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Fr Alban McCoy

Emeritus Fellow

Fr Alban McCoy

Emeritus Fellow

I was elected to the Fellowship in 2013 as Dean, becoming Praelector in 2014, and elected to an Emeritus Fellowship in 2018 after retiring as Dean. Since 2019 I have also been a Visiting Professor at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), Lima, Peru. 

Fr Alban McCoy was educated at the Universities of Kent and Oxford. After ordination in 1975 as a priest in the Franciscan Order (OFM Conventual), he served as a curate in a far-flung rural parish in Lincolnshire, where he was also for three years a Chaplain in the Royal Air Force at RAF Digby, an intelligence gathering base. He was Dean of Studies at the Franciscan Study Centre, Canterbury (1982-91), where he also taught philosophy and, at the University of Kent, medieval theology. After Canterbury, he was Dean of Philosophy at Allen Hall, London, the Westminster Diocesan Seminary (1992-98). Moving to Cambridge, he became Catholic Chaplain to the University of Cambridge from 1998 to 2013. From 1995 to 2020, he was the Religious Books Editor at The Tablet, the London-based international Catholic weekly newspaper, where he is now Editorial Consultant and wine writer. He is the author of An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Catholicism (Continuum-Bloomsbury 2001), An Intelligent Persons Guide to Christian Ethics (Continuum-Bloomsbury 2006) and co-editor of The Diary of Thomas Rowcroft: British Consul in Peru 1824, (Asociación Cultural Peruano Británico 2023). His research interests are St Thomas Aquinas’s natural and moral theology, in particular, his virtue ethics. He also held the positions of Dean (2013-18), Acting Dean (2018-20), Second Bursar (2014-19), Wine Steward (2018-23).”

Professor John Loughlin

Emeritus Fellow

Professor John Loughlin

Emeritus Fellow
FAcSS, Emeritus Director of the Von Hügel Institute; Fellow, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford; Emeritus Professor, Cardiff University.

Professor John Loughlin BA (Hons), MA (Cantab), PhD (European University Institute, Florence) PhD honoris causa (University of Umeå, Sweden), OSB Obl., Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, FRHistS, FRSA, FAcSS, FEASA, FLSW.

Professor John Loughlin was elected a Fellow of St Edmund's College in 2010 and shortly after was appointed Director of the College's Von Hügel Institute. He is a Senior Fellow and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. He has held various College offices including Tutor, Director of Studies in HSPS and sits on the VHI Committee, the Dean's Committee and the Estate's Committee.

He spent several years (1968-74) studying for the priesthood in the Cistercian monastery of Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey, Portglenone, N. Ireland. He read for a BA in French and Politics at the Ulster Polytechnic (1978-82) and completed a Doctorate in Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy (1982-85). He was appointed Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Ulster (1985-91), then Associate Professor in Public Administration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (1991-94) before taking up the Chair of European Politics at Cardiff University (1995-2010). He was elected a Fellow of St Edmund's in 2010.

Professor Loughlin has held Visiting Professorships and Fellowships in Oxford, Paris, Princeton, Brussels, Umeå, Florence and several other places. He has carried out extensive research on territorial politics in Europe and is now working on a project on Religion and Politics. He has published over twenty authored and edited books and over 140 journal articles and book chapters. His recent books include: The UK Government’s ‘Big Society’ Programme and Catholic Social Teaching. (Chelmsford: Matthew James Publishing, (with Richard Crellin), 2013; Subnational Government: the French Experience. (Macmillan Palgrave, 2007) [translated into Romanian]; Albania and the European Union: The Tumultuous Journey to Integration and Accession, (London: I B Tauris, 2007) (with Mirela Bogdani); Subnational Democracy in the European Union: Challenges and Opportunities (Oxford University Press, , HB, 2001; PB, 2004); Culture, Institutions and Regional Development: a Study of Eight European Regions, (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, HB 2003; PB 2005) (with M. Keating and K. Deschouwer); The Oxford Handbook of Subnational Democracy in Europe. (Oxford University Press) (edited with F. Hendriks and Anders Lidström); The Transformation of Territorial Governance in the 21st Century, (Brussels: Flemish Academy of Belgium for Arts and Sciences, 2007) ) (edited with Kris Deschouwer); Spanish Political Parties, (Cardiff: Wales University Press, 2006) (edited with David Hanley); “Religion et Politique”, Special Issue of Pôle Sud (Revue de Science Politique de l'Europe Méridionale. 2002 (Guest editor with David Hanley); La décentralisation dans les Etats de l'Union européenne, Coll. Les Etudes, (Paris: La Documentation Française, 2003) (edited with Alain Delcamp); Autonomies Insulaires: vers une politique de différence pour la Corse (Ajaccio: Albiana, 1999) (edited with Claude Olivesi and F. Daftary); The Political Economy of Regionalism, (London: Routledge, 1997) (edited with Michael Keating); The End of the French Unitary State? Ten Years of Regionalization in France, (London: Frank Cass Ltd., 1995) (edited with Sonia Mazey); Europa de las Regiones: una Perspectiva Intergubernatal (Granada: University of Granada, 1994) (edited with Arenilla Saez and T. Toonen); (ed.) Southern Europe Studies Guide, (Bowker Saur Ltd, London, 1993). He founded and edited for 13 years Regional and Federal Studies the international political science journal published by Routledge.

