Applications invited for the next Master of Trinity

Trinity is seeking a new Master after Sir Gregory Winter announced that he would step down in July 2019.

The Master of Trinity is both an ambassador for Trinity and Chair of the College Council and the governing body. In a global search for the best field of applicants, the College is seeking those of ‘high intellectual distinction’ with substantial experience in academia or beyond.

The Vice Master, Professor Grae Worster, said:

We welcome suitably qualified applicants with substantial experience in academia or other fields. Trinity has been fortunate in having had some very distinguished scholars as Master. While there have been several Masters from the Sciences and Mathematics in recent decades, the position is open to those of any discipline and beyond academia.

Often, the Master of Trinity has combined the role with another eminent position. I should say that the title ‘Master’ is historical, not gender specific nowadays and we of course welcome people from any background anywhere in the world to apply. There is no longer a requirement to have studied at Trinity or at Cambridge.

Sir Gregory has been Master of Trinity since 2012 before which he was a Senior Research Fellow and an undergraduate of the College. He is a biotech entrepreneur best known for developing a new class of antibody-based drugs for cancer and auto-immune diseases.

As well as receiving numerous awards, Sir Gregory founded three Cambridge-based biotech companies, two of which have been acquired by pharmaceutical firms. Sir Gregory conducted his ground-breaking research, which has revolutionised the pharmaceutical industry, at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Centre for Protein Engineering at Cambridge.

Sir Gregory said:

It has been privilege to be Master of Trinity, and to represent our large and multinational community of scholars (700 undergraduates, 400 postgraduates, almost 200 Fellows), as well as our 350 staff and 15,000 alumni. Our scholars include the best in academia, and our alumni have made their mark in the world at the highest levels.

For me, the Mastership has always been interesting, challenging and highly educational. In my last year, I am looking forward to remaining fully immersed in the life of the College community, and to continue to do so after my return to the Fellowship.

The role of Master of Trinity is prestigious but it is not an honorary position.

The new Master will chair weekly meetings of Council, which effectively governs the College, as well as overseeing policy and operational matters, engaging with students, and supporting Trinity’s alumni relations and development activity around the world.

Former Masters have included Professor Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal and a Cross Bench peer. Lord Rees was Master of Trinity, 2004-2012 and President of the Royal Society, 2005-2010. Professor Amartya Sen, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998, was Master of Trinity, 1998-2004. The Mathematician, Sir Michael Atiyah, was Master, 1990-1997, and formerly President of the Royal Society. Sir Andrew Huxley, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963, was Master of Trinity, 1984-1990.

Senior Tutor at Trinity, Professor Catherine Barnard, thanked Sir Gregory for his hard work and the positive changes he had charted during his tenure.

2019 will be exciting year for Trinity when we celebrate 40 years since the College became co-educational and welcome a new Master. I look forward to working with him or her as Trinity navigates the challenges and embraces the opportunities of the twenty-first century. As a leading higher education institution in the UK and globally, we are committed to ensuring that Trinity continues to offer the very best environment for learning and research.

For more details please see the Further Particulars.