30 Years of Women at Exeter

11th July 2009

2009 marked the 30th Anniversary of the admission of women to Exeter College in 1979. A day of celebrations to recognise this milestone included a series of talks and a panel to highlight the achievements and expertise of some of our alumnae and women connected with the College, as well as a lunch and a Champagne tea.

Those in attendance included Old Members, former Fellows - including the first female Fellow at Exeter, the College's first female Rector and guests.

Event Details and Schedule

10.00am: Welcome by the Rector
10.15am: Keynote Speech by Ann Cotton
11.15am: Seminar by Charlotte Watts
12.15pm: Talk by Reeta Chakrabarti
1.00pm: Lunch in the Rector's Garden
2.15pm: Discussion Panel: Women & Communication
3.30pm: Champagne Tea in the Rector's Garden

Profiles of Speakers & Panellists

Speakers

Reeta Chakrabarti (1984, English)
Reeta is BBC Breakfast's Political Correspondent. She previously worked as a reporter for BBC1, the News Channel, Radio 4 and Five Live. She is also a patron of the National Mentoring Consortium, which links ethnic minority undergraduates with employers in the public and private sector.
Ann Cotton (wife of Old Member Charles Cotton)
Ann is the Founder and Executive Director of Camfed International, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to girls' education and the eradication of poverty. Following research into the constraints on girls' education in Zimbabwe, she founded Camfed in 1993. In 2000, Ann went on to study at the School for Social Entrepreneurs. She has an MA in Human Rights and Education, is an honorary Master of the Open University, sits on the Board of the African Studies Centre and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University. In 2004 Ann was named the UK's Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2005 was awarded both the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and a Beacon Fellowship. In 2006 Ann received an OBE in honour of her services to girls' education in Africa, and in 2007 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Charlotte Watts (1981, Mathematics)
Charlotte is the Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She heads a multi-disciplinary team of epidemiologists, economists, mathematicians and behavioural scientists that conduct policy-oriented research to address applied questions related to gender and health in low and middle income countries, with a particular focus on HIV and different forms of violence against women.

Panellists

Sanchia Berg (1982, English)
Sanchia is a journalist with the BBC where she reports for Today, Radio 4's flagship news programme. In addition to working as a radio feature producer for BBC Radio 4, she has previously worked as a TV documentary researcher and a TV news producer, as well as serving as BBC’s Warsaw correspondent. She has recently been reporting on the family courts; she also had exclusive access to what was once the most secret of all government documents, the plans for World War III, and has been talking to Lord Rogers about Prince Charles. Additionally, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the US after Oxford and now helps pick Fulbright Scholars every year - usually chairing the panel for the Alistair Cooke Award in Journalism.
Charlotte Morgan (1991, English)
Charlotte is currently the Deputy Head of News at the Department for International Development (DFID). She has worked in government communications for the past 10 years, including roles as press secretary to two Cabinet Ministers, Yvette Cooper and David Miliband.
Dina Shiloh (1983, English)
Dina worked as a journalist in various capacities for over ten years. Her experience includes working as a BBC researcher in London, a CNN producer during the first Gulf War in Tel Aviv, a TV producer for the BBC in Jerusalem, and a freelance BBC reporter for "Woman's Hour". Additionally, her articles have been published in many newspapers and magazines including The London Times, the Jerusalem Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Dina is now with Mishcon de Reya as a trainee solicitor and due to qualify in September of this year.