Page number 2
Trinity’s new Senator, Tom Clonan 4 Lasting links - a society for Trinity golfers 40 Trinity Sanctuary Fund 7 Science and sport: four generations 42 Market leader 8 The year of sunshine and supercomputers 44 Meet the Lord Mayor of London 12 The original Crosaire: John Derek Crozier 46 Success is always in style 16 Keeping asthma under control 47 Recovering, relearning and wandering 18 Minm: taking on the tech giants 50 Seed banking for the future 20 Rising to the challenge of an ageing society 52 The only way is up 22 A Trinity romance 54 Putting nature at the heart of everything 26 Letters to Freshers 56 Telling dystopian tales 28 Trinity Access Programme is turning 30 58 Finding her roar 30 Trinity Trust 60 Greener skies 32 Alumni Reunion Banquet 2022 62 Finding the right formula 36 Alumni & campus news 64 Trinity Development & Alumni, East Chapel, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland T: +353 (0)1 896 2088 | E: alumni@tcd.ie | W: tcd.ie/alumni
Page number 3
Welcome Dear Alumni & Friends, Welcome to the autumn edition of Trinity Today , your quarterly alumni publication. As I write, preparations for Freshers’ Week are underway in Front Square. Very soon, the old, cobbled space will fill with stalls, and the porticos and greens will resound with the noise of students offering membership to myriad societies. Our new students will arrive excited, or nervous, or both, as they pass through the dimness of Front Arch to be greeted by the vast, bright ranges of one of the world’s great university campuses. But for too many of these students, college life comes with unacceptable complications, as the First Years entering Trinity this month are doing so against a backdrop of unprecedented pressure on the student housing supply, which has led the Provost to call for urgent action and long-term solutions. In an address last July to the MacGill Summer School, she spoke of how the scarcity and high cost of accommodation undercuts the quality of students’ college experience – citing, for example, the detrimental effect that long commuting distances can have on study and socialising. Whatever the outside circumstances, we do hope every new student has a fulfilling and enjoyable time at Trinity, and sees campus as both a sanctuary and an opportunity. And who better to give guidance on making the most of four years at this hallowed and dynamic place than our alumni. Advice in the Letters to Freshers article on pages 56-57 includes: ‘Cherish your time in Trinity; many of you will look back on undergraduate years as your halcyon days. Join as many clubs and societies as you can.’ And ‘It is very rare that you get the privilege to live, work, converse and make friends with people from such a diverse range of backgrounds.’ Those last words could have been delivered by our newest Trinity senator Tom Clonan, who, in a fascinating interview, talks of the immediate sense of belonging he felt as a Fresher the moment he walked through Front Arch for the first time. Brought up in Dublin’s Finglas suburb, and the first in his family to go to Trinity, Tom attended college in the 1980s. In the context of the Ireland at the time, he says he was struck by the diversity he saw on campus, with students from all over the island, North and South, and from rural and urban backgrounds. Just like the Provost, Tom envisions an important role for Trinity in carrying this progressive spirit forward for the greater societal good, or, as he says himself, to act as ‘an engine of ethical and social recovery and not just… economic growth.’ A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this edition of Trinity Today . Enjoy the read! Jennifer Taaffe, BA (1997) Director of Alumni & Supporter Relations Trinity Development & Alumni
