Nobel prize-winners at St Catz

A special dinner was hosted at St Catherine's College on 5 June in honour of its three Nobel prize-winning alumni. Sir John Cornforth, who gained his doctorate in Chemistry in 1941, won the Chemistry prize in 1975; Sir John Vane, who came up in 1946 to read for a B.Sc. and D.Phil. in Pharmacology, won the prize for Medicine in 1982; and Dr John Walker, who graduated in Chemistry in 1964 and also studied for his doctorate at the college, received the Chemistry prize last year. ` I believe it is a rare achievement for an Oxford college to be able to assemble three Nobel prize-winners from amongst its former students,' said Lord Plant, the Master, who hosted the dinner. The dinner was also attended by three former Masters of St Catherine's—Lord Bullock, founding Master (1960–80), Sir Patrick Nairne (1981–8) and Professor Brian Smith (1988–93). Pictured, from left to right, are: Lord Bullock, Dr John Walker, Lord Plant, Sir John Cornforth, and Sir John Vane.