On 7 September 2020, the Academic Department of the Society welcomed its new Academic Registrar, Dr Cornelius O’Boyle, to the Hall. Trained as an historian of medicine at Cambridge, Cornelius has published widely in the field of medieval natural philosophy and has lectured extensively in Europe and North America on the interactions between science, religion and magic. His career as a university lecturer has taken him from Cambridge to the University of Notre Dame in the USA and back to the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Institute at UCL. During this time he taught medical ethics and comparative healthcare systems to American pre-medical students and medical history to British pre-clinical students. He was also Professor of Humanities at Hult International Business School. In his career as an academic administrator, Cornelius has served as the Associate Director of Notre Dame’s London Centre, and as Dean and Executive Director of Hult’s campus in San Francisco.

Cornelius joins the Academic Department at an exciting time in its development. He is keen to establish closer relationships between the academic courses hosted by our two Faculties and the examinations offered for our seven Diplomas. He also hopes to draw in a wider audience for our outstanding lecture series and offer support in making the unique collections of the Society better known to the general public. He is also keen to draw upon the wealth of talent represented by members of the Society to define new ways in which the Society can help address some of the major urban healthcare issues facing the City of London.

Cornelius encourages members of the Society to visit the staff of the Academic Department in its bright, new office on the top floor and learn more about the academic programmes offered by the Society.