Sir Terence and Lady English
Our annual SPRING DINNER was held on Saturday, 8th April, at The British School of Boston, 420 Pond Street, Boston, Mass.
Our guests of honour for the evening were Sir Terence and Lady English who spoke jointly on the topic, "Master and Principal: An Oxbridge story". Sir Terence is an eminent cardiothoracic surgeon who has served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons; Lady English is a distinguished academic psychiatrist who, while Chief of Staff of the V.A. Boston Healthcare System, was a member of our Society.
Each described their experiences as head of, respectively, a Cambridge (St. Catherine's) and an Oxford (St. Hilda's) college as well as drawing out the similarities and differences in these roles, both at college and university level. This proved to be an interesting "under the covers" look, at some of the inner workings of the two Universities
They also answered questions ranging from comments about the current standing of the UK's National Health Service - very pertinent given the recent legislation in MA for universal health insurance. To the issues that St. Hilda's faces, in being the last remaining all women's college at Oxford, and how this compares to the standing of colleges such as Wellesley in the US.
Sincerely
Nick Copley,
Balliol College, Oxford
President of the Society