Mary Beard

[viques]

I know this isn’t the right board for posting this, but I am posting it anyway because I know she is a bit of a hero here and deservedly so.

Dame, Dr, Professor (so many hard earned titles it’s hard to choose!) Mary Beard is retiring soon, and as a farewell retirement gift to herself she has gifted £80000 to fund a couple of students from deprived backgrounds to support their studies.

Always knew she was a star and an inspiration, now turns out she is kind , generous and practical as well.


for her.

[ArcheryAnnie]

That's fantastic! And will make a massive, massive difference to the student who will benefit from it.

I presume the "retirement" is from formal academia, and she will continue to do whatever the hell she likes, which I fervently hope includes talking and writing about the Roman world, but only when it pleases her to do so!

Happy retirement, Mary.

[GreyhoundG1rl]

Fabulous, fabulous woman.

[persistentwoman]

What a wonderful thing to do. Fantastic woman.

[ArabellaScott]

That's brilliant.

[HecatesCatsInFancyHats]

Adore her

[MedusasBadHairDay]

She's wonderful

[LostToucan]

Cambridge academics have to retire at age 67, but they can take up other roles, for instance Jane Clarkeis now President of Wolfson College, Cambridge.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Good for her!
Cambridge academics a defined retirement age - they voted for it, to allow younger people to take up posts. They often carry on working in other ways but liberate their Cambridge professorships, I believe. (I didn't quite realise this till listening to Jane Clarke on The Life Scientific, which if you've not heard I recommend)

[SunsetBeetch]

Ah, brilliant woman!

[ArcheryAnnie]

Oh, and you are right about the "practical", too. Practicality is so underrated, but it's the thing that makes a difference, in the end!

[PoTheDog]

My ultimate woman crush. I absolutely love her!

[unwashedanddazed]

She's great isn't she? Lovely woman.

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

I luffs her. Restores your faith, doesn't it.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I love she's named the awards after a woman that inspired her, not herself.

I hope the two chosen students do well in their careers.

[LizJamIsFab]

What a good thing to do.

[Gothichouse40]

Thats just lovely. What a really kind and generous gesture.

[Clymene]

What an excellent retirement present. And totally agree that practical is a much underrated virtue

[EsmesRedPetticoat]

I saw this earlier and shared it on faceache. What a fantastic gift. She is a real inspiration to me.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Wonderful gesture, marvellous woman.

[TedImgoingmad]

DMB is so wonderful, that she is not even naming her scholarship after herself, but after one of her classics tutors, Joyce Reynolds. She said her former tutor at Cambridge, now aged 102, had been a "fantastic fighter for the rights of women in what was then a very male subject".

[SingingSands]

Good on her!

[teawamutu]

I didn't need another reason to love her... But here is one.

[Jux]

Oh my word, what a wonder that woman is!

[BrandineDelRoy]

Wonderful!

[Grimacingfrog]

She's amazing. So inspirational.