called Royal Peculiars, under the monarch’s rather than the church’s patronage, to denounce the hereditary monarchy as a lottery and suggest that it


Squadron Leader Norman Crookes

An RAF legend

Obituaries

Judge John Toulmin CMG QC FKC

A distinguished judge, former President of the European Bar and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of European Law, John Toulmin was an active member of the King’s community for more than three decades, with a particular interest in the Institute of Psychiatry

commitment to the two was the recent benefaction which he and his wife Carolyn made to the College, establishing a lecture series to explore

Carolyn, who survives him, received her law degree from King’s and both have volunteered countless hours to

Judge Toulmin served as a Trustee of the IoP, becoming Chairman and a

He was nominated by the IoP as an independent member of King’s

Fellow of King’s College, appointed an Honorary Visiting Professor in The Dickson Poon School of Law and honoured with the Helen Hudson

Judge, benefactor, friendSquadron Leader Norman Crookes MBE

Crookes became an RAF legend

That remarkable night was the highlight of an exceptional

pilot Bill ‘Jamie’ Jameson, begun

When Jameson returned to

July sortie, Crookes teamed up

the American sector during the Battle of the Bulge, winning an American Distinguished Flying

Crookes also received three RAF DFCs, a remarkable feat, gaining his second Bar for ‘unfailing devotion

Ironically, Crookes was

He returned to civilian life and became a schoolteacher and headmaster, but maintained his

supporter of the Air Training Corps, for which he was appointed

Judge John Toulmin

We always love to hear from our readers, so please drop us a line. The best letter wins

We reserve the right to edit for space and clarity. Write to [email protected] or Letters, In Touch, King’s College London, Ground Floor, Strand Bridge House,

Last issue’s puzzle… Die Hard

This summer, a King’s undergraduate named Andrea took a part-time job as a bank cashier in her

‘I hope you can help me,’ he said as he

month with my wife and our two daughters, but I’m

daughter have taken our rental car and gone to

and wallet are in the car, and our other daughter has

immediately, but all of my cash, my credit cards and

American, and he looked like Hollywood’s

interpretation of an English professor: sporting smartly pressed trousers and a corduroy jacket with

He continued, ‘If you would be kind enough to

Andrea asked, ‘Which of your daughters is sick?’

me or do I need to speak with your manager?’‘Actually,’ Andrea said, ‘I’m going to call my

English professor or fraudster?

In the previous issue of In Touch, you read about a Die Hard-loving student

four-gallon jug, a nine-gallon jug and an

fewest number of steps you need to measure exactly six gallons?’ The answer is you can do it in eight steps, counting each discrete action as a single step:

nine-gallon jug into the four-gallon jug,

remaining water from the nine-gallon

you’re left with just one gallon of water

from the nine-gallon jug into the

the four-gallon jug already had one gallon of water in it, you can only pour

Send your solutions to: Logic Puzzle, In Touch, King’s College London, Ground Floor, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R 1HH or email [email protected]. The three best solutions received before 15 January 2013 will each win a £10 book token

Logic Puzzle


LAST FAREWELL TO CHURCHILL

place of Sir Winston

for three days in the Palace of Westminster and a state funeral service was held at St Paul’s

I had been attending the Eucharist on a Thursday lunchtime at St Mary-le-Strand,

was the Revd Bertram Chambers, a lovely man well past retirement

procession from Westminster to

St Paul’s would pass along the Strand, and the tiny churchyard of St Mary-le-Strand would give a wonderful view of the

some tickets produced, simply because the churchyard was so

On the day itself I presented myself to the policeman on the gate at the churchyard and sought

that I was the person who had been giving out the tickets but had forgotten to

a few seconds while he stared

don’t know whether he thought I had an honest face – or whether he thought no one would be so

stupid as to invent such a story!

memories of which are still very

A LOVELY NOTE In

Touch is the best I have read over a

articles and professionally

MEMORIES OF MOLLISONI was saddened to see the death of Pat Mollison reported in your

the Royal Army Medical Corps with Alan Prior who turned up later as consultant pathologist in Warwick, where I found him when I moved to Stratford-upon-

When Pat Mollison came to St Thomas’ at the end of the war,

spent the greater part of the war as a student, which I chose to do rather than go down the mines as

point he went to America to meet Dr Wiener who, I believe, with Landsteiner of ABO blood group

On his return to St Thomas’, Pat Mollison buttonholed Alex Paton (St Thomas’, Medicine,

of our Belsen association, produced some anti-Rhesus serum (which he had brought

if we were interested in doing some routine Rhesus typing in

typing this side of the Atlantic, and carried out this work for

Professor R A Fisher, the Cambridge geneticist and

mathematician, then came on the scene and predicted the genetic nature of the Rhesus factor, resulting in the adoption by haematologists of the Fisher Cc Dd Ee nomenclature which was simpler and more direct than

interesting adversarial correspondence in The Lancet.

I remember Pat Mollison as

subject, and as someone who has given me a lifelong interest in haematology, which included a two-year stint under John Dacie at Hammersmith, before I decided to devote myself to

A YOO-HOO TO ULUThe letter from Margaret Ellis

of In Touch attracted my attention

visit to London, when all the talk was the bombing of Croydon

for a proper University of London

Circumstances being what they were at the time, for the fortunate to partake of tertiary education, the decision on my further education was gently guided

imminent call to serve in the

(The regulator, of something, seems to think that examinations

I worked on the tender documents for the construction

It will be no surprise that,

servicemen, evening students, postgraduates and those studying

examinations, ULU became a centre for their social activities

Letters

PRIZE LETTER

MIC

HA

EL

KIR

KH

AM

48 IN TOUCH AUTUMN 2012

LONDON & ME

NIGHTS AT THE OPERA

Aida,

Aida

The Marriage of Figaro.

The Marriage of Figaro

The singing of Geraint Evans, above, was a special part of Jill Lister’s time at King’s

intouch autumn 2012

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