All your latest news and events

Newswire
April 2021

News

Sarah Everard: Tributes

Following a number of communications from alumni in light of the tragic loss of Sarah Everard, we have established a commemoration page in her honour where alumni and friends are invited to read and share their own personal tributes to Sarah in celebration of her life.

Visit Page

Launch of Computer Science and Mathematical Sciences Building: A New Home for World-Class Teaching, Research and Enterprise

Joined by keynote global speaker, Dame Steve Shirley, we recently celebrated the launch of the latest addition to our campus: a new, world-class home for our Mathematical Sciences and Computer Science departments, including the new £500,000 Hazan Venture Lab.

New Heads of Colleges: St Cuthbert's Society and Van Mildert

Following an extensive global search, we are delighted to welcome Professor Tammi Walker and Professor Tom Mole as incoming Heads of St Cuth's and Van Mildert, respectively.

They will both take up their new posts in September 2021.

Bronze Level Hedgehog Friendly Campus

We have been awarded the Bronze Level Hedgehog Friendly Campus status for 2020/21 - an amazing achievement - especially under lockdown.

Congratulations to the combined student and staff effort that has secured this accolade.

Durham Professor Awarded Prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences

As a world Top 100 university, we are proud to be home to academics who are acclaimed and visionary leaders in their chosen fields, such as School of Education Professor Beng Huat See.

MESSAGE FROM THE DARO TEAM:

As we begin our Easter Vacation here at Durham, we would like to send our warmest regards to all alumni, benefactors, and friends marking Easter, Passover, and other celebrations around the world this holiday weekend.

Please note that DARO and our alumni mailboxes will be closed from Thursday 1 to Wednesday 7 April for the holidays.

Best wishes
Your Development and Alumni Relations Team

Events

Durham Inspired Campaign Events

To update and reconnect with benefactors and friends of our Durham Inspired campaign, Campaign Chair, Robert Senior (Politics and History, University College, 1984-87; former CEO Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi) was joined by a stellar cast of guests including industry leaders, government and civic innovators, and pioneering academics to review the success of the Campaign to date.

Watch the recordings

Upcoming Events

Durham Inspired: Private event with Professor Sir John Bell of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine team: Back on Track after COVID
Thursday 15 April 2021, 6pm (GMT)
Join Robert Senior, Chair of the University’s Durham Inspired Campaign and former CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, as he explores the complex road to recovery from the global pandemic with two expert speakers from the Durham University community: Durham parent Professor Sir John Bell, and Durham alumnus Professor Bryan Morton CBE.

Dunelm USA Book Club: The Sweetness of Venus: A History of the Clitoris
Wednesday April, 21st at 6pm EDT, 5pm CDT, 4pm MDT, 3pm PDT
The first Durham Inspired: Live In Lockdown US Book Club event, featuring author Sarah Chadwick (Arts Combined, Collingwood College, 1984-87) in conversation with Griff Fairbairn (Arts Combined, St Mary's College 1984-87) about her new book The Sweetness of Venus: A History of the Clitoris.

Launch of the Durham Alumni Energy Chapter
Thursday 29 April 2021, 6pm (BST)
Join us for the launch of our alumni chapter for graduates with a professional or personal interest in the Energy Sector.

Convocation
Thursday 4 November 2021, 5.30pm (GMT)
Convocation of Durham University will take place at the Caledonian Club, London as well as being live-streamed.

Dunelm Society Annual Dinner
Thursday 4 November 2021, 7pm (GMT)
This year’s annual dinner in London will be held at the prestigious Caledonian Club in London’s Belgravia. All Durham University alumni are welcome. Our guest speaker will be the Chancellor of Durham University, Sir Thomas Allen, CBE.

View all upcoming events

Check our events pages regularly for all of the upcoming alumni events across the world.

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Alumni

Congratulations to our Alumni in the Study UK Awards

Christel Adamou (MBA, Hatfield College, 2011-13) wins the Professional Achievement Award - Europe. Saltanat Janenova (Contemporary Sociology, Graduate Society, 1999-2000) wins the Professional Achievement Award - Kazakhstan. Marc Jones (Government & International Affairs, Ustinov College, 2011-16) wins the Professional Achievement Award - Qatar and Devina Lobine (Biological Sciences, Ustinov College, 2013-14) wins the STEM Impact Award - Mauritius.

Collingwood Graduate Releases Feature Movie on Amazon Prime

Lights, camera, action!

Recent Collingwood graduate Ed Whelan's first feature film Audition just launched on Amazon Prime.

Filmed in and around Durham with a student cast and crew, read more about this exciting release in this blog from the film's leading actress Rose.