His research has been recognised by a number of awards and honours. In 2010, the French Government appointed him an Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques 'in recognition of his contribution to French culture and language in the UK'. In 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Umea  (Sweden) in recognition of his research on European politics. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (2007), of the Royal Society of Arts (2008), of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences (2008), of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2013) and of the Learned Society of Wales (2014). In 2005 he was an Visiting Fellow of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Arts and Sciences. The Foundation Wiener-Anspach which promotes collaboration between the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge appointed him to the prestigious Chaire Ganshof van der Meersch.

Professor Loughlin has acted as an expert and consultant for international organisations and national and regional governments. He has chaired expert groups on decentralization at the EU's Committee of the Regions and at UN-Habitat and was responsible for drawing up a set of Guidelines on Decentralisation for the latter organization. He is also an expert on local government for the Council of Europe. He has advised the UK Government, the Flemish Government, the French Senate and the Northern Ireland and Welsh governments on issues of territorial governance.

Dr Richard Jennings

Emeritus Fellow

Dr Richard Jennings

Emeritus Fellow
Former Deputy Director of Cambridge Enterprise

Dr Richard Jennings BSc DPhil is the Former Deputy Director of Cambridge Enterprise Ltd. the University’s wholly owned technology transfer company and a board member of both Cambridge Enterprise and Cambridge University Technical Services (CUTS). He is also a non-executive director of Ifm Education and Consultancy Services Ltd, the Institute for Manufacturing's knowledge transfer company.

Formerly, Richard was Head of Chemical Research at Napp Research Centre on the Cambridge Science Park. He joined the University as Assistant Director for Industrial Cooperation of the Wolfson Cambridge Industrial Unit, with responsibility for biomedical projects, in 1988. In 1994, he became Director and also joined the board of the University's technology transfer company, now called Cambridge Enterprise. Richard was appointed Director of Research Policy in 2000 and joined Cambridge Enterprise in 2005 to establish its consultancy business.

Richard has a very extensive track record of establishing mutually beneficial university-industry collaborations and commercialising University-derived intellectual property through consultancy, licensing and over a hundred spin-off companies.

He has a D. Phil in Chemistry from the University of Sussex, a DIC from Imperial College and is a non-executive director of Granta Design Ltd., a spin-off from the Engineering Department.

Professor Peter Guthrie OBE

Emeritus Fellow

Professor Peter Guthrie OBE

Emeritus Fellow

My research is focused on resilience of infrastructure, the assessment of large scale projects for sustainability, and energy efficiency and infection control in buildings.

Peter Guthrie was the first Professor in Engineering for Sustainable Development in the UK, taking up this post at the University of Cambridge in 2000. Prior to that he was in engineering consultancy for over 25 years. His research is focused on resilience of infrastructure, the assessment of large scale projects for sustainability, and energy efficiency and infection control in buildings. A civil engineer, Peter has worked in countries such as Nigeria, Malaysia, Lesotho, Sudan, Philippines, Ethiopia, and Botswana, and on major infrastructure projects such as London 2012, Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1), Conwy Tunnel, major airports, and building projects. He has recently led research consultancy for Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF). Peter was a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2020-2024), and is currently leading work on Pandemic Preparedness and on Infection Resilient Environments. Peter is founder and Vice-President of the charity RedR Engineers for Disaster Relief.

