Robinson College, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Robinson is the newest of the Cambridge colleges, and is unique in being the only one to have been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of either sex.
History
The college was founded after the British philanthropist Sir David RobinsonDavid Robinson (philanthropist)
Sir David Robinson was a British entrepreneur and philanthropist. He donated £18 million to the University of Cambridge to establish a new college in his name. Robinson College, Cambridge, the newest in the university, was formally opened in 1981...
offered the university £17 million to establish a new college in Cambridge; this is still one of the largest donations ever accepted by the university. Robinson later gave his college another £1 million on the occasion of its official opening. The first graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
students and fellows
Fellows
Fellows or Fellowes is a surname and may refer to:People* Ailwyn Fellowes, 1st Baron Ailwyn , British businessman, farmer and politician* Carol Fellowes, 4th Baron Ailwyn , British peer...
joined the college in 1977. Undergraduates (20 of them) were first admitted in 1979, but significant numbers only began arriving the following year. The college was formally opened by The Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in May 1981.
Despite maintaining some Cambridge traditions, such as Formal Hall, the college has avoided others: for example, it is one of the few colleges that allows its students to walk on the grass in the college gardens. Robinson is in general less formal and traditional than most of the older colleges in the university.
Facilities and Location
Designed by the Scottish architectural firm Gillespie, Kidd & CoiaGillespie, Kidd & Coia
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia were a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, it is for their work in the post-war period that they are best known...
, Robinson's main buildings are distinctive for the generous use of red bricks in their construction. In November 2008 the College was named in the "50 most inspiring buildings in Britain" by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
. Of particular note are the library and chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, the latter with stained-glass windows designed by John Piper
John Piper (artist)
John Egerton Christmas Piper, CH was a 20th-century English painter and printmaker. For much of his life he lived at Fawley Bottom in Buckinghamshire, near Henley-on-Thames.-Life:...
.
The college is located a traffic-free ten-minute walk west of the city centre, behind the University Library
Cambridge University Library
The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...
, near the science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
buildings in West Cambridge
West Cambridge
West Cambridge is a university site to the west of Cambridge city centre in England. As part of the West Cambridge Master Plan, several of the University of Cambridge's departments have relocated to the West Cambridge site from the centre of town due to overcrowding...
and the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
faculties on the University's Sidgwick Site
Sidgwick Site
The Sidgwick Site is one of the largest sites within the University of Cambridge, England.- Overview and history :The Sidgwick Site is located on the western edge of Cambridge city centre, north of Sidgwick Avenue and south of West Road, and is home to several of the university's arts and...
. It stands on a 12.5 acres (50,585.8 m²) wooded site noted for its historical and horticultural interest.
Within its grounds are Thorneycreek House and Cottage, the Maria Björnson outdoor theatre and extensive gardens through which flows Bin Brook, which once supplied water to the Hospital of St John (now St John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
). Robinson owns a number of houses on Adams Road and Sylvester Road adjoining the main college site, which it uses for student accommodation. A number of graduate students live in college owned accommodation elsewhere in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, consisting of a terrace of six houses ("Romsey Terrace") off the city's Mill Road
Mill Road, Cambridge
Mill Road is a street in southeast Cambridge, England. It runs southeast from near to Parker's Piece, at the junction with Gonville Place, East Road, and Parkside. It crosses the main railway line and links to the city's ring road . It passes through the wards of Petersfield and Romsey, which are...
as well as a single house on Mill Road itself (currently let out to Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
students).
The main entrance to the college is via a drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
-like ramp which is accessible to wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
users, and there are also some special facilities for those with physical or visual disabilities.
The Needham Research Institute
Needham Research Institute
The Needham Research Institute or NRI, located on the grounds of the Robinson College, in Cambridge, England, is a center for research into the history of science, technology and medicine in East Asia. It is part of the University of Cambridge...
is also located within the college grounds.
Three new artworks were added to the College courts and gardens in the summer and autumn of 2008: "Sailing into the future" by Philip de Konig, "Conversing Figures" by Christophe Gordon-Brown and "Finback" by Ben Barrel.
Conferences
With its modern facilities and comfortable accommodation, Robinson is also one of Cambridge's most important conference centres, and always hosts a number of conferences during the summer months when the undergraduate students are away on their long vacation. Robinson also has a purpose-built conference centre, twenty miles west of Cambridge at WybostonWyboston
Wyboston is a village in the English county of Bedfordshire.The eastern part of the village is dominated by the A1 Great North Road which at this point also carries the traffic of the A428 east–west road. The northern junction of these roads is grade-separated, while the southern junction is a...
on the border with Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, which is used both for one-off meetings and for regular events such as the annual conference of the Association of Business Psychologists
Association of Business Psychologists
The Association of Business Psychologists is the professional representative, deliberative and regulatory institution for business psychologists in the United Kingdom and Ireland.-History:...
