N O. 1 2 1 T H E T R U S T Y S E R VA N T
from judge Robert Harris( of Fatherland fame) for his‘ clarity of prose, avoiding showing-off and academic jargon, and a witty turn of phrase’. Most Wykehamical.
… and of Thales( at least in College)
Matthew Harris( Coll) has been selected for the UK team( of four) to compete in the International Chemistry Olympiad, which will be held in Tbilisi, Georgia this summer. This is the fifth consecutive year in which a Collegeman has represented the UK in an Olympiad.
Michael Smith( Coll) will likewise represent the UK in the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Bhubaneswar, India, in December. He is the first Wykehamist to be selected for this team. Michael also qualified for the
final selection rounds( the top 25) in Chemistry and Biology.
An article, based on Pre-U Physics work, by Richard Ibekwe( Coll, 12-14) and John Cullerne( Co Ro) on the Mpemba Effect( in which under certain conditions hotter water freezes more quickly than colder) has been published in Physics Education, the journal in which Erasto Mpemba first reported his findings in 1969. ■
Old Wykehamist News
Academic
MC Dunn Goekjian( Coll, 07-12) confides:
On January 3rd I was declared Best Speaker in the World at the World Universities Debating Championships( WUDC) 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece. WUDC is the world’ s largest debating competition, featuring over 750 competitors. The prize was based on performances across nine debates on a wide range of topics, from the private ownership of art to the US military presence in East Asia. For me, this comes at the end of several years of intensive involvement in competitive debating, which began while I was at Winchester: I was World Number Two at the last World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, and last Easter my partner and I won the UK and Ireland Championships – a far cry from the consistent defeats in the local rounds of regional tournament my team-mates and I faced in MP and V Book!
AE Palmer( I, 51-56) has received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, conferred by the University of Reading. He was on the Council there from 1996- 2008 and has been Chairman of the Friends of the University since 2006. Since 2008 he has given weekly seminars to an MA module in the Department of Politics and International Relations, on Diplomacy from 1945 to the present.
SC Piggott( G, 75-79) is de facto Bursar of Oakham School and AK Maitland( G, 76-81) is chairman of the PTA.
Appointments / Elections
Sir David Davies( B, 53-58) has recently held the following positions: Chairman, Wexford Opera Festival( 2014): Honorary Fellow, New College, Oxford( 2015); President, Irish Georgian Society( 2015); and Joint Chairman, Grange Park Opera Appeal( 2016).
RHF Fuller( H, 73-77) has from December been appointed to the Board of The Brewers of Europe. He has also from January been appointed a non-executive director of Kempton Park Racecourse.
JHM Peel( C, 62-67) has been reappointed by HMG for a further fiveyear term( his third) as a Member of the European Economic & Social Committee( EESC). This is an Official EU Advisory Body and was set up under the Treaty of Rome, and the UK has 24 Members. He still claims to be the only OW Member of any of the EU institutions! In turn, the EESC Employers’ Group has re-elected him as their Vice President of the EESC International Relations Committee.
Books
JR Chilton( D, 54-59) has written The Last Blue Mountain. From Gabon to Guyana, Shangri La to Kamchatka, through rainbow markets and exuberant rainforests, across impressionist landscapes and a highaltitude desert, author James Chilton’ s delightfully diverse collection of travel writing will whet the appetite and feed the imagination. The Last Blue Mountain takes readers far off the beaten tourist tracks and onto uncharted trails of natural beauty and cultural diversity. Chilton reveals his enthusiasm for travel – he’ s visited some 78 countries to date – and his love of food, beauty, flora, fauna and, above all, the people he meets along the way. Witty, articulate and with sharp observations, his engaging and often humorous snapshots are illustrated throughout with evocative pen and ink. Clink Street Publishing; ISBN: 978- 1909477513.
Shortly before his recent death, APS Crick( E, 71- 75; Co Ro, 90-92) produced Bound in a Nutshell, a hardback book of poetry that also includes photographs. It is available from P & G Wells and costs £ 15. The Sixpenny Press; ISBN: 978-1526201690.
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