Academic Profile

Publications

  • MacAskill, Kristen, O’Hanlon, Francesca, Guthrie, Peter, Mian, Juliet, (2020). Fostering resilience-oriented thinking in engineering practice Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability Volume 173 Issue 7, October pp. 356- 364 DOI: 10.1680/jensu.19.00049
  • George, Jennifer; Guthrie, Peter; Orr, John, (2022). "Re-Defining Shelter: Humanitarian Sheltering". July. Disasters Journal doi: 10.1111/disa.12555
  • Short, CA, Forman, T, MacAskill, KA, Soulti, E, Mutschler, R, Mohareb, E, Solanki, J, Britnell, J, Georgiadou, MC, Brady-Patel, B, Guthrie, P, (2020). NHS Estate: Energy Efficiency and Practice. Journal of Building Engineering. Submitted for review, May.
  • Zhou, W., Reiner, D., Moncaster, A., Guthrie, P., (2022) Modelling future trends of annual embodied energy of urban residential building stock in China. Energy Policy Vol 165, June doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112932
  • Blom CM and Guthrie PM, 2019. Strategic intent .... Proc ICE – Engg Sustainability 172(4): 167–183

Awards & Recognitions

  • CBE 2024
  • FREng 1997
  • OBE1993
Prof Hill Gaston Headshot

Professor Hill Gaston

Emeritus Fellow

Professor Hill Gaston

Emeritus Fellow

My research interests have been in the field of immunology as applied to an understanding of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases which I also managed as a clinical rheumatologist. My principal interest was in T lymphocyte responses to a variety of pathogens associated with some forms of arthritis.

Prof. Gaston read medicine at Oxford, trained in general medicine in London and Bristol, and started research in Bristol, as a CRC Fellow, on T cell responses to Epstein-Barr virus. He continued postdoctoral training at Stanford as an MRC travelling fellow, working on total lymph node irradiation as a treatment for RA, and began studies on synovial biopsies and cloning of lesional T lymphocytes. In 1985 he was invited to Birmingham by Paul Bacon, where he became a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellow and honorary consultant, continuing work on synovial T cell clones, particularly those recognizing bacterial antigens in reactive arthritis. He moved to Cambridge in 1995 as foundation professor of rheumatology, and has continued interests in immunological mechanisms in rheumatic disease, particularly spondyloarthritis and the role of HLA-B27, and interactions between infection and the immune system. Recent research in his lab has investigated the IL-23-IL-17 axis in inflammatory arthritis, and the transcriptional control of IL-23 secretion, having recently reported the influence of intracellular stress responses on IL-23 production. Such responses can be initiated by protein mis-folding (as seen with HLA-B27) or intracellular infection (e.g. by chlamydia).

He established a spondyloarthritis clinic, and was involved in clinical research as clinical director of the West Anglia comprehensive local research network. cHe haired the Arthritis Research UK’s clinical studies group in spondyloarthritis.

Prof Gaston is married to a G.P, has two grown-up children and a grandson; interests include music, science and faith issues (through Cambridge Faraday Institute), reading and travel.

Dr Anna Gannon, MA, PhD Cantab, FSA

Emeritus Fellow, Director of Studies

Dr Anna Gannon, MA, PhD Cantab, FSA

Emeritus Fellow, Director of Studies

I specialise in early medieval Insular Art. I am part of an international group working on early Irish reliquaries found in Italy, and co-edit a Medieval studies Festschrift. Current research focuses on the exegesis of evoked sacred landscapes, religious approaches to nature in the Insular world.

Dr Anna Gannon, MA, PhD Cantab, FSA, FHEA gained her first degree in Italy, where she studied Modern Languages and specialised in German Philology. She read History of Art at Cambridge, and her PhD was published as The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage (Oxford University Press, 2003; paperback reprint, 2010; Kindle edn. 2012). Dr Gannon worked for some years at the British Museum in the Money and Metal Department and in the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory, reporting on Treasure. She published the Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 63. British Museum. Anglo-Saxon Coins. Part i. Early Anglo-Saxon Coins and Continental Silver Coins of the North Sea, c.600-760, British Museum, 2013.
As Academic Consultant for the University, she was in charge of the professional development of newly-appointed probationary lecturers across the University. As Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History of Art she taught her own Part II paper on Anglo-Saxon Art, as well as directing studies for five colleges. At St Edmund’s she was also a Tutor and contributed to a number of major Committees.