DunelmOTTAWA - St Patrick's Jeopardy Happy Hour

Alumni and friends joined Happy Hour with a green beverage in hand and tested their knowledge on a range of questions, from Durham itself, Irish culture to the meaning of Ottawa in the Algonquin language! The Jeopardy Quiz was courtesy of alumnus, Mark Burke, the intrepid quizmaster.

Past Events

Class notes

James Fenton (Botany, Van Mildert College, 1970-73) has published a 2-volume book An Illustrated Book of Peat. The life and death of bogs: A new synthesis on peatlands.

Kamales Lardi (Business Administration, 2003-05) is Forbes Business Council Women Executives Chair.

James McGrath (Theology, Graduate Society, 1995-98) new book What Jesus Learned from Women is out now.

Sam Stroot (Business Administration, Ustinov College, 2011-13) has recently launched GoodSam Foods a chocolate brand on a mission and an ally for small farms, available exclusively on Thrive Market.

Chris Walsh (Archaeology, Grey College, 1994-97) debut novel The Dig Street Festival is available for pre-order now.

Get Involved

New Senior Volunteer Management Role for Mellissa Abdu

We are delighted to announce that Mellissa Abdu has been confirmed in role as our new Alumni and Supporter Engagement Manager (Volunteers and Networks). This new role will see Mellissa working with our alumni and supporters to provide more meaningful volunteer leadership opportunities to stay connected to Durham whilst supporting the University, its students and its global alumni and supporter community.

Alumni Views Required: Student Journey Focus Groups

We would like to invite 8-10 alumni broad range of academic disciplines and year groups to join a focus group session with our partner, Nous Group, who are completing some evaluation work on alumni experience of their student journey.

This is your opportunity to influence the level and direction of support provided to current and future Durham students. We hope you will volunteer for this opportunity. Please email using subject line 'Nous Review' if you would be willing to take part.

Mailto

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Alumni Focus Groups

We are looking for alumni identifying as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) to attend a focus group call with two BAME Research Assistants about your experiences while studying at Durham University. Please get in touch through the link below.

Colleges

Collingwood College

Collingwood’s Woodplayers have produced an amazing virtual showcase, and Collingwood’s newly formed Dance Society are preparing for their upcoming virtual showcase.

Hatfield College

Last week, many of you viewed our virtual production of Antigone and sent in some lovely messages- thank you for your feedback. Indeed, Master Ann MacLarnon shared that “it was a wonderful production, totally absorbing from the screen in contrast to so much of our present Zoom lives, demonstrating the extraordinarily flexible power of theatre.” We would love to hear further feedback here.

John Snow College

Welcome to our first Newsletter of 2021. Please click on the link below for our Epiphany Term Edition, showcasing a selection of what students, the College and Alumni have achieved during the winter months.

St Cuthbert's Society

The recording from the St Cuthbert’s Society Annual Fellows’ Lecture that was given virtually by Dame Julia Cleverdon, DCVO, CBE is available here. The latest issue of the Chronicle is now available and can be viewed online here.

St John's College

St John's Chapel Choir have a beautiful video to share with you as we wish all Johnians a very happy Easter!

Watch here

University College

University College is delighted to welcome Julia Raszewska as our new Alumni & Development Manager. Funded through the University College Durham Trust, Julia comes to Castle with several years’ experience in higher education fundraising and alumni outreach.

Ustinov College

Ustinov College have provided a full virtual programme of events and activities across this academic year. Read more using the button below.

Departments

Biosciences

New findings could improve the biomanufacturing of a crucial vitamin that is missing from vegan diets and one which remains prohibitively expensive.

Careers & Enterprise

A report has recently concluded that the DICE project, an ERDF funded collaborative project between Durham University and Durham County Council, aimed at business growth and innovation, has led to £3.3mil gross value added for SME beneficiaries.

Centre for Catholic Studies

You are all invited to Faith and Thought, a series of online discussions exploring the nature and role of ‘attention’ in the arts, spirituality, and theology.

Durham Energy Institute

Net Zero Research Team at Durham Energy Institute have organised a free online conference, looking at the latest research, innovation and market leaders across Hydrogen Fuelled Transportation and Decarbonising Heating and Cooling. Each day features speakers from across Academia and Industry.

Experience Durham

The Durham Leadership Framework has opened applications for the Leadership Academy 2021 - 2022. If you've completed the Emerging Leadership Programme, or if you have previous experience in leading a team, we invite you to apply for this opportunity.

Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Find out about The Multilingual Pleasures of English!
In this video, initially commissioned for the Durham Book Festival, Professor Richard Scholar discusses his new book, Émigrés: French Words That Turned English and how linguistic borrowing can give us new perspectives on the 'new normal'.

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