The Society was pleased to have Ms Victoria Schofield, British author, biographer and military historian as its Fireside chatter on 24 October 2016 paired with good food and wine.

Ms Schofield is a renowned scholar on Pakistan and the disputed Jammu/Kashmir region. A close friend of the late Benazir Bhutto whom she succeeded as President of the Oxford Union Society, Schofield has written widely on South Asia and spent considerable time in the region, including walking across Afghanistan to interacting with the various tribes. She is an alumnus of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and was a visiting fellow at St Antony’s, Oxford in 2004-2005.

Ms Schofield spoke to members on her postulations of current India-Pakistan challenges, including the likelihood of war.

The Oxbridge Society had the wonderful opportunity to host Sir Tom Blundell FRS to a fireside chat on the evening of Friday, 23 September at the President’s residence.

Sir Tom is a British biochemist, structural biologist, and science administrator. He was on the team of Dorothy Hodgkin that discovered insulin. His research has led to the development of drugs to treat AIDS, cancer, cataracts and diabetes. A fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Sir Blundell served as Cambridge’s Sir William Dunn Professor of Biochemistry as well as Chair of the School of Biological Sciences.

Outside of research, Sir Tom is a prominent contributor to public policy as well as business. He served a five year term as the President of the UK Science Council, was Margaret Thatcher’s advisor on science policy, and currently advises the Singapore government on science policy and research. He was also one of the co-founders of Astex Therapeutics, the oncology drugs company which was sold for US$900 million to Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.

Sir Tom shared his reflections on life in science – research, travel, entrepreneuring, politics, music and more. A bon vivant, Sir Tom is a keen jazz saxophonist, brilliant after-dinner speaker, bird watcher, strong environmentalist and a distinguished humanist. The first in his family to attend university, Sir Tom is an alumnus of both Oxford and Cambridge, and now holds 16 honorary doctorates.