Her principal research interests and publications are in Anglo-Saxon coinage, Germanic and Insular art and culture, Late Antiquity and the artistic reworking of the heritage of Rome, the advent and spread of of Christianity. Her work spans archaeological and interdisciplinary methodological questions. Since her retirement she has pursued her interest in Theology, and has contributed entries to the Visual Commentary of Scripture on line, a project directed by Prof. Ben Quash, King’s College London.

Publications 

  • The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage (6th-8th centuries), 2003, Oxford University Press .
  • Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 63, c.600-760, 2013 B.M.P
  • The Coins of the Irish Free State, 1928, 2025, in Le Molte Facce di una Moneta, Milano UP, 109-26
  • Guarding the Sacred: early Anglo-Saxon cylindrical containers’ 2021, in Custodire il Sacro, Temporis Signa, XVI, 213-233
  • Insular numismatics 2020, Barbaric Splendor, Archeopress 121-139.

Dr Petà Dunstan

Emeritus Fellow

Dr Petà Dunstan

Emeritus Fellow
Emeritus Fellow, formerly Librarian in the Faculty of Divinity and Tutor

Petà Dunstan took both her first degree and PhD at Clare College, Cambridge. She is a modern church historian and a member of the Faculty of Divinity, where she was the Faculty Librarian. Her main area of research is Anglican Religious communities. Her publications include a history of the Society of St Francis, This Poor Sort and of the Anglican Benedictines, The Labour of Obedience.  More recently she published a biography of Dorothy Buxton, a 20th-century campaigner and a founder of the charity Save the Children, called Campaigning for Life. In College, she has been a tutor since the 1990s, as well as being Fellow Librarian, Tutor and has served on Council and other committees.

Prof David Bridges Headshot

Professor David Bridges

Emeritus Fellow

Professor David Bridges

Emeritus Fellow

My research focuses on educational policy and practice in the UK and internationally.

Professor Bridges is probably best known for his work in philosophy of education through which he engaged critically with evolving educational policy over six decades. He was elected Chair of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (of which he is now Honorary Vice President) and was founder and Co-Convenor of the Philosophy Section of both the British and European Education Research Associations. However, from an early stage in his career he was also drawn into empirical studies, mainly employing ethnographic and case study approaches. This work took him into many different spheres including, school accountability, policing, an Evaluation of the Engineering Councils Neighborhood Engineer scheme and multiple evaluations for local authorities of their responses to government initiatives in teacher training. Professor Bridges bridged the philosophy of education community and the wider educational research community and became a member of the Council of the British Educational Research Association and represented the UK on the Council of the European Educational Research Association. He was twice a member of the Education panel for the UK Research Assessment Exercise. A lot of his later philosophical writing addressed issues arising out of contemporary practice in educational and wider social science research.

In parallel with this academic work, Professor Bridges took on a succession of leadership positions in higher education:, first as Deputy Principal of Homerton College (in which his early career was based) and as Professor and Dean of the School of Education and then as Pro Vice Chancellor in the University of East Anglia. On retiring (early) from this he came to St Edmund's as Visiting Fellow and then remained as Director of the Von Hugel Institute. In parallel with this he was appointed first Director of the newly established Association of Universities in the East of England, which was an HE response to the government's creation of Regional Development Agencies and a Regional Assembly. Through most of his career Professor Bridges has had extensive international engagement both as an academic (Addis Ababa -- for 26 years -- Hong Kong, University of Illinois, Oslo and Chung Chen University in Taiwan, Nazarbayeth University in Astana) and as a policy consultant (Ethiopia, Guyana, Belize, Ghana, Iran, Mongolia, and, Kazakhstan). The work in Mongolia and Kazakhstan was carried out under the auspices of the Cambridge University Faculty of Education which he rejoined in 2011 and with Cambridge Assessment. A number of Professor Bridges' publications are the product of these international partnerships or arise out of reflections on this international work.

Publications

  • Bridges,D. (2023) Ethics in educational practice, policy and research. Ethics International Press.
  • Bridges,D. (2017) Philosophy in educational research: Epistemology, ethics, politics and quality. Springer
  • Bridges,D. Ed. (2014) Educational reform and internationalisation: The case of school reform in Kazakhstan. Cambridge University Press.
  • Bridges,D, Smeyers,P. & Smith, R.D Eds. (2009) Evidence-based educational policy: What evidence? What basis? Whose policy? Wiley Blackwell (Originally as a special issue of the Journal of Philosophy of Education).?
  • Bridges, D. and McLaughlin T.H. Eds. (1994) Education and the market place. Falmer Press

Awards & Recognitions 

  • Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
  • Honorary Doctorate of the Open University
  • Honorary Vice President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
  • Honorary Member of the European Education Research Association

 

 

Bernadette O’Flynn

Emeritus Fellow

Bernadette O’Flynn

Emeritus Fellow
Emeritus Fellow

Bernadette O'Flynn was Head of Personnel for the assistant staff in the University of Cambridge from 1992 - 1999, having joined the University in 1972 as Industrial Relations Officer. From 1999-2005 she worked for the British Council, as Personnel Director for Spain.

