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Sir John Sulston
Sir John graduated from Cambridge University
in 1963. After completing his PhD on the chemical
synthesis of DNA, he moved to the USA to study
prebiotic chemistry (the origins of life on earth).
In 1969 he joined Sydney Brenner's group at the
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge
where he studied the biology and genetics of the
nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans. He and
his team collaborated with Bob Waterston at Washington
University in the USA to sequence the genome of
this model organism.
In 1992, Sulston was appointed the first Director
of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire
which made the UK's contribution to the international
Human Genome Project. The Institute started with
temporary labs and only 15 staff but now has a
600-strong workforce and state-of-the-art buildings.
Following publication of the first draft sequence
of the human genome in 2000 he was listed among
the UK's 100 most powerful people by the Observer
newspaper. Sir John received his knighthood for
services to genome research in the 2001 New Year's
Honours. He stepped down as Director in September
2000 but continues to work on C. elegans at the
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. He is the author
with Georgina Ferry of The Common Thread: A Story
of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome.
In 2002 Sulston was awarded the Nobel prize for
physiology and medicine.
Extract from Sanger
Institute full
biography.
Guardian newspaper: full
profile
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Colin Greenhalgh
Colin Greenhalgh ex-principal of Hills Road Sixth
Form College was awarded an Honorary Fellowship
of the University.
Colin Ayton Greenhalgh OBE, DL, MA was principal
of Hills Road Sixth Form College from 1984 -2002.
During his time as principal he encouraged academic
excellence and created a culturally rich and and
stimulating environment including creative and
performing arts, sports and international exchanges.
Colin was awarded an OBE for services to education
in 1997 and has diverse roles in a range of educational
committees and councils at national level, he
also has interests in the wider community in terms
of appointments as a Non-Executive Director within
the National Health Service and as Deputy Lieutenant
of Cambridgeshire. |
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Eric Gordon Winterflood
As a Governor of the Magog Trust, a voluntary position, Eric
oversaw and developed the project, since its conception in 1989,
restoring the 163 acres of land on Haverhill Road from arable land to an
area for conservation and recreation.
Eric served as a Naval officer in the war and gained his skill and
knowledge as a forester, working till 1973 as a District Officer for the
Forestry Commission in the New Forest. In 1983 he retired from a
position as Assistant Conservator for Forest Management when he was
based in Cambridge.
In 1998 his woodland planting on the Magog Down achieved a Highly
Commended Award from the Royal Agricultural Society in the Woodlands and
Plantation Competition.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours list of June 2003, Eric was awarded an
MBE for services to Conservation and to the Community in Cambridge. The
badge of honour was presented by the Lord Lieutenant, on behalf of the
Queen, at a unique ceremony on the Magog Down.
Eric was an active member of the Great Shelford Free Church and was
involved in the Mother and Toddler Club for more than 20 years.
He died at the age of 82 on 19th July 2007 |
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Harold Partington Holt
Harold Holt had a remarkable capacity for friendship. On plane journeys he always sat next to someone interesting. A one-man advice bureau he was never happier than when putting his advice into practical action. Born in Oldham, he was a proud Lancastrian. He came south to Bluntisham in Huntingdonshire as head teacher in the village school. There he made many friends who were close to him to the last.
In 1959, with Peg and the children, he came to Stapleford and lived at first in the school house, but then for many years in Duke's Meadow, and finally in Finch's Close. As head of the school his enthusiasm soon transformed many lives. He galvanised parents into a flourishing P.T.A., and drove them into financing and building a swimming pool, followed by music rooms and a stage for the school hall. It was not just the children who benefitted -social activities flourished and Stapleford became the first Community School in the County. Harold and John Hoppitt, the caretaker, were a great team.
Harold had always been interested in politics, but, beaten by Dennis Healey in selection as a Labour Party candidate, he did not venture further in party politics. He cared, however, for the community and served on the Parish Council for 25 years from 1963 to 1988 and for four of them was Chairman. He was also elected as an independent member of South Cambridgeshire District Council, where he also became Chairman. He was proud of the independent status of that Council. Shared equity housing, which started at Cox's Close in Stapleford, was dear to his heart and he was pleased that it was imitated elsewhere in the country.
His work for the Church, the Magog Trust, the Twinning Association, and the Cambridge Preservation Society all bear witness to his help for others. In addition he worked for the British Legion, having served from 1939 to 1945 in the RAF in the UK and North Africa and been wounded. He organised the Legion's poppy day collection, and was responsible for welfare.
Harold had a full life and was a devoted family man. Harold and Peg had always had a full social life and after Peg's death in 1985 Harold learned to cook, entertaining his friends and enjoying exchanging recipes with others. A fount of information, he liked to share his knowledge with others.
Harold Holt died on 22nd March 1991 at the age of 71. His grave and that of his wife is in Stapleford cemetery.
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