To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Jamaican-born economist Albert (‘Bertie’) Gregorio Hines was instrumental in setting up Birkbeck’s first Economics department in the 1970s and had a career which ranged from a job in the Jamaican civil service to a Chair in Economics at Birkbeck. He was also an active proponent of black arts and culture. 

Albert moved to the UK from Jamaica in the 1950s to explore opportunities, studying at the London School of Economics and going on to lecture in political economy at University College, London. In 1968, at the incredibly young age of 32 years, he was appointed Professor of Economics at Durham University. Three years later, he joined Birkbeck. 

An advocate for racial and social equity, Hines chaired the Minority Group Arts, from 1974, to encourage the arts within minority communities, ‘thereby enrich[ing] the cultural life of the entire community’. Minority Group Arts was also responsible for conducting the ‘first comprehensive and independent study of arts activities’ amongst Bangladeshis, Chinese, Cypriots, East and Central Europeans, Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians, and Africans living in the UK. Although he was a Professor of Economics, Hines did not restrict his anti-racism activism to issues of economics and employment and was an active proponent of the Black arts and culture as important sites of resistance.  

In 1975, he gave evidence to the Select Committee on Race Relations and Immigration where he was grilled about conflicts within minority communities and calmly replied, “We have learned that there are things that divide us and things that unite us, and on this particular issue we see the things that unite us as being more important than the things that divide us.” 

To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

“Ma” Francis was one of Birkbeck’s unsung heroes, an essential worker during the second world war who made a considerable contribution to sustaining university life. 

She joined Birkbeck’s Fetter Lane premises in 1896, and left fifty years later, aged eighty. When bombs dropped in the vicinity, she was “unruffled,” calmly handing out mugs of coffee and “sardines on toast, with fried tomatoes twopence extra.”  

On 11th May 1941, incendiary bombs started falling on the College. Ma Francis made her way to the College’s kitchen. A “policeman in Fetter Lane tried to stop me,” she later recalled, who told her “Can’t go down there, Ma!” She abruptly retorted, “Impudence. Young man … I’ve got my work to do – you can’t stop me.” And work she did. Although the building next to Birkbeck was a “raging inferno,” Ma Francis made coffee for everyone on a Primus stove and then served 150 people for lunch. She was heard muttering, “Lucky I cooked the joints yesterday!” 

To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Christina is a mathematician, professor of Operational Research and an advocate for women in STEM.  

She has used tools from her research to design and analyse political data from public polls, particularly in the context of Brexit and health policy and during the COVID-19 pandemic won a HealthWatch UK award, for her work in public engagement in science. 

In 2019, Christina was one of the awardees of the Lyn Thomas Impact Medal from the Operational Research Society for work related to congenital heart disease and was one of two recipients of a special recognition award from the British Medical Journal in response to her work during the pandemic. In 2022, she was appointed as Vice President of the UK Operational Research Society. 

Christina began her academic studies in the fields of medieval history and classical civilization. She returned to study at Birkbeck to complete a Master’s in Applied Statistics with Medical Applications in 2012. This led her to a career in operational research, applying mathematical modelling and data analysis to healthcare situations. 

To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Michelle is Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK and is motivated by creating lasting and impactful change in the world today through innovative research. 

She was the first in her family to attend university, gaining an MSc Politics and Administration degree from Birkbeck in1997, and spent the early years of her career in London working for a local MP.   

Michelle felt more attracted to charity work as this was where she believed real social change could be brought about. Her work in the charity sector has seen her working in numerous exciting roles including the Chief Executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Director General of Innovative UK and also a Non-Executive Board Member of NHS England.   

Under her leadership at Cancer Research UK, the Brain Tumour Award funding scheme was launched, in collaboration with the Brain Tumour Charity and a refreshed research strategy for children’s and young people’s cancers. 

To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Sidney Webb was a leading British socialist economist and one of the founders of the Fabian Society. He helped to reorganize the University of London into a federation of teaching institutions and served in the government as a Labour Party member. 

Sidney studied Law at Birkbeck and was one of Birkbeck’s most enthusiastic students. In 1879-80 alone, he won the Institution’s English Essay Prize, Mednyansky Essay Prize, Henken Prize in correspondence, Ravenscroft Prize for English grammar, Chester Prize in political economy, and the Birkbeck Prize for mental science, as well as prizes for logic and geology.  

In 1880, along with sixteen other students, he sent a memorandum demanding representation of students on the Committee and equal privilege for “lady members.” While their initial requests failed, Webb and his co-activist William Bull eventually got themselves elected to the governance committee and oversaw the progressive changes to the leadership of the Institution that they’d called for over many years. 

With his wife, Beatrice, a sociologist and economist, Sidney deeply influenced British institutions and social thought during the first half of the 20th century. Among his many contributions are the creation of the system of secondary state schools and, using a gift inherited from the Fabian Society, helping to found the London School of Economics. 

Four years after leaving Birkbeck, Webb was to become one of the founding members of the socialist Fabian Society and he later co-established the London School of Economics (LSE). 

To commemorate the College’s bicentenary in 2023, we’re showcasing 200 ‘Birkbeck Effects’ which capture the incredible stories of our vibrant and diverse community, highlighting their achievements and impact on the world. 

Annette is an executive coach and Founding Member of Impact X Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on supporting underrepresented founders and innovators across Europe.  

She trained as an executive coach and has worked at the U.S. Senate and also supported a U.S. presidential campaign. Alongside Impact X and her work as an executive coach, Annette has been involved with many organizations which champion the arts, broaden education, and tackle structural inequality. 

Annette came to Birkbeck to explore creative writing and took the course titled ‘The Secret Lives of Women.’ She recently finished her first book, Always Enough, A Global Food Memoir, which combines her family memories and global experiences with the food that connects them.  She is now writing her second book and feels that Birkbeck played an essential part in her journey to becoming a writer. 

She has said that she doesn’t hinge her achievements on career successes: “What I am most proud of is surviving this life with my moral DNA and values intact. I believe that in all the challenges of life, the highs and lows, one must be able to face oneself in the mirror and always calibrate on your values. I am proud that I remain curious, engaged, and can still smell the roses.”