Dr Bernadette O’Keeffe

Emeritus Fellow

Dr Bernadette O’Keeffe

Emeritus Fellow

Emeritus Fellow. Former Co-Director of the Von Hugel Institute and tutor

Norfolk Building and Chapel

HRH The Princess Royal

Honorary Fellow

HRH The Princess Royal

Honorary Fellow

Dr Simon Mitton

Life Fellow

Dr Simon Mitton

Life Fellow

I was elected a Life Fellow at St Edmund’s in 2014, following 40 years of continuous service as a financial officer of the College. My current area of academic research is the history and philosophy of science, the history of cosmology since 1915. I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Simon Mitton read physics at the University of Oxford (Trinity College). Then he headed to Churchill College for doctorate in physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in Martin Ryle’s radio astronomy group. From 1972–1978 he was a staff member of the Institute of Astronomy, initially as a postdoc with Fred Hoyle, followed by appointment as the departmental administrator 1974–1978. Cambridge University Press then engaged him initially as senior editor with responsibility for commissioning in the physical sciences. In 1984 he was appointed to the executive board of directors at the Press, with global responsibility for its academic book publishing programmes in the sciences. His major achievements in that context included winning the publishing contract for a succession of Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Geneva; overseeing a major expansion of the publishing programme in earth and planetary science; and persuading his friend and colleague Stephen Hawking to remove two dozen equations from the typescript of his popular bestseller, A Brief History of Science.
Following retirement from the Press in 2001, Simon started a third career based at St Edmund’s College for his research programme on the history of astronomy and cosmology in the twentieth century, with an emphasis on biographical presentations of the lives in science of major pioneers. He has published dozens of peer reviewed papers, reviews, books and monographs on the key pioneers: Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold, George Gamow, and Georges Lemaître; The latter resided at St Edmund’s House (1923–1924) while working alongside Sir Arthur Eddington on Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Simon Mitton’s current project is a full biography of Lemaître, who is now noted as one the founders of the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.

Throughout fifty years of academic fellowship at St Edmund’s, Simon Mitton has worked tirelessly as a vigorous outreach promoter of astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. He has worked in several media: as consultant and columnist for New Scientist (1970s); running educational courses for the public at Madingley Hall and evening classes sponsored by the University throughout the east of England (1970s, 1980s); as an astronomy lecturer on cruise liners, jointly with Dr Jacqueline Mitton, (2006-2017); giving presentations to university astronomical societies; script writer (with Jacqueline Mitton) for a 26-part tv series Destination Space; Editor-in-Chief for The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy (1977, Jonathan Cape London; ten foreign language co-editions); and co-author Young Oxford Book of Astronomy (1995). Simon is a strong supporter of the Catholic Chapel at St Edmund’s College, and its vibrant community of students, staff, academic visitors and members of the public. He enjoys popping into the College for congenial conversations with students and senior members alike on astronomy, the history of astronomy and the universe.

Personal Website

Publications

  • O'Raifeartaigh, C; O'Keeffe, M; (...); Mitton, Simon, One hundred years of the cosmological constant: from "superfluous stunt" to dark energy, 2018, Physics in Perspective 20 (4) , Pp.318-341.
  • Simon Mitton, Georges Lemaître and the Foundations of Big Bang Cosmology, 2020, The Antiquarian Astronomer 14 2–19
  • Simon Mitton, A Short History of Panspermia from Antiquity Through the Mid-1970s, 2022, Astrobioiogy 22 1379–1391
  • Simon Mitton, From Crust to Core, A Chronicle of Deep Carbon Science, 2021, Cambridge University Press
  • Jacqueline Mitton and Simon Mitton, Vera Rubin a Life, 2021, Harvard University Press

Awards & Recognitions 

  • 1980. The International Astronomical Union designated minor planet 4027 as "Minor Planet Mitton" in recognition of Simon and Jacqueline Mitton's contributions to popularizing astronomy through their book writing and lecturing.

 

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