23rd September 2024
We welcomed Dr Grace Mallon to LMH this month, following her appointment to the Clive Holmes Fellowship in History, a six-year career development post. Alongside her Fellowship at LMH, Dr Mallon becomes a Senior Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute (RAI).
Dr Mallon’s Fellowship is named in honour of Clive Holmes, the much-loved Fellow and Tutor in History at LMH between 1987 and 2011, who sadly passed away in July 2022. Following Clive’s death, an outpouring of feeling from former students, friends and colleagues led to the decision to fundraise for a History post to bolster teaching of the subject at LMH. Thanks to the immense generosity of alumni and other friends, funding for a five-year post - now six years thanks to additional support received - was raised in just over twelve months.
A specialist in American History, which was also one of Clive’s passions, Dr Mallon completed her BA, MSt, and DPhil in History at University College, Oxford, where her doctoral research was supported by the Edward Orsborn Scholarship, as well as funding from the RAI and short-term research fellowships from the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York, and the Washington Library at Mount Vernon. Following the completion of her doctorate, Dr Mallon was appointed as the RAI’s Kinder Junior Research Fellow.
Dr Mallon's scholarly work focuses on the constitutional history of the early American republic. Her 2021 DPhil thesis, 'States of the Union: Federalism and the Origins of American Intergovernmental Relations, c.1789-1820', is freely accessible electronically via the Bodleian.
Alongside her teaching responsibilities, Dr Mallon plans to use the first part of her time at LMH to complete the revision of her doctoral thesis into a book manuscript, before turning to a second project on the role the historical profession has played in the development of constitutional law in the United States since the early nineteenth century.
Of her appointment to the Clive Holmes Fellowship, Dr Mallon says, “It is a great honour to be appointed to this role, and I am thrilled to be joining LMH’s exceptional academic community. Although I never met Clive, he taught many of my own teachers, inspiring them in the study of American history. His legacy has influenced my own academic journey.”
We are delighted to welcome Dr Mallon to the College, and would like to thank the many alumni and supporters whose generosity has helped make the continuation of Clive’s intellectual legacy possible.