Mr Matthew Bullock was inaugurated as 14th Master of St Edmund’s College at a ceremony in the College Chapel on Friday 3 October 2014. His inauguration was streamed live to the Garden Room and was followed by a Champagne reception attended by students, Fellows, academic visitors and staff. A video of the ceremony is available above.

In his speech, the Master paid tribute to Paul Luzio for the good state in which he left things and for a gracious handover. He went on to describe the tasks that he believes lie ahead of him in the role, namely executing building plans, raising new capital and looking at ‘life beyond growth’ for the College. The Master said, “We may… be coming to the stage where we have to develop a different view about what we will strive for beyond growth; colleges are not like businesses, with a single overriding goal; their narratives are developed at many levels, and growth will not stop, though it may no longer be so rapid; but going from Big Bang to Satisfying Steady State – drawing together our heritage, our youth and our prospects into something more exciting than Middle Age Spread – is the least defined, but the most interesting of the tasks that I have so far discerned.”

The Master concluded by saying, “I will share the task of all the Fellows in ensuring that our students find their time at St Edmund’s enriching, enjoyable and stretching. We have a deservedly high reputation for creating great bonds of friendship amongst a very diverse range of students that endure beyond their college years. I hope we can also stretch their achievements to match that reputation academically.” As we welcome this year’s new cohort of students at the first of our inauguration and matriculation ceremonies, the Master says, “I look forward to watching them grow, stretch and progress to graduation and then become enduring friends and alumni of the College.”

The Master has a long-standing connection with Cambridge and the University, and has had a long and successful career in the financial sector. To read more about the Master, please click here.

Matthew will be the After-Dinner Speaker at this year’s Annual Alumni Society London Dinner at the Oxford and Cambridge Club on Wednesday 12 November 2014. Please see here for booking details.