. Unlike some of the older colleges, Robinson does not own large amounts of land which can be used as a source of income; thus the ability to host conferences represents an important financial resource.
Student life
Students of the college are represented by the Robinson College Students' Association, or RCSA, headed by a President, with members of the college elected into positions on the RCSA committee every year. Politically, Robinson is generally seen as liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
. Robinson has supplied a large number of Green Officers
Ecology movement
The global ecology movement is based upon environmental protection, and is one of several new social movements that emerged at the end of the 1960s. As a values-driven social movement, it should be distinguished from the pre-existing science of ecology....
to the Cambridge University Students' Union
Cambridge University Students' Union
Cambridge University Students' Union is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England...
in recent years and was recently judged the most environmentally friendly college in Cambridge. Several College members have played major roles in University politics and student life, including CUSU presidents for 2006–2007 and 2010–2011, Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
presidents for Easter 2009 and 2010, Cambridge University Law Society
Cambridge University Law Society
The Cambridge University Law Society is a society at Cambridge University which is run by students for students. Founded in 1901, the Society is one of the oldest of its kind and has an active membership of over 1500 members...
Presidents, and Amnesty International Chairs.
Like other colleges, Robinson provides its students with recreational facilities such as a JCR
JCR
JCR may refer to:* Revolutionary Coordinating Junta of 1970s urban guerrilla communist parties in South America* Content repository API for Java * Junior Common Room...
, MCR, TV room, art room, cafe and bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
. As a result of its other role as a conference centre, the college is equipped with two auditoria that are available for student use during term; the larger one in particular being frequently used by the college's film society and "Brickhouse Theatre Company" (dramatic society). There is also a purpose-built party room ("The Bassment"), dedicated to hosting college "bops" and other entertainment. Musical talents are catered for by way of a music room, CD library and chapel. A wide range of college-based societies are on offer for Robinson members, and there are also several sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s teams, covering most major sports: everything from water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
to rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
and rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. Robinson have become very successful in hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
winning the Cambridge colleges league and colleges varsity match against Oriel College, Oxford in 2009/10, in addition to becoming mixed cuppers
Cuppers
Cuppers is a term for intercollegiate sporting competitions at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The term comes from the word "cup" and is an example of the Oxford "-er". Each sport holds only one cuppers competition each year, which is open to all colleges. Most cuppers competitions use...
champions by beating Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.In 1958, a Trust was established with Sir Winston Churchill as its Chairman of Trustees, to build and endow a college for 60 fellows and 540 Students as a national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston Churchill; its...
. Robinson also has a strong record in Cambridge college pool
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
and darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
leagues, having been pool champions 8 of the 10 years from 1999/2000 to the 2008/2009 season, and winning the darts league 5 consecutive times from 2005/2006 to 2009/2010.
Notable alumni
See also :Category:Alumni of Robinson College, Cambridge- Joe AnsbroJoe AnsbroJoe Ansbro is a Scottish international professional rugby union player. He is the first player of Afro-Caribbean origin to represent Scotland at test level in history. His favoured position is centre. He is currently playing for London Irish. -Early years:Ansbro was born in Glasgow and raised near...
, Scottish international rugby union player - Nick CleggNick CleggNicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
, Deputy Prime Minister of the United KingdomDeputy Prime Minister of the United KingdomThe Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
and Leader of the Liberal DemocratsLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... - Justine Miliband, Barrister, spouse of Ed MilibandEd MilibandEdward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...
- Adrian DaviesAdrian Davies (rugby player)Adrian Davies is a former Wales international rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Wales in the 1991 and 1995 Rugby World Cup finals.-External links:**...
, Welsh international rugby union player - Greg HandsGreg HandsGregory William "Greg" Hands, MP is a Conservative Party politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham having been elected during the 2010 general election for the newly-created constituency formed with the splitting of the former constituencies of Kensington and...
, politician - Charles HartCharles Hart (lyricist)Charles Hart is a British lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for re-writing the lyrics to, and contributing to the book of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera. He also co-wrote the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love...
, songwriter and musician - Konnie HuqKonnie HuqKanak Asha "Konnie" Huq is a British television presenter, who is best known for being the longest-serving female presenter of Blue Peter, having presented it from 1 December 1997 until 23 January 2008...
, television presenter - Rebecca JohnRebecca JohnRebecca John is a presenter and reporter for Wales Today, BBC Wales on British television.She read for a degree in French and German at Robinson College, Cambridge University between 1989–1993, before completing a postgraduate course in journalism at Trinity & All Saints College...
