A house on Grange Road at the entrance to Leckhampton Drive has been named ‘Christopher Colclough Lodge’ in recognition of the generosity of a distinguished former Fellow, whose legacy enabled this purchase.

Professor Colclough's wife Sarah and son Giles were at Leckhampton yesterday to unveil a plaque carved with the name of the Lodge, which provides much-needed residences for fourth year students at the Leckhampton site.

Mrs Sarah Colclough unveiled the plaque with name of the Christopher Colclough Lodge

A Legacy of Learning

The late Professor Christopher Colclough (m1967), who died in 2017, completed his postgraduate studies at Corpus, followed some decades later by becoming a Fellow, then finally a Life Fellow of the College. He was a Development Economist who specialised in education in developing economies.

Professor Christopher Howe, Acting Master, warmly remembered Professor Colclough's enjoyment of postgraduate student life at Leckhampton. He said, "Christopher's professional work to improve access to education worldwide was reflected in his deep affection for the community of learning and research at Leckhampton. Naming this building after Christopher really epitomises what this College is all about, and has always been about. It is a great pleasure to name this building in thanks for the generosity of Christopher and his family."

Professor Madeleine Arnot, Emerita Professor of Sociology of Education and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, worked with Christopher for many years, and is co-editor of the book Reforming Education and Challenging Inequalities in Southern Contexts: Research and Policy in International Development, a tribute to his work. She said, "Christopher would have been humbled, embarrassed and proud to have this recognition. I think he would have seen the act of naming this building as recognition of the importance of having education for all. That was his enormous commitment to human rights and to social justice."

Professor Madeleine Arnot and Professor Chris Howe

She continued, "Christopher is recognised as one of the leading economists who've worked on education, and he shifted the direction of international aid in education. He saw that there had been an investment in secondary and higher education globally, but there was was a need to expand this to the primary age. His research showed that by investing in primary education you would increase literacy, numeracy, health and birth spacing. He was deeply involved in convincing the UN, the World Bank, governments and NGOs that this investment was necessary. 

He founded and directed the UNESCO Education for All global monitoring report. And what was so critical to his work was he designed a methodology and a template on how to assess a country's progress in achieving universal primary education. The impact of these reports was on the move towards education for all, which brought millions of children who would normally be out of school into primary school."

The event was attended by Director of Development & Alumni Relations, Rachel Lawson, and many other members of the Fellowship, former Master Professor Haroon Ahmed and Mrs Anne Ahmed, Professor of International Education Pauline Rose, and postgraduate student Biagio Rosso, recipient of the Christopher Colclough Scholarship which supports students of the College undertaking graduate studies at the University in the field of development economics.

Professor Haroon Ahmed attended the event