Louise Gullifer (Law, 1979)

Academic

Being a student at Hertford was hugely influential on the three major aspects of my life: Oxford, the law and music. When I came up to Hertford (and, for that matter, when I left) I had no idea that the bulk of my career would be spent as an Oxford, and now a Cambridge, academic, but the love of Oxford I developed over my four years as a student is still with me, and I have always felt extremely privileged to live and work in this wonderful place. Reading law at Hertford was truly inspirational, and was the rock on which my legal career has been built. Having tutorials with Roy Stuart and Stuart Anderson was an excellent preparation both for advocacy at the Bar and for the rigours of academic debate and writing. Finally, as Roy Stuart once pointed out, I spent nearly as much time in Oxford playing and organising music as I did studying law. While the balance is now firmly tipped the other way, my love of music is still a most important part of my life. When my husband was head of New College School, I had the luxury of attending evensong most evenings of term: a stone’s throw from Hertford Chapel where I first sang this lovely service, and now I have the pleasure of attending at my new college, Gonville and Caius, Cambridge.