A former Rydal Penrhos pupil will be returning to her roots for a special academic event this week.

Professor Emerita Joy Hendry, who attended Penrhos College, will be the Scientific Society’s first special guest speaker of the academic year on Thursday, September 19.

The topic of the lecture is Anthropology and Social Anthropology, which is set to be of interest for anyone wishing to pursue a possible career in science, psychology, history or geography.

Mrs Hendry is a Professor Emerita in Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, senior member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University and Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh.

She graduated with B.Sc in General Science from Kings College, London, and after living and working abroad for five years, studied for a Diploma, B.Litt and D.Phil Social Anthropology at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, completing her studies in 1979.

Mrs Hendry taught at Oxford Brookes (and formerly Oxford Poly) from 1980 until 2010, with periods away at Keio University in Japan, Stirling University in Scotland, the CNRS in Paris, the University of Melbourne, McMaster University in Canada, the Institute for Japanese Studies, University of Vienna, and the University of Freiburg. Since becoming professor emerita in 2010, she has been the McGeorge Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and de Carle Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Otago.

She has carried out anthropological fieldwork several times in Japan, but more recently has also been working in a context that requires travel to different countries (see Research section below). She was the founder of the Erasmus programme in the Anthropology Department, Brookes Japan Interest Group and the Europe Japan Research Centre.

Senior School Head Sally Ann Harding, said: “We are absolute thrilled that Joy has agreed to be the special guest speaker at our first Scientific Society lecture of the academic year, and it promises to be a very worthwhile experience for anyone in attendance.

“At Rydal Penrhos, we are extremely proud of our Alumni connections, which further highlight the bond each former pupil shares with the school and their willingness to aid those following in their footsteps.”