Professor Chris Young will be officially installed as the 16th Master of St Edmund’s College at an inauguration ceremony on Thursday 3 October 2024. 

Professor Young was elected by the Governing Body in March and takes over from Catherine Arnold OBE as the new Master from today (1 October). Chris Young is Professor of Modern and Medieval German Studies at the University of Cambridge and Head of the School of Arts and Humanities. He is also Director of the Cambridge DAAD Research Hub for German Studies, and founder and Director of the Cambridge-LMU Strategic Partnership, Cambridge’s first institution-wide partnership with any university. He is both a medievalist and a prize-winning historian of modern sport. He is currently co-curating a major exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum on the 1924 Paris Olympics (best known through the film ‘Chariots of Fire’) and serving on the German government’s Historical Commission on the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. 

Professor Chris Young said of his appointment, “St Edmund’s has a unique heritage and global vision within the Cambridge landscape. I am delighted to be able to continue the work of Catherine Arnold and her predecessors and look forward to serving the College and working with its Fellows and students in the next exciting phase of its development”.

Welcoming the new Master, Vice-Master of St Edmund’s College, Dr Gemma Burgess said: “I am delighted to welcome Chris as the next Master. St Edmund’s is moving into an exciting future and Chris is personally aligned with our strategic vision and values. I am very happy to welcome such an eminent academic as our next Master and look forward to working with Chris to deliver the many exciting plans in the pipeline for the College”. 

The inauguration ceremony will take place in the College Chapel.  Attendance in the Chapel is by invitation only. The ceremony will be recorded, and a copy of the film will be available to view on our website at a later date. 

Release date: 1 October 2024