All your latest news and events

Newswire
February 2020

News

Visit from Dr Bill Bryson

We were thrilled to host our former Chancellor, Dr Bill Bryson, who gave a talk to an appreciative audience at the Small Island Café on his new book The Body.
The talk this week was one of the first in our Café Culture series happening on campus.

Winter Congregation

Huge congratulations to everyone who graduated earlier this month. Welcome to the alumni community. Sign-up now for your full range of alumni benefits.

Big congratulations also go to our Honorary Graduates.

Class of 70 Golden Anniversary Celebrations

Alumni reunited to celebrate the golden anniversary of their graduation. See the photos and read their stories:

New Year Honours for Durham Alumni

Congratulations to all of our alumni who were given awards in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.

Assembly Rooms Reopening

The relaunched theatre is a place for the university and the local community to come together and celebrate the fantastic theatre that the North East has to offer.

See the launch event photos

Sharing our 350-year-old library with the world

Cosin’s Library is home to outstanding collections and we are delighted to have received funding from Arts Council England to help bring this to a wider audience.

Wolfson Foundation Announcement

Durham University was successful in securing £80,000 of funding from the Wolfson Foundation to support the restoration and interpretation of the Norman Chapel at Castle.

Events

New Delhi Chapter Launch

Save the date to celebrate all things Durham and the launch of our new International Alumni Chapter in New Delhi on Tuesday 21 April.

Alumni Networking Evening in Prague

Monday 24 February. With special guest speakers His Excellency Nick Archer MVO, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Michael Zantovsky, Director of Vaclav Havel Library and former Czech Ambassador to the UK.

Book now

Durham University alumni charity concert with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

On Thursday 12 March, The Sovereign Singers with professional string quartet will be performing a fundraising concert for the Alzheimer's Society.

Jazz at St Giles

Oxford University Jazz Orchestra teams up with the 19-piece Durham University Big Band for an annual grand evening of superb musicianship and comradely rivalry in Oxford on Friday 7 February.

US Students' Reception - Round up

A wonderful event with our Durham-US community hosted by our esteemed alumna and Chair of the North American Development Board, Zoe Scheinman.

Malaysian International Alumni - Round up

Our International Chapter Launch Event in Kuala Lumpur was a huge success. It was great to see so many of you come together and celebrate all things Durham.

See the photos

Members of Durham Inspired Campaign Board visit Sports and Wellbeing Park

Members of our Durham Inspired Campaign Board visited the newly refurbished Sports and Wellbeing Park at Maiden Castle last week.

See the photos

View all upcoming events

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

View Now

Alumni

Durham alumna Noha Aboueldahab won the Professional Achievement Award in 2018-19

Noha Aboueldahab (Law, Ustinov College, 2013-16) is the Global winner of the Professional Achievement category 2019. She came back to visit Durham and celebrate her achievement, give a careers talk and look back on her time at here.

Unicorn Hunter: China, Wealth and the West - Professor Rupert Hoogewerf

Founder and Chief Researcher of the Hurun Report, Professor Rupert Hoogewerf (Chinese with Japanese, St Cuthbert’s Society, 1989-93) – Professor in Practice, Durham University Business School – gave an exclusive and fascinating talk to our students following the recent publication of the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019. Audio of the talk, co-hosted by Professor Rob Lynes and Dr Karena Yan, is available for you to hear.

Listen to the talk

Class Notes

Craig Lawrence, CBE (Engineering, University College, 1983-86) has had his book GURKHA published with a foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, the book commemorates the first 25 years of The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Music therapist Jenny Laahs (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Grey College, 2008-12) has released her debut electro-pop album Grow Slow under the name Pinlight.

Luke Grenfell-Shaw (Natural Sciences, University College, 2013-17) is cycling From Bristol To Beijing on a tandem to show what's possible with a cancer diagnosis and to inspire others to live life to the full. He's passed through Durham last weekend to talk to students. Follow his story here.

Dr Lois Musikali (International Trade & Commercial Law, Ustinov College, 2004-06) was awarded the Governance Researcher of the Year 2019 award at the 10th Champions of Governance Awards.

