New professorships recognise world-class teaching at St Catharine’s

Outstanding teaching by St Catharine’s Fellows has been recognised by the University of Cambridge as part of its Academic Career Pathway scheme.

After recent changes to the existing career pathway for those lecturers focused more on research, the University has now created a parallel pathway dedicated to rewarding achievement in teaching and scholarship. Consequently, some Fellows have been offered professorships to ensure their teaching contributions are recognised on a par with those of their counterparts. Dr Holly Canuto (2020), Senior Tutor at St Catharine’s, commented:

“St Catharine’s is fortunate to count among our Fellows an unusually large number of talented educators with University roles dedicated to teaching, especially for a College of our size. I am delighted that these colleagues now have a single, clear pathway for career advancement regardless of their department, and I want to congratulate our new professors on this well-deserved recognition for their world-class contributions to teaching.”

Dr David Bainbridge (2003) has been appointed Professor of Veterinary Anatomy. He has taught Veterinary Medicine and Natural Sciences students as the University Clinical Veterinary Anatomist since 2003, and is actively involved at St Catharine’s as a Tutor, Director of Studies in Veterinary Medicine, Admissions Tutor (Sciences) and Disabilities Tutor. He was awarded the University’s Pilkington Prize for teaching excellence in 2020. Commenting on his new position, he said:

“Soon after I started my first lectureship in London, I realised I was enjoying teaching even more than research, so I was delighted to then move to a teaching-focused position at Cambridge. Working together with the bright, motivated young people on the veterinary course and at St Catharine’s is hugely rewarding, and I am extremely pleased the University now formally recognises teaching as fully as research.”

Dr Matthew Mason (2001) has been appointed Professor of Comparative Physiology. He is the College’s Robert Comline Fellow in Physiology and supervises and directs studies in physiological subjects. As University Physiologist, he holds a central role in co-ordinating the teaching, examining and course organisation for the physiology courses taught across the University. He was also awarded the University’s Pilkington Prize in 2018. He added:

“Like David, I have very much enjoyed teaching my students over the years. Supervising in a college setting is particularly rewarding, given that this allows you to get to know students and see them progress from when you first meet at interviews, right through to shaking their hands at graduation – and seeing them develop their careers from there. I am very grateful to our own Professor Eilís Ferran (1980, Law; Fellow 1987), who has been instrumental in implementing the new Teaching & Scholarship career pathway for the University as a whole. I am delighted that those of us working in Cambridge who devote relatively more time to teaching than most now have the same level of recognition. This will surely help to cement Cambridge’s reputation as a gold-standard institution for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.”

The most recent Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) in England awarded the University of Cambridge a Gold rating and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 placed Cambridge in the top 10 in the world for teaching. The current QS World Rankings for universities places Cambridge second internationally for ‘Anatomy and Physiology’, the field in which Professors Bainbridge and Mason both work.