The Isaac Newton Trust is delighted to mark Professor Frank Kelly’s exceptional service as he approaches the end of his term as Chair of the Trustees this month. Professor Kelly has served as a Trustee since 2017 and has led the Trustees with distinction for the past six years, following his election as Chair in 2020. During this time, the Trust has committed over £29.4 million to support research and education across the collegiate University of Cambridge.
Professor Kelly’s wise stewardship has proved invaluable to the Trust, responding swiftly and robustly to the challenges posed by the Covid‑19 pandemic, the ever-changing research funding landscape, and the Trust’s successful transition to becoming an independent charity.
We asked Professor Kelly what the most rewarding aspect of the position had been. He responded that, “Between us the Trustees represent the range of disciplines in the University, and one of the most rewarding aspects has been to hear experts discuss in illuminating detail topics that are often far from my own area. We have, as a body, to assess and rank across a wide area and these discussions are important to ensure we do this fairly. But that doesn't prevent the discussions being warm and friendly as well as rigorous”.
He went on to explain, “In the early part of my career, I benefitted from the freedom given to young academics to choose their topics and to work across areas with little constraint from traditional boundaries. It has been a particular pleasure for me to see the support and encouragement the Trust has been able to give to early career researchers”.
As an Emeritus Professor of the Mathematics of Systems and former Master of Christ’s College (2006–2016) Professor Kelly embodies a unique and critical set of leadership skills and experience with which to articulate the strategic value of INT support at Cambridge.
We asked Professor Kelly to provide an insight into his experience as Chair. He told us, “The University, its Schools, Faculties, Departments and Colleges, is an intricate web of overlapping entities, each with a culture suited to its circumstances. The richness of the Cambridge experience and its effectiveness in producing results is a consequence. But the intricacies can sometimes make it difficult to react to outside initiatives that imagine a more centralised University. An example is the Leverhulme Trust's Early Career Fellowship programme, designed to support early career researchers develop their ideas and become leaders in their field. The Isaac Newton Trust is able to co-ordinate the University's submissions to this programme, through a combination of organisation and matched funding. This is an example where the Trust is able to amplify the effect of its financial support through administrative support that is knowledgeable about and sympathetic to Cambridge's variety. And the support we've been able to give to the Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships, a major programme, has required financial and administrative competence combined with in-depth knowledge of the University. The Trust relies on the skills and dedication of its committed and hard-working staff, and it has been a joy to have their unstinting support. The Trust relies on the skills and dedication of its committed and hard-working staff, and it has been a joy to have their unstinting support”.
We are profoundly grateful for Professor Kelly’s dedication, insight, and leadership over the past nine years. The Trust extends its warmest thanks and wishes him every success for the academic endeavours that lie ahead for him.
