Cambridge University is one of the world's oldest universities and leading academic centers, comprising of 31 colleges. Its mission is "to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence". Cambridge's Emmanuel College is one of the larger colleges, with a community comprising of a master at its head, some 80 fellows, 450 undergraduates, 150 graduate students and a large permanent staff. Established in 1584 the college has a long and distinguished history and boasts its fair share of famous graduates. Among the best known Emmanuel College graduates is John Harvard, who studied for his Bachelors' degree at the College in 1632 and later went on to study for an MA in 1635. Like a number of other Emmanuel graduates in the 1630s, Harvard went to seek his destiny in the new colony of New England. Upon his early death in 1638 John Harvard left his impressive library and half of his estate to the newly founded college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as a sign of their gratitude the community named the college after him - today the Ivy league Harvard University.
The prestigious Harvard Scholar award to Emmanuel College is given to one student in each Harvard graduating class. In 1977 Scott Mead was the recipient of this award and studied at Emmanuel College, where he received his MPhil degree. Mead has maintained lasting ties to this alma mater, as well as to the United Kingdom, where he has been resident for over 20 years. As well as serving as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Judge Business School of Cambridge University and a member of the University's 800th Anniversary Campaign Board, Scott Mead has endowed the Mead Fellowship in Economics.
This prestigious fellowship has been held in the past by people from various branches of the Economics sector. Dr. Rufus Pollock, currently a Shuttleworth Foundation fellow, was a Mead Fellow at Emmanuel College from 2007 to 2010. Dr. Pollock's work as an economist focuses on innovation -- both its theory and its empirics -- and the implications of these for intellectual property policy. Dr. Pollock is still an Associate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge.
The current holder of the Mead Fellowship is Oliver de Groot who took up his three year fellowship at the beginning of the 2010 academic year, and will hold this position until 2013. Oliver comes to Emmanuel College with a BA in Economics from Gonville and Caius College and an M. Phil, also in Economics, from the same college. During 2007 and 2008 De Groot was at Girton College as a bye-fellow and Director of Studies. Thereafter he spent a year working in the private sector as an economist prior to returning to Cambridge to complete his PhD and take up his fellowship. Oliver plans to submit his PhD dissertation on macroeconomics early in 2011. His research focuses on monetary policy and business cycles. In addition to supervising the undergraduate macroeconomics papers, de Groot teaches the macroeconomics component of the MPhil course.
Since his days as a Harvard scholar at Emmanuel College, Scott Mead has had a long and active career as a banker, photographer and philanthropist. From his early days at Goldman Sachs in New York to his current activities with Richmond Park Partners, a London based firm specializing in financial advisory and asset management, Scott Mead has been involved in many major financial transactions, including leading the team responsible for Vodafone's 0 billion acquisition of the German Mannesmann.
Scott Mead has recently taken up photography again, which he set aside in order to develop his banking career. In September 2010 he held a one-man exhibition of his early works at Hamiltons Gallery in London, all proceeds of which went to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Scott is already working on another exhibition of more early works and some recent ones, scheduled for 2011/2012.
Scott Mead's philanthropic activities are many and varied, spanning education, health care, the arts, and more. Many of these are channelled through the Mead Family Foundation, of which he is founder and Chairman. The foundation supports causes worldwide focusing on health care, education and the arts. In addition to his philanthropic activities via the Foundation, Scott Mead is also personally committed to various organizations.
Sports are also an important part of Scott Mead's activities. He is a committed marathon runner who has set himself a personal goal of running a marathon for charity on every continent.
