Mansfield People

Dr Xiaosheng Chen is currently a research associate in the Wind and Tidal Energy research group at University of Oxford as a CFD specialist. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China with BEng in Thermal Energy and Power Engineering in July 2012. He was then awarded an MSc degree with distinction in Advanced Mechanical Engineering in Oct 2013 by University of Sussex. Later, he obtained a PhD degree in aeronautical engineering in 2018 from the National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology (former Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre) based at Loughborough University.

Following the graduation, he started a secondment job in the Combustion Aerothermal Methods Team of Rolls-Royce plc., helping them to design the next generation lean-burn jet engine combustor. In July 2019, he joined the University of Oxford as a research assistant, working with Prof. Richard Willden and Dr. Christopher Vogel in wind and tidal energy.

Felistas (Fie) supports the Domestic Bursar in her responsibilities, such as room bookings for teachings, tutorials, bed and breakfast accommodation, as well as other conferencing services. She also manages the provision of College memorabilia and stationary.

Richard's research focuses on the politics of decolonisation, especially in British colonial Africa/Labour governments of 1960s and 1970s.

International history of Africa in 1960s & 1970s: colonial Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria.

Oil and the politics of decolonisation.

James is the University of Oxford’s Public Affairs & Communications Director. He joined the University in 2019 from the Civil Service, where he worked for the Ministry of Defence. He has over 20 years’ experience in Global, EMEA and U.K. communications and government relations within both the private and public sector.

At Oxford, his team has won five national and global awards for how the university communicated its COVID-19 research, including on the vaccine. This includes the Times Higher Education award for outstanding communications team for 2022, and the PRWeek global award for campaign work.

James read Geography at Sheffield University, and did a Masters in Environment and Development at SOAS. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Andrei Constantin is a Stephen Hawking Fellow in Theoretical Physics. After his doctorate at the University of Oxford he moved to Uppsala as a postdoctoral researcher and then returned back to Oxford. His research lies at the interface of string theory, algebraic geometry, and machine learning and focuses on developing mathematical and computational tools to study string theory and its implications for particle physics, cosmology and quantum gravity.

Research Area: Category Theory and Applications

Topics of interest include the study and classification of Contextuality in Quantum Computing, the Topos theoretic approach to foundations of Quantum Physics, applications of the concept of Partial Evaluations within Categorical Probability, Higher Category Theory and Computer Science as well as the use of Local State Monads in modelling computational processes which have access to a Quantum Register.

Additionally, Carmen has a keen interest in Mathematical Teaching and Outreach and has developed extensive experience, ranging from highschool to graduate level courses.

Matt joined Oxford’s Faculty of History and Mansfield College as the inaugural Jonathan Cooper Professor of the History of Sexuality in October 2023. Prior to that he spent 18 years at Birkbeck, University of London, latterly as Professor of Modern History and Head of the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology. Whilst at Birkbeck he directed the Raphael Samuel History Centre for eight years and convened the Gender and Sexuality Studies MA/MSc.

Matt was educated at state secondary school in Staffordshire, at Sheffield University (BA English Literature) and at Queen Mary, University of London (MA 'Literature Culture and Modernity' and PhD in History).

His first academic role was as Lecturer in Modern History at Keele University (2002-2005).

Sam manages and maintains accurate financial records for the College. She prepares financial statements, handling accounts payable and receivable, reconciling bank statements, and ensuring compliance with relevant financial regulations.

Elizabeth Drummond MA (Oxon) BCL is a Stipendiary Lecturer in Law at Mansfield College.

Elizabeth read for her undergraduate law and Bachelor of Civil Law degrees at Worcester College, Oxford. She later qualified as a solicitor in a major London law firm before joining the Law Commission as a team lawyer in the Property, Family and Trust Law team. Highlights of her five years at the Commission include working as part of the team reviewing the law of intestacy and family provision claims on death, and supporting the enactment of the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 and the Trusts (Capital and Income) Act 2013.

Elizabeth returned to Oxford full-time in 2013, though she has been teaching Oxford undergraduates since 2008. She specialises in tutoring students in the Final Honour Schools courses in Land Law and Trusts, and the first-year Roman Law course. Her research interests lie in the fields of succession law, trusts and land law.

Jack Enright is an NUI Travelling Doctoral Scholar in Experimental Quantum Gravity and a Stipendiary Lecturer in Physics at Mansfield College. He obtained an undergraduate in Mathematics and Physics from University College Cork in 2020, followed by a Masters in Applied Mathematics (Part III) from the University of Cambridge in 2021. His research concerns the development of ultra-low vibration, cryogenic instrumentation, and techniques which may allow us to probe the quantum nature of gravity.