Susan Tomes was the first woman to read music at King’s, arriving in 1972 as part of the first cohort of female undergraduates. She is one of the UK’s most renowned concert pianists and the author of seven books. Her most recent, the forthcoming Women and the Piano – a History in Fifty Lives, goes hand-in-hand with her performances of music by female pianist-composers who have historically been neglected.

Ash Hewett. Since the appointment of Fiona Measham as Women’s Officer in 1985, the King’s College Student Union has nominated a representative to act as a voice for gender equality in the College. In 2022, Ash Hewett took on the mantle, with the remit of holding regular events promoting a safe and supportive environment for female and non-binary students, and of organising the annual Women’s Dinner.

Hollie McNish. Winner of the Ted Hughes Award for her parenting memoir Nobody Told Me, Hollie McNish has published five further volumes of her uncompromising poetry, prose and plays. Combining humour and protest, she tackles topics ranging from motherhood and migration to masturbation, gender discrimination, otters, and the politics of breastfeeding. Her most recent collection is Slug… and other things i’ve been told to hate.

Errollyn Wallen. One of the most widely acclaimed contemporary composers, Errollyn Wallen was the first woman to win an Ivor Novello Award for a body of classical work, and the first black woman to have a composition played at the BBC Proms. Her music, often inspired by the River Thames, has been performed at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Paralympic Games, as part of the 2022 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service, and even played in outer space.

Mary Kells. As well as providing Chapel services, Chaplain Mary Kells offers spiritual and welfare support to members of the College, involves students in reading at services, and supports the volunteers who help welcome visitors each day. She is a member of the National Executive Committee of Women and the Church (WATCH) and spent much of her earlier career working in the voluntary sector – particularly in the areas of mental health and advocacy.

Charlotte Proudman and Ted. Described by the BBC as ‘the feminist barrister’, Charlotte Proudman is a human rights lawyer widely recognised as having made a major contribution to changing the legal landscape on ending male violence against women and children. In and out of court she advocates for legal change to ensure protection and support for victims and survivors, and was instrumental in the introduction of Protection Orders for girls at risk of female genital mutilation.

Robyn Taylor and Selina. As a student, Robyn Taylor was KCSU Ethnic Minorities Officer and co-founded FLY, a network and forum for women and non-binary students of colour at Cambridge. Now a pro bono lawyer with international law firm Allen & Overy, she manages a number of legal clinics providing free legal advice and assistance to individuals and charities – and recently had her daughter, Selina. She studied History at King’s.

Ceylon Andi Hickman. At Football Beyond Borders, Ceylon Hickman is harnessing the power of football to change young people’s lives, having grown the organisation’s programme for girls from 16 participants to more than 800. Alongside her studies at King’s, Ceylon was President of the Student Union and played football for the University Blues team. On most Sundays she can be found at Champion Hill Stadium, playing as a centre-back for Dulwich Hamlet FC.

Catherine Johnson. As Group General Counsel at the London Stock Exchange Group, Catherine Johnson oversees the Group’s legal and compliance functions and advises the LSEG Board on related issues. Born in Darlington, she switched from Economics to Law at King’s and worked as a solicitor upon graduation. Catherine joined LSEG in 1996 and has been instrumental in advising the Group through a period of considerable expansion.

Imma Ramos. Since 2015 Imma Ramos has been curator of the South Asia Collection at the British Museum. In 2020 she curated the Museum’s landmark Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution exhibition, which explored the force that transformed the religious, cultural and political landscape of India and beyond. Imma studied History of Art at King’s. Shortly after this photograph was taken she gave birth to her son, Leon.

Yaba Badoe. Ghanaian-British writer and filmmaker Yaba Badoe came to King’s in 1973, the year after women were first admitted to King’s as students. She studied Archaeology and Anthropology, becoming a civil servant in Ghana before undertaking a traineeship with the BBC. Her films include the documentaries The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo and The Witches of Gambaga, winner of Best Documentary at the Black International Film Festival in 2010.

Rose Sargent. Having never rowed before coming to Cambridge, final-year Law student Rose Sargent is now Vice-Captain of the King’s College Boat Club, playing her part in one of the College’s most successful ever women’s crews which, in 2022, won ‘blades’ for the first time in over a decade. A committed advocate for improving access to educational facilities, she has also undertaken a research project examining gender equality among Junior Research Fellows at King’s.

Gillian Griffiths. Joining King’s as a PhD student in molecular biology, Gillian Griffiths subsequently spent time in California, Switzerland and Oxford, before returning to King’s as a Fellow in 2007. As a Professor of Immunology and Cell Biology, she uses a variety of biochemical, imaging and genetic tools to study how killer T cells of the body’s immune system fight off infected cells – research that lays the foundations for improved cancer therapies.

