Fitzwilliam College has appointed Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton, as the College's next Master, from 1 October 2019, to succeed Professor Nicky Padfield.

Baroness Morgan studied Geography at Durham University, and then completed postgraduate qualifications at King’s College London and the Institute of Education, University of London.

After teaching in London secondary schools she entered politics. Between 1997 and 2005 she held senior positions at 10 Downing Street and was a Minister of State in the Cabinet Office. Appointed to the House of Lords in 2001, she has chaired the Select Committee on Digital Skills, and is a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee.

A former Chair of Ofsted, she is Vice Chair of the Council of King’s College London, and advisor to educational charity ARK, with deep experience of the educational sector, and the particular challenges of widening participation.

Following her election, she said: ‘I am delighted to be joining Fitzwilliam College at a time of both opportunity and challenge. I am looking forward to working with you all to further the founding mission of the College. Fitzwilliam has so much of which it can be proud and I have been struck by the warmth and commitment of everyone I have met so far. I really look forward to getting to know the whole College community.’

Read more on Fitzwilliam's website

Catherine Arnold OBE elected the next Master of St Edmund’s

St Edmund’s College has elected Catherine Arnold OBE to be its next Master from 1 October, to succeed Mr Matthew Bullock. She will be the 15th Master of the College and the first woman to hold that office.

Catherine Arnold was born in South Korea and went to school in Asia and the UK. She was an undergraduate and postgraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she studied Mathematics and Theology, receiving a First, an MPhil in the Philosophy of Religion, and was a Research, Senior and Choral Scholar. She also holds an MA in Religious Conflict from the University of Nottingham and has attended the Higher Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy.

She joins St Edmund’s from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she has had a distinguished international career in the diplomatic service.

As Ambassador to Mongolia until February 2018, Catherine championed stronger economic, political, cultural and educational links with the UK. She particularly enjoyed working with young adults and was regularly asked to speak to leadership and personal development programmes.

On her appointment, she said: 'I am delighted to be returning to Cambridge and to joining St Edmund's College. I have already been struck by the warmth of the community and the welcoming environment that has made St Edmund's one of the most international colleges in Cambridge. This is an exciting time for St Edmund's, with the opening of the Mount Pleasant Halls in time for Michaelmas Term. I look forward to working with the whole college community to foster and promote inclusion, support and excellence at St Edmund’s, as we take the College to the next stage in its development.'

Read more from St Edmund's College