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Meet the new Alleyn Club President
Simon Dyson
Simon Dyson was elected the 133rd President of the Alleyn Club 2020 - 21. He takes over from John Lovering CBE
with the single exception of swimming where lessons for beginners were simply terrifying ‐ I never did learn. I owe the College an enormous debt as it prepared me for later life and was truly “in loco parentis” for nine years. What are your favourite memories of your time at Dulwich College and why? The pinnacle of my academic career was definitely the O‐Level results: good passes in twelve subjects, and the prize for the best “all‐rounder” in my year. After that it was all sport, and what fun it was too. There was now far too little time left for serious study as witnessed by three modest passes at A‐level. But thankfully my physics master Michael (Sniff) Hart came to my rescue. In order to widen our horizons we “science A‐level” boys were also required to take an exam called “General Studies”. This course was universally disliked, as much by the teachers who were pressed into service to teach as by the boys, but with the spectacular exception of Sniff! His lecture about the future of computing, which predicted the arrival of the personal computer (“by the time you are my age”), was so inspirational that I left school and immediately joined IBM.
What do you hope to achieve with your new role as President of the Alleyn Club? Perhaps it is not well known that as President one is appointed to the Alleyn Club for three years. We spend one year as vice‐President, a second year in office as President, and then a further year supporting one’s successor. I mention this because earlier this year our current President, John Lovering, asked me to lead some work looking at our strategy. We are in the early stages of that work having interviewed 25 people closely associated with the Alleyn Club, specifically all of the current committee, some past committee members, and some past‐presidents. I hope that as a result of this review we will be able to focus more effectively on those things that we believe that the Alleyn Club does well. Above all we should aim to make the Club more accessible and relevant to all Old Alleynians, to students and staff at the College, to other closely related groups such as parents of Alleynians, and to students at associated schools. You attended Dulwich College between the years 1959 and 1967, what you brought here? Until recently I thought I had been extremely fortunate to have received a “Local Educational Authority Grant” which allowed me to attend the College. But on reading a chapter in Jan Piggott’s immensely impressive tome on the history of the College, I discovered that 90% of pupils in the late 1950s held full‐fee awards from local authorities! That was the apogee of the Gilkes’ post‐war experiment, and by the late 1960s local authorities were rapidly withdrawing their support. Suffice it to say that in 1959 a boy from Reedham School (an establishment for homeless children) with an 11+ pass in his pocket was admitted to arguably the best independent school in the country. How would you describe your experience as a pupil of the College? I was a boarder first at Bell House and later at Ivyholme. On my arrival I vividly remember having to cope with stiff (detachable) collars and collar‐studs; I was probably late for breakfast most mornings. Thank goodness I was keen and able enough to participate in most sports
What did you do when you left Dulwich College? I spent 37 wonderfully happy years at IBM.
Since you’ve retired, how have you been occupying your time? Thanks to an old‐fashioned pension scheme I was able to retire from IBM at 56 and devote my time to voluntary work both in the charitable sector (exclusively with cricket) and in support of those clubs and institutions from which I have derived so much benefit and pleasure. Marylebone Cricket Club, Club Cricket Conference, Chance To Shine, Surrey Cricket Foundation, Wimbledon Cricket Club, Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, Rosslyn Park Rugby Club, and of course Dulwich College.
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