New Fellows Welcomed to Pembroke

With Michaelmas 2023 on the horizon and a new cohort of students soon to arrive, the College has first welcomed two new Tutorial Fellows, having admitted two Advisory Fellows to Governing Body earlier this year. 

Professor Fitzroy Morrissey joins us as Abdullah Saleh Fellow and Tutor in Arabic and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Law. Himself a Pembroke alumnus, Professor Morrissey completed an undergraduate degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies, before moving to Wadham College for his postgraduate studies, and then to All Souls College where he has been an Examination Fellow in History since 2017. He is a historian of Islamic thought and has published two monographs on Sufism as well as articles for popular publications and a general introduction to Islamic intellectual history, A Short History of Islamic Thought, which was chosen as Book of the Year in The Spectator and Engelsberg Ideas. He is committed to public engagement and widening access to Arabic and Islamic Studies, speaking regularly at literary festivals, on TV and radio interviews, and in schools. Read Professor Morrissey’s full bio here.

Professor Morgan Wascko has taken the post of Rokos-Clarendon Fellow and Tutor in Physics and Rokos-Clarendon Associate Professor of Particle Physics. He joins us from Imperial College, London, where he was Professor of Physics. Professor Wascko works in the field of neutrino physics – a branch of high energy particle physics – and studies how and why neutrinos change as they propagate through space. His main research focus is the DUNE experiment being built in the USA and the ongoing T2K long baseline accelerator neutrino experiment in Japan. Professor Wascko’s Imperial Inaugural on ‘Searching for new physics with ghost particles’ can be watched here, and his full bio found here.

In May 2023, two new Advisory Fellows were formally admitted to the College’s Governing Body. Matthew Kirkby and Jane Chesters joined 46 other Fellows responsible for making decisions on behalf of the College, ranging from operational matters to the College’s strategic purpose and vision. 

Pembroke alumnus Matthew Kirkby (1987, Jurisprudence) is Co-Chairman of the Campaign Board and has made significant contributions to the planning of our 400th anniversary year. He also sat on the Alumni Advisory Panel from 2013 – 2015 and was a member of the UK Bridging Centuries Campaign Board which raised funds to build our newest quad in the early 2010s. He has extensive experience in global banking and corporate finance in Asia and the UK.

Jane Chesters (1987, French and Italian) has over thirty years’ experience in HR, including twenty years helping to improve the effectiveness of leading HR organisations. She has been Vice Chair of Pembroke’s Alumni Advisory Board since 2016, and is also an independent advisory member of the Staff (Remuneration) Committee.

The Master Sir Ernest Ryder reflects: “We were delighted to welcome Matthew and Jane to Governing Body as Advisory Fellows earlier this year. I am grateful for their tremendous input so far, and look forward to their continuing involvement over the coming months.”