Alumni speakers at Hertford
26 November 2018
It has been an honour for us to host a number of distinguished Hertford alumni in recent weeks who have given generously of their time and expertise to speak with current and former students and alumni about their own careers.
In October we hosted our Law Reunion Talk and Dinner where Professor Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC (1961) and Michael Fordham QC (1983) both discussed their own careers primarily in the worlds of constitutional and human rights’ law. Sir Jeffrey spoke of his extensive work in drafting and implementing new constitutions around the globe and was asked to comment on his own opinions on how the lack of a concrete constitution in the UK affects our ability to function as a democratic society, as well as how this continues to impact the ongoing Brexit process.
Later in the month we welcomed back to college Rob Williams (Law 1983), Chief Executive of War Child UK. War Child is a charity dedicated to helping children caught in war zones. They run schools in refugee camps, help child soildiers leave militia groups and go back to their families, and provide psycho-social support to tens of thousands of children a year who have fled shelling, bombs and piles of rubble. Rob spoke to an audience of current students about his vital work in these situations, and also gave advice and opinions on careers in the third sector. He also spoke about how much he valued his experience with the boat club while a student, and how this has given him many of the leadership skills that he values most in his work today.
On 12 November we were delighted to partner with the Oxford Media Society to host a talk with Krishnan Guru-Murthy (PPE 1989) who spoke to a packed Baring Room about his career in the media industry. Third-year Economics & Management student Miranda Ryan attended the talk and remarked: ‘Krishnan was interviewed by the Oxford Media Society’s impressively young and Nick Ferrari like President. His honesty and thoughtful responses to questioning were incredibly refreshing, garnering my respect for him even beyond watching some of his interviews. He covered diversity in political journalism and news presenting, an industry I’d always been somewhat intimidated by. Krishnan noted the even more damning imbalances off screen, away from the critique of campaigners.’
We look forward to welcoming Peter Dart (Physics 1972) and Vanessa Collingridge (Geography 1986) to college this week. Peter, who is also being co-hosted by the Oxford Media Society, will speak about his career in global marketing and Vanessa will be running workshops for students in presentation skills, preparing them for interviews and delivering seminars. We are enormously grateful to these alumni for all the time and effort that they have given to the Hertford community.