Mark Pearson (Institute of European Studies, St Chad's College, 1969-70) has been named Chairman of the New Hampshire Commission on Deafness and Hearing Loss. He continues as Assistant Floor Leader to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and as substitute chaplain to the House.

Peter Preston (St Cuthbert's Society, 1964-68) has published many books, one of his novels Corridor Dance is set in Durham University.

Rosie Dart wrote Tappuccino with her Co-star Rhys Rodrigues (Music, Collingwood College, 2016-19). They will be performing the show at the Vault Festival in London on 29 February and 1 March following a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

Soumya Singh (Computer Science, College of St Hild & St Bede, 2015-19) is returning to Durham next week as a panelist at a Durham University Women in Business event, sharing her experience of working as a technologist at Deutsche Bank and how technology is shaping the financial services industry.

Tom Lucas (Sociology, St Chad's, 1973-76) has had his novels published Just help yourself and Andrew Lucas - the Life story of my father - an unsung hero.

Get Involved

DOMAN, allows Durham students and alumni to workshop and showcase their original music, and network with fellow musicians.

Original music performers, writers, enthusiasts, we want to hear from you! Supporting original music in and after Durham University, DOMAN is building its network. As alumni you will be invited to events, have a space to share and discuss your work and optional mentoring of current original music writers in Durham. It is free to join and the focus is on building and supporting creativity, so let us know if you have new music being released or upcoming opportunities. More information about summer networking events will be released soon so join the group or like the page to stay in the loop.

Colleges

Collingwood College

Collingwood’s Principal, Professor Julian Elliott, has received the 2020 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Educational and Child Psychology from the British Psychological Society.

College of St Hild and St Bede

See the latest news and events from the College of St Hild and St Bede.

Hatfield College

The annual Chapel Choir Reunion will be held in College over the weekend of 15-16 February. The reunion will be an opportunity to meet friends and singers from the Choir, past and present, as well as perform in one of the finest religious buildings in the country.

John Snow College

Keep an eye out for upcoming alumni events and social media launches. Please also see our Winter 2019 newsletter.

St Cuthbert's Society

Read the latest news from St Cuthbert's Society.

St John's College

We are pleased to share the news that St John’s College has been awarded £3.4 million to help Christian leaders engage with the latest scientific developments and ideas shaping society.

St Mary's College

Thank you to all who attended our annual London drinks evening. It was a real success and great to catch up with so many of you. Our next alumni event will be the Sports Alumni Weekend held on 6-8 March. Please join the Facebook groups to make sure you hear the details as they come out!

Trevelyan College

We are delighted to welcome our new Principal, Professor Adekunle Adeyeye, to Trevelyan.

University College

Dr Wendy Powers has been announced as our new Head of University College and Associate Vice Provost (Education).
She will take up her position in June 2020.

Ustinov College

Happy New Year from Ustinov College and congratulations to our recent graduates!

Van Mildert College

We are delighted to confirm that Opera by the Lake 2020 will be taking place in College on Saturday 22 February.

Departments

Durham Energy Institute

Read the Latest issue ‘UK Electricity - significant shifts and future imperatives‘ by Barbara Vest, Special Advisor to EnergyUK. A personal view from 30 years in the sector, marking her OBE award in 2020 New Year's Honours and Honorary Doctorate from Durham University.

Business School

The digital version of IMPACT 7 the Business School’s award-winning magazine is available now. The theme of this edition is Entrepreneurship and Innovation with articles by faculty, staff, students, alumni and business connections. Read online here (if viewing this in China please use Publitas).

Experience Durham

Check out the Women's Rugby Newsletter and the Men's Rugby Newsletter here.

History

Professor Clive Jones was interviewed extensively in a major 3 part documentary Geheime Israel: Der Mossad (Secret Israel: The Mossad) broadcast on the terrestrial German TV channel ZDF on 27 December 2019.

Law School

A Durham law expert who has championed women in the legal profession and shaped new laws on extreme pornography and upskirting has been appointed an honorary Queen’s Counsel (QC).

Music

See the link below for the many exciting events that Music has coming up.

Benefits

Affiliate Membership of the Princeton Club in New York

The Princeton Club is located centrally in Manhattan. Meeting spaces include an outdoor patio, a bar and a restaurant.

Find out more of the membership benefits and apply for membership here.

See all our alumni benefits

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