, television presenter and journalist - Tim LuckhurstTim LuckhurstTim Luckhurst is Professor of Journalism at the University of Kent, and the founding head of the university's Centre for Journalism . He is best known as a former editor of The Scotsman...
, journalist and former editor of The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s.... - Saul MetzsteinSaul Metzstein-Selected films:*Dredd Second unit director*Micro Men starring Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman*Guy X starring Jason Biggs and Natascha McElhone*Late Night Shopping -External links:...
, film director, and son of Robinson College architect Isi MetzsteinGillespie, Kidd & CoiaGillespie, Kidd & Coia were a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, it is for their work in the post-war period that they are best known... - Neil MullarkeyNeil MullarkeyNeil Mullarkey is an English actor, writer and comedian.Mullarkey studied at Robinson College, Cambridge; while he was there he was Junior Treasurer of the Cambridge Footlights in the academic year 1981 to 1982 and was president in the year ending 1983...
, Comedian/Writer - David Pinder, academic, cultural geographer
- Marie PhillipsMarie PhillipsMarie Phillips is a British writer. Her novel Gods Behaving Badly, a comic fantasy concerning ancient Greek gods living in modern-day Hampstead, was first published in the United Kingdom in 2007, later becoming a bestseller in Canada....
, author - John O'Brien, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry
- Marc QuinnMarc QuinnMarc Quinn is a British artist and part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs . He is known for Alison Lapper Pregnant , Self , and Garden .He is one of the Young British...
, artist - Maddy Savage, TV and radio reporter/presenter
- Robert WebbRobert Webb (actor)Robert Webb is an English actor, comedian and writer, and one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell.-Early life:...
, Comedian/Writer - Andy WhiteAndy White (singer-songwriter)Andy White is an Irish singer/songwriter and poet, born in Belfast. He started writing poetry and music from a young age, penning a poem called "Riots" aged nine. He attended Methodist College Belfast. He studied English Literature at Robinson College, Cambridge University, graduating in 1984...
, musician and poet
Notable fellows
See also :Category:Fellows of Robinson College, Cambridge- Professor G. E. BerriosG. E. BerriosGerman E. Berrios is a Professor of Psychiatry at Cambridge University in the UK.He was born in Tacna, Peru, and studied medicine and philosophy at the University of San Marcos . Subsequently, he read psychology and philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, where he was a scholar by...
, neuropsychiatry and epistemology of psychiatry - Myles BurnyeatMyles BurnyeatMyles Fredric Burnyeat CBE FBA is an English classicist and philosopher.-Life:Educated at Bryanston School and King’s College, Cambridge, Burnyeat was a student of Bernard Williams at University College London....
, ancient philosopher (honorary fellow) - Dame Athene DonaldAthene DonaldDame Athene Margaret Donald, DBE, FRS is a distinguished British physicist. She is Professor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge's Department of Physics, and a member of the ....
, Deputy Head of the Cavendish LaboratoryCavendish LaboratoryThe Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory.... - Albrecht FröhlichAlbrecht FröhlichAlbrecht Fröhlich FRS was a mathematician famous for his major results and conjectures on Galois module theory in the Galois structure of rings of integers....
FRS, mathematician - Professor Morna HookerMorna HookerMorna Dorothy Hooker is a British theologian and New Testament scholar.She was Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity within the University of Cambridge from 1976 to 1998, becoming the first woman to hold the Cambridge degree of D.D., and as of 1998 is Professor Emerita...
, Emerita Lady Margaret's Professor of DivinityLady Margaret's Professor of DivinityThe Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity is the oldest professorship at the University of Cambridge. It was founded initially as a readership by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, in 1502....
and first female holder of the Cambridge D.D.Doctor of DivinityDoctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects.... - Professor Peter KornickiPeter KornickiPeter Francis Kornicki FBA, is an English Japanologist. He is Professor of East Asian Studies at Cambridge University. He was previously Professor of Japanese History and Bibliography....
FBA, East Asian Studies - Professor Sir Jack Lewis, Baron Lewis of Newnham FRS, inorganic chemist and first Warden
- Dr. David McKie, Latin textual linguist
- Professor Alan MycroftAlan MycroftAlan Mycroft is a reader at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. He is a Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge, where he is also director of studies for computer science.With Arthur Norman, he co-created the Norcroft C compiler...
, computer scientist, co-author of the ARM chip's Norcroft C compilerNorcroft C compilerThe Norcroft C compiler in computing is a portable set of C/C++ programming tools written by Codemist, available for a wide range of processor architectures....
and trustee of the Raspberry Pi Foundation - Professor C F Forsyth, Professor of Public and Private International Law, noted legal scholar
See also
- List of organ scholars