Rachel Jupp. In 2016 Rachel Jupp was appointed Editor of the BBC’s flagship current affairs series Panorama, only the second woman to hold the post in the programme’s long-running history. Before that she was Head of Home News at Channel 4 News and Deputy Editor at Newsnight. Today, when she’s not looking after her three boys and three cats, she provides executive editorial support across all of the BBC’s TV, radio, children’s and sports programmes.

Lorraine Headen. Philanthropy has played a crucial role at King’s since its foundation, not least during the years that John Maynard Keynes managed the College’s finances from his room in Webb’s Court. In recent years, Director of Development Lorraine Headen has overseen the transformative King’s Campaign, enabling the College to encourage and support the brightest students from all backgrounds, and to deliver more world-class teaching and research.

Anne-Christine Davis. The first woman to be appointed professor in the Faculty of Mathematics at Cambridge, theoretical cosmologist Anne Davis has spent her career trying to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the cosmos: why the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating. A keen hiker, she has consistently advocated for better representation for women at all levels of academia, and from 2014 was the University’s Gender Equality Champion for STEM subjects.

Tess Adkins. Accompanying the inaugural cohort of women students in 1972 were a small number of female Fellows, including Geographer Tess Adkins. In 1981, Tess became the first woman to be appointed as Senior Tutor in any of the previously all-male Colleges. Her fourteen-year term saw the appointment of both a Women’s Tutor and Equal Opportunities Officer, and the production of the landmark Spurling Report into gender equality in higher education.

Khadija Ibrahim. Confinement to households, exam results controversies, and dwindling supplies of hand sanitiser – the cohort of 2020 arrived at King’s in the most unusual of circumstances, in the thick of a national Covid-19 lockdown. Among those coping with the ‘new normal’ of asymptomatic testing and self-isolation was History and Politics undergraduate Khadija Ibrahim, who completes her degree this summer after three genuinely unprecedented years.

Priti Mohandas. From playing women’s rugby to winning the Rylands Portrait Prize for her painting of a King’s porter, PhD student Priti Mohandas has tried her hand at most of what Cambridge has to offer. After completing an undergraduate degree in Architecture, she returned to the College in 2018 to undertake postgraduate studies in urban research, focusing on transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness in cities such as Cape Town and Mumbai.

Shahidha Bari. Broadcaster and academic Shahidha Bari presents a host of television and radio programmes, including Inside Culture on BBC Two, Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3, and Front Row on BBC Radio 4. She is a Professor at the University of the Arts London and the author of Dressed: The Philosophy of Clothes. Having studied English at King’s, in 2021 she captained the College’s alumni team in a series of Christmas University Challenge.

Ashley Moffett. An authority on the immunology of human reproduction, Ashley Moffett has taught and trained generations of medical students and physicians both in the UK and East Africa. After spending the first two decades of her career in the NHS, her research into placental biology has transformed our understanding of the role of natural killer cells in the onset of pre-eclampsia, the potentially fatal condition that can affect women in the later stages of pregnancy.

Lou Singfield. Apprentice Gardener Lou Singfield joined King’s in 2022 as part of the Inter-Collegiate Gardens Scheme, combining hands-on work experience with regular classes and visits to the Cambridge Botanic Garden. While at King’s, Lou has designed many of the colourful displays found in Webb’s Court and the Provost’s Garden, and at the end of her two-year apprenticeship will receive a nationally recognised horticultural qualification.

Frances Morris. The first woman to head Tate Modern, Frances Morris has been instrumental in leading greater representation of female artists at the museum, including staging major retrospectives of Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama and Agnes Martin. Graduating from King’s in History of Art, she joined the Tate as a junior curator in 1987 and was appointed Director in 2016. She stepped down in early 2023.

Nicolette Zeeman is Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English. She works on Middle English literature; her specialisms include the poem Piers Plowman, medieval devotional and philosophical writing and literary theory. In 2015 she co-edited a volume of essays marking the 500th anniversary of the completion of King’s College Chapel. As Keeper of the College Collections, she has in recent years re-organised the display of the College's works of art.

Noreena Hertz. Economist, academic and writer Noreena Hertz is renowned for her visionary ability to predict financial and global trends. She is the author of works including The Silent Takeover and Eyes Wide Open, with her most recent best-selling book The Lonely Century examining the contemporary challenge of isolation and social fragmentation. A board member at Mattel and Warner Music Group, she studied for her PhD in Management Studies at King’s.

