Alumni Around the World: Marking the 400th Anniversary From Afar

Our anniversary celebrations have seen a whole host of activities throughout 2024 aimed at bringing the community together. But while Pembrokians have gathered in their hundreds for dinners and other events in College, many others around the world have been celebrating in their own ways, coming together for events in their local area to mark 400 years of Pembroke.

We are enormously thankful to our Alumni Ambassadors who have been busy organising a range of events all across the world, giving Pembrokians a chance celebrate and to stay connected to the College community, wherever they are.

Here we have shared just a taste of the many events that have taken place over the course of 2024. 

The first ambassador event of the year saw alumni gather at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for an exhibition tour and drinks reception. Just a couple of weeks later, Pembrokians in Singapore were meeting with Development Fellow Professor Andre Furger and Advisory Fellow and alumnus Matthew Kirkby, while in the Pacific Northwest a group met for drinks, and in Scotland Ambassador Clare Donnison (1990, PGCE) invited fellow alumni to the annual pantomime at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

With Subject and Themed Dinners underway in College, the spring saw events in London, Cambridgeshire and Sheffield, among others. Pembrokians in Western Australia met with Academic Director Dr Nicholas Cole over a drink for an update on Pembroke life and his research with The Quill Project, while on the same date in San Francisco, Professor Adrian Gregory met with alumni for drinks followed by a jazz concert. The end of March also saw a group gather in the Hungarian Parliament buildings in Budapest for the Annual Dinner of the Cambridge-Oxford Alumni Club of Hungary, at the invitation of Alumni Ambassador Peter Juhasz (2018, Atomic and Laser Physics) together with the Organising Committee of the Club.

Alumni spanning up to seven decades continued to meet in Toronto, Dublin and Vancouver - including a an 'Urban Forest' walk to celebrate the 444th birthday of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. In the US, Professor Andre Furger and Development Officer Alice Peat met Pembrokians in Washington DC and New York. Back in Aberystwyth, a group took part in the Dyfi Dash, a spring triathlon in Machnynlleth (mid Wales), then later in the year the Dolgellau Park Run.

Professor Henrietta Harrison caught up with alumni in Shanghai; Belfast Ambassador Ronan Daly (1990, Jurisprudence) invited others to join him for The Book of Kells Experience in Dublin; and closer to home a group of alumni enjoyed a tour of the Oxford Botanic Garden, learning about the gardens' connection to Thomas Clayton, Pembroke's first Master.

Over the summer, while our 400 Festival was underway in College, ambassadors in Australia marked the College's official anniversary on 29th June with their very own 400th birthday cake!

In Kent, Ambassador Chris Cain (1981 Geography) organised an evening at Biggin Hill Airport in July. The group enjoyed a tour of the airport accompanied by its CEO, exploring the function and services of the site and business and plans for its more sustainable future, and even a glimpse at Tom Cruise's personal helicopter which featured in the Mission: Impossible film!

In September, Ambassador Sarah Kane (1987, Modern Languages) organised an Alumni Lunch at the Wykeham Arms in Winchester, offering sunny views, great food, and lovely company. Over in Queensland, Australia, a group of Pembrokians joined local alumni ambassador Mike Guyomar (1983 PPE) at the Annual Queensland Alumni Dinner. 

Meanwhile, another group was gathering in San Francisco, this time enjoying a fascinating talk by Professor Adrian Gregory paired with wine, cheese, and crackers. Hosted by ambassador Jeremy Sutton (1979, Physics) in his Art Studio, the beautiful venue, interesting conversation, and great company made for an enlivened evening. 

To kick off October, our ambassadors Judith Ingram (1989 Biology) and James Trafford (1992 Modern History) helped organise a behind-the-scenes tour of the BBC Studios in Cardiff. Pembrokians were treated to an exclusive insight into all things broadcasting, television, and radio, and enjoyed insights by fellow alum Thomas Hardiman about his work with BBC Film for his murder mystery Medusa Deluxe.

A second Kent alumni event involed a visit to the Shepherd Neame Brewery, founded 1698 and therefore the oldest in continuous operation in the UK. The tour provided a fascinating insight into the history of the site and the brewing process, with Pembrokians guided through each stage of the brewing process from the selection of ingredients, to fermentation and bottling of the beer. Ambassador Chris says that the “the highlight of the tour, of course, was the tasting session, where we had the opportunity to sample a variety of Shepherd Neame’s delicious beers and lagers”. Other alumni reflected: “Really enjoyed it. It’s easy to have fun with such fun people!”

Chris is already planning more events in Kent, including a potential ‘Afternoon with the Organ’! 

Over the last few weeks, our Development Team has been busy overseas, travelling to New York to meet many of our North American Pembrokians. The highlight was undoubtedly the Gala Dinner, where more than 80 alumni joined us at The Cornell Club for an evening of drinks, food, networking, and Pembrokian camaraderie. Guests were also treated to an illuminating talk by Pembroke alumnus and Honorary Fellow Walter Isaacson. We are very grateful for all those that joined us, and especially thankful to our New York Alumni Ambassadors Dalia Monasebian (2016 PGDip Organisational Leadership) and Jock Spivy (1973 English Language and Literature) without whose help this event wouldn’t have been possible. 

Our Development Team have since travelled to Asia and are very much enjoying meeting many more our alumni at events in both Hong Kong and Singapore.

As the 400th anniversary year begins to draw to a close, we still have many fun and festive events for alumni to join, including ambassador events from Cambridge to Boston, Festive Drinks in London, and our end of term Music Concert. It doesn’t stop there though, and work is already well underway for our exciting 2025 programme of alumni events that everyone can look forward to! 

We hope that wherever you are in the world, you have found a way to join us in celebrating 400 years of our community.