As the new year begins, we welcome four new members to the Johnian Society Committee. We are pleased to announce that Nigel Topping (1985) will be joining the committee as Vice President, Liz Broom (2015) will be taking on the role of Honorary Secretary, and David Bailey (1969) and Craig Murphy (2008) will become committee members. This year will see Mark Wells (1981) taking over the Presidency from Annamarie Phelps (1984) who will become Past President of the committee. We also say goodbye and thank you to Zip Jila (2002), who will be stepping down as Honorary Secretary, Emily Brand (1987) and Graham Spooner (1971) who will all be leaving the committee.
Read on to find out more about our newest committee members:
Nigel Topping (1985) – Vice President
Nigel Topping CMG was appointed by the UK Prime Minister as UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP26. In this role Nigel mobilised global private sector and local government to take bold action on climate change, launching the Race To Zero and Race To Resilience campaigns and, with Mark Carney, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Nigel is now a global advisor to governments, financial institutions and private companies on climate and industrial strategy. He is a non-executive director of the UK Infrastructure Bank, an Honorary Professor of Economics at Exeter University and was awarded the honour of CMG in Queen Elizabeth’s final Honours list in 2022. Nigel read Mathematics at St John’s and won two rugby Blues, before entering a career in the manufacturing industry.
Liz Broom (2015) – Hon Secretary
Liz studied Natural Sciences at St John’s, specialising in Biochemistry. During her time she enjoyed playing hockey with the Nags and serving on the May Ball Committee, where she worked her way from Subscener to Vice President. After graduating she took some time out to travel with a group of her fellow Johnians. Upon her return Liz began working at the Cambridge COVID-19 National Testing Centre as a scientist, before joining AstraZeneca within their Oncology R&D team. In 2022 she started a biomedical PhD at UCL. Outside of science Liz enjoys skiing – a hobby owed to her time at John’s. She tried the sport for the first time on the Varsity Trip and has since worked a winter season in the French Alps, with plans for another ski season post-PhD.
David Bailey (1969)
David read Natural Sciences at St John’s, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry supervised by Professor Don Northcote. Research fellowships funded by Unilever and NATO were followed by a move into the pharmaceutical industry, first at Pfizer in the UK and then at Incyte Genomics in California. In the space of only 10 years, David participated in the discovery of two important medicines (Viagra and Diflucan), the sequencing of the human genome and the development of a new multi-billion dollar biotech company – a very exciting and productive time. David hopes to stimulate interest across the Society in addressing the key scientific challenges of our times – global warming, biodiversity loss and clean energy production. In addition to his scientific interests, David is a long-standing member of the Choir Association and sings in several Cambridge choirs.
Craig Murphy (2008)
Craig read Mathematics at St John’s College as an undergraduate from 2008 to 2011. Outside of his studies he represented the University in men’s lacrosse and also tried out College rowing. Although he only rowed for one term, he maintained a strong social connection to the LMBC and counts several members of the boat club among his closest friends to this day. After graduating, not wishing to leave the numbers of mathematics behind, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the City, following which he worked for a number of private equity backed businesses in the healthcare sector. He currently splits his time between London and Berlin, working for a ‘unicorn’ start up in the e-commerce space. When not working, he enjoys travelling around Europe and squeezing in a spot of skiing when time allows.