Mahlet Zimeta. Data and digital technology expert Mahlet Zimeta has held a number of key roles in the field, including at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national centre for data science and artificial intelligence, and at the Royal Society. She is regularly consulted about digital and cyber policy, and serves on the Chatham House taskforce on Responsible AI and Society, among other committees. Mahlet studied for an MPhil in Philosophy at King’s.

Perveez Mody. In 2014 Perveez Mody became the second woman to be appointed as Senior Tutor at King’s, a role which carries overarching responsibility for the College’s educational activity and pastoral provision for students. Perveez is an Associate Professor in Social Anthropology; her ethnographic research focuses on South Asia, and South Asians in the UK, with publications on the politics of love, marriage, intimacy, “forced marriage” and care.

Enza Del Moro. Food plays an integral role in the life of King’s, and the Catering team admirably manage the dual pressures of keeping a hungry student population well-fed and watered, and putting on the vibrant dinners and formal events that bring the community together. With almost 25 years’ service under her belt, Enza del Moro has been a vital and longstanding part of the College’s culinary operation. She became a grandmother for the first time in 2022.

Anne Glover. A leading authority on the role of microbes in soil, biologist Professor Dame Anne Glover’s research has been hugely important in how we detect environmental pollution, and how we respond to stress at a molecular level. An Honorary Fellow at King’s, she was the first Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission, and the first Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland. She studied for a PhD in Biochemistry at King’s.

Eunice Adeoyo. As President of the King’s College Student Union during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Eunice Adeoyo played an integral role in mediating between the College and the student body, providing invaluable insight into the concerns of her peers and ensuring key information was disseminated and understood. Now training to be a lawyer, she studied English Literature at King’s and helped organise open days for Black and Minority Ethnic applicants.

Maud Ellmann. In 1972 King’s admitted the first cohort of female students – 47 out of a total student body of 452. Maud Ellmann was among them, arriving to study English Literature. She has gone on to a distinguished career as literary critic, editor and academic, most recently at the University of Chicago. A former Fellow of King’s, she has authored several books and many articles on modern British and Irish literature.

Timi Olumide-Wahab. Second-year undergraduate Timi Olumide-Wahab is the current President of King’s College Student Union, following in the footsteps of, among others, Rachel Jupp, Ceylon Andi Hickman and Eunice Adeoyo. Previously the KCSU Ethnic Minorities Officer, she took part in the College’s Legacies of Slavery research project to investigate historic links to the slave trade. Timi studies Politics and International Relations and plans to pursue a career in law.

Sarah John. As Chief Cashier at the Bank of England, Sarah John is responsible for issuing all Bank of England banknotes. The third woman to occupy the post in the Bank’s 328-year history, her signature can be found on the new polymer notes – including the £50 note featuring King’s alumnus Alan Turing. Alongside her role, Sarah is Executive Sponsor of the Bank’s Parents+ network, helping employees balance work with parenthood. She studied Economics at King’s.

Carrie Humphrey. Celebrated anthropologist Professor Dame Caroline Humphrey arrived at King’s as a Fellow in 1978. She has conducted research in Mongolia, China, Russia, India, Nepal and Ukraine, and was one of the first anthropologists from a western country to be allowed to do fieldwork in the USSR. Her work covers themes including inequality and exclusion, trade and barter, religion, shamanism, and urban transformations in post-Socialist cities.

Ira Guha. Through her social enterprise, Asan, Ira Guha has a mission to help end period poverty among low-income Indian women. Awarded the King’s Entrepreneurship Prize in 2019, she has designed and patented a reusable menstrual cup, giving women and girls in rural India a safe way to manage their periods and enabling them to go to school and work. In 2022 Asan was selected as one of Virgin’s 12 social impact start-ups to watch.

Sarah Lummis. Now a Professor of Molecular Neurobiology, Sarah Lummis first joined King’s on a Junior Research Fellowship, a four-year position that provides gifted academics a chance to establish their careers. Sarah has been a Director of Studies to King’s Natural Sciences students for over 25 years, while her lab in the Department of Biochemistry explores channels in neurones, facilitating more effective treatments for disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's.

Sarah Jilani. Sarah Jilani’s PhD at King’s, in how early postcolonial African and South Asian novels and films treated decolonisation, led to her being named as a BBC New Generation Thinker in 2021. Now a Lecturer at City, University of London, she teaches on Anglophone postcolonial literatures and world cinema, focusing on issues of global inequalities and the living legacies of colonialism. As a writer her work has featured in Art Review, The Economist, and the TLS.

Molly Warrington. Molly Warrington came to King’s as a mature student with three children, shining in her studies and continuing on to a PhD. She succeeded Tess Adkins as Director of Studies in Geography at King’s, becoming Senior Lecturer in Cambridge and Fellow at Homerton College. Molly has mainly worked on social inequalities, homelessness, and geographies of domestic violence, with projects both in the UK and East Africa.

