Christopher stayed on at Cambridge for a fourth year to do the Philosophy Tripos Part II, then worked for two years in for Bos Kalis, a Dutch engineering civil engineering contractor, before returning to Cambridge to do a PhD. Here he worked with Professor Andrew Schofield, doing pioneering work with the new eight-metre diameter underground centrifuge that had just been built in Cambridge.
Following his PhD, Christopher joined the engineering consultancy Scott Wilson. He demonstrated his considerable versatility by co-authoring authoritative guides for industry on dams in Nigeria and Senegal (where he lived with his wife Nicky) and on roads in Nepal (where he lived with Nicky and their baby daughter Eleanor). His extraordinary skills were soon recognised when he became the Managing Director of MASCOTT, a new subsidiary of Scott Wilson, specialising
in sustainable rural development, principally in Africa. Here Christopher was well ahead of his time – sustainable development was only just beginning to become prominent.
In 1988 (now also with children Mike and Rick), Christopher had a major change of direction, and moved to Cambridge. Christopher had been appointed Director of the newly formed Cambridge Programme for Industry (CPI), based in the Engineering Department, and became a Fellow of Trinity Hall. At the CPI, Christopher rapidly built up from scratch a world-class professional education capability. With his characteristic drive, he set up CPI courses for people in business and industry to learn about the latest research at Cambridge. Christopher later applied his creative mind to many aspects of the University’s research strategy and organisation; he was ideally placed to give oral evidence on the subject to a House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry on Science, Engineering and Technology in a Modern Economy.
At Trinity Hall, Christopher became Director of Studies for Part II of the Engineering Tripos. Generations of engineering students have appreciated his sage advice as they specialised in their education and thought about their transition to subsequent careers. He also became Graduate Tutor and held this post for 16 years. He cared deeply for the postgraduate students and was a powerful advocate for them in the College. He played a major role in the expansion of postgraduate accommodation at Wychfield. In 2016, Christopher become an Emeritus Fellow of Trinity Hall. When his wife Nicky became Master of Fitzwilliam College, he played an important supporting role.
Christopher’s versatility was extraordinary. He was the only non-French Governing Council Member of the celebrated École des Mines in Paris; was a Governor of Long Road Sixth Form College; a Trustee and later Chairman of Relate, Cambridge; chaired the Independent Monitoring Board of His Majesty’s Prison at Bedford; and was chair of the national Association of Members of Independent Monitoring Boards.
Christopher Padfield cared deeply about the communities of which he was a part, and we were very fortunate that Trinity Hall was one of those.
