Wallace Watson was a student at St Catherine’s College at the time of his death in 2001. In his memory, his family has established three awards for students of St Catherine’s, to celebrate Wallace and what he stood for: the Wallace Watson Award, the Wallace Watson Research Award and the Wallace Watson Career Scholarship. Find out about Wallace and these three awards below.

About Wallace Watson

Wallace Watson was a Chemistry student at St Catherine’s at the time of his death in 2001. He loved a challenge and adventure, and if it involved mountains, being somewhere remote or exotic, then even better.

He was someone who embraced life and was constantly seeing how far he could push its boundaries. When he set his mind to anything he would do so with utter determination and yet with a sensitivity to others. His mischievous sense of humour was always present.

‘Wallace was a one-off and, quite simply, larger than life. His enthusiasm for life was infectious… he was comfortable and confident enough in himself to go through life without excluding anyone. He never tried to be anyone different: he believed in himself and knew, with a quiet certainty, what he could achieve.

‘He had no trouble sticking up for what he believed in and people respected him for that… beneath that incredible sense of fun was a steadfast loyalty that shone through those wonderful brown eyes. Wallace is a legend.’

The awards

There are three awards established in Wallace’s name available to students at St Catherine’s.

The purpose of each is to encourage and enable the development of young people, with an emphasis on targeting tomorrow’s potential leaders and with the long-term aim of creating a group of people that will become a force for good in wider society.

Applications are open to current students of St Catherine’s in Hilary term each year. More details can be found here on the application page.

The Wallace Watson Award

This was set up in 2002 for students with the same zest for life that Wallace had. It encourages and enables undergraduate and graduate students to undertake expeditions or travel of a challenging nature in a remote and/or mountainous region anywhere in the world. For more detail.

The Wallace Watson Career Scholarship

This was established in 2020 to encourage and assist graduate and final-year undergraduate students wishing to visit anywhere in the world to further their academic development and/or career. For more detail.

Wallace Watson Research Award

This was established in 2024 specifically to encourage and assist undergraduate students to undertake research and/or a dissertation that challenged them academically and that would open-up future academic opportunities. For more detail.

Previous Winners

Every Hilary term, the winners of the Wallace Watson Award give a lecture on their experiences. On the same night, the next year’s winners are announced.

The winners also detail their adventures to the College’s annual magazine, The Year.

Wallace Watson Award

Wallace Watson Career Scholarship

Wallace Watson Research Award