Kerri-Ann Butcher. A first-generation student from Suffolk, Kerri-Ann Butcher excelled in her studies at the University of Essex before coming to King’s to embark on a doctorate in Linguistics. She recently completed her PhD looking at the social and linguistic factors motivating the preservation of Middle English vowel distinctions in Lowestoft English, a variety spoken in East Anglia. Kerri has played football for Ipswich Town and was in the indie rock band Absent Kid.

Lena Dahlen-Pledger. A perpetually friendly face around the College, Lena Dahlen-Pledger has welcomed students and visitors alike to King’s since 2007. She is one of the team of porters who play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of all members of the College, providing 24/7 coverage and acting as the first line of support in case of emergencies. Alongside her work at King’s, Lena is also a University Constable, assisting the Proctors in their ceremonial functions.

Patricia McGuire. The appointment of a full-time Librarian in 1947 enabled John Saltmarsh to become the College’s first official Archivist. The holder of that post since 2004 has been Patricia McGuire, who diligently looks after the institutional memory of King’s, from the written records dating back to the foundation of the College to the personal papers of notable members such as Rupert Brooke, Alan Turing, and the economist John Maynard Keynes.

Rosanna Omitowoju. Originally arriving as an undergraduate from a state school in Carlisle, Rosanna Omitowoju has been at King’s for over 35 years. She has a particular responsibility for the four-year degree pathway in Classics for students who haven’t studied Latin or Greek before coming to Cambridge, and in 2002 was awarded a Pilkington Prize excellence in teaching. As a longstanding Welfare Tutor, Rosanna also looks after the pastoral care of the student body.

Rebecca Kilner. As Director of the University Museum of Zoology, evolutionary biologist Rebecca Kilner looks after a global collection of more than two million zoological specimens that help our understanding of animal life on the planet. She is the tenth holder of the University Professorship in Zoology since the establishment of the post in 1866, principally working on animal behaviour and evolutionary change. Rebecca studied for her PhD at King’s.

Deborah Finkler. When Deborah Finkler started at international law firm Slaughter and May in 1986, she was made Partner within five years – a rarity in the City for a woman, not least a woman educated at a Liverpool state school. Having headed the Disputes and Investigations group with a practice covering a broad spectrum of commercial litigation and cross-border investigations, she’s now the firm’s first Managing Partner. She studied Economics and Law at King’s.

Sarah Legg. The first student to come to Cambridge from her school in Middlesbrough, Sarah Legg only applied to King’s after the College made a visit as part of its outreach efforts. Graduating in Natural Sciences, she spent almost 30 years with HSBC, and is now a non-executive director at two FTSE 100 companies. As Chair of the Advisory Board to the King’s Campaign she is helping the College provide more opportunities to the widest range of students.

Judith Weir. The first woman to hold the post of Master of the Queen’s (or King’s) Music, Judith Weir is an acclaimed composer and musician, best known for her operas and theatrical works. In 2018, a specially written carol by Judith was sung at the 100th anniversary service of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, and her composition ‘Brighter Visions Shine Afar’ was recently heard before the ceremony at the coronation of King Charles III.

Marwa Mahmoud. Now a Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, Marwa Mahmoud studied for her PhD at King’s before staying on to complete a Junior Research Fellowship from 2016 to 2021. Her work focuses on computer vision for social signal processing – teaching computers to recognise human emotions – and she pioneered an AI system able to detect pain in sheep, helping farmers and vets with the diagnosis of disease.

Magda Kłosowska. Domestic Supervisor Magda Kłosowska has been at King’s since 2010, keeping the College clean and tidy while playing an integral role in the well-being of the students in her care. The road to women’s education in Cambridge may have been a long one – not until 1948 did the University allow female students to graduate with a degree – but in roles such as housekeepers, bed-makers and laundresses, women had long been part of the Cambridge story.

Bronach James. The life of the College depends upon a small but committed body of administrative staff working across a wide range of different departments. Bronach James joined King’s in 2005 and has fulfilled a number of important functions, including as PA to the Provost. In her current role as Tutorial Office Manager, Bronach supports the Senior Tutor in ensuring the quality of educational and pastoral arrangements for students.

Mary Anderson and Jane Hall. Jane Hall was one of a group of young architecture students who, a year after graduating, began collaborating informally. The result was Assemble, a London-based multi-disciplinary collective. Five years later they went on to win the Turner Prize for their work on the community-led Granby Four Streets regeneration project in Toxteth, Liverpool. Designer Mary Anderson joined Jane and another co-founder from King’s, Maria Lisogorskaya, in 2021.