St Catharine’s celebrated the admission of new Fellows at a special ceremony on 15 January 2024. The Master and the Official and Professorial Fellows of St Catharine’s serve as trustees and are members of the College’s Governing Body, which may elect new Professorial Fellows (leading academics who hold professorships in the University) and confer Honorary Fellowships on individuals who have achieved at a very high level in their field.
Professor Sir Mark Welland (Master 2016–23) was awarded an Honorary Fellowship with immediate effect on 20 October 2023. During his seven-year term as the 39th Master of St Catharine’s, Sir Mark worked tirelessly for the benefit of current and future generations and made numerous improvements to the College, from the delivery of the Central Spaces major building project to enhanced pastoral and financial support for students. Before joining the College, he served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government Ministry of Defence (2008–2012), Director of the Nanoscience Centre at the University of Cambridge (2001–08 and 2010–22) and Head of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cambridge (2015–18). Alongside his duties at St Catharine’s, he was Director of the Maxwell Centre at the University of Cambridge (2019–23).
Sir Mark said, “I am delighted to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship by St Catharine’s. I enjoyed returning for the admissions ceremony, catching up on the College’s progress since I stepped down in September and meeting the latest group of Fellows to be admitted.”
Alumnus Professor Matthew Gaunt (1995, Natural Sciences) was elected to a Professorial Fellowship with immediate effect on 20 October 2023. Since 2019, Professor Gaunt has been the 1702 Yusuf Hamied Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in the development of new catalytic chemical reactivity that enables new bonds in organic molecules and opens new areas of synthesis-driven chemical biology.
Professor Gaunt commented, “I was a PhD student at Catz in the late 90s and after 20 years of running my own research group, it’s nice to be able to offer something back to the College as part of becoming a Fellow. Many of the students in my own research group have been members of St Catharine’s and I very much want to continue its strong tradition for excellence in Chemistry at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.”
Professor Dennis C. Grube was elected to a Professorial Fellowship with immediate effect on 1 December 2023. He is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). His research interests span public policy, political rhetoric, political and administrative leadership, and British political history. He teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and was awarded the 2023 Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize, which is awarded by POLIS to the individual who has best informed student education in Politics and International Studies based on students’ own feedback.
Professor Grube said, “I'm delighted and honoured to be joining St Catharine's. You can tell a lot about a place by the way it welcomes newcomers, and the Catz embrace – 550 years in the making – has been wonderful. I look forward immensely to connecting with colleagues and students in the years ahead.”
The ceremony also celebrated the formal admission of alumni Tina Patel (1989, Maths), William Paul (1992, MML) and Garrett Curran (1991, Law) as Fellow Commoners, announced previously in November 2023 in recognition of their substantial involvement in, and contribution to, the St Catharine’s community.
Sir John Benger (1979, English), who led the ceremony as Master of St Catharine’s, reflected:
“The admission ceremony was a wonderful way to start 2024! It was a pleasure to welcome back Sir Mark, Matthew, Tina, William and Garrett, and officially induct Dennis as part of the Catz community. The temperature outside may have been chilly but the ceremony and conversations afterwards were warm and friendly.”
From left to right: Prof. Dennis C. Grube, Garrett Curran, William Paul, Prof. Katharine Dell, Sir John Benger, Tina Patel, Prof. Sir Mark Welland and Prof. Matthew Gaunt
