Professor Christopher Bulstrode CBE (1951 – 2023)
The college has learned of the death of Emeritus Fellow Professor Christopher Bulstrode CBE.
Christopher was elected to the fellowship of then-Green College starting in 1986 and joined Governing Body in 1987. He became an Emeritus Fellow when he took early retirement from the university in 2011. Christopher was Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the university and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre from 1982 until his retirement in 2010.
He had studied Zoology at Oxford, then preclinical medicine in Cambridge, and returned to Oxford to complete his clinical studies. Along the way he was variously implicated in the overnight appearance of giant black footprints up and down the Tower of the Winds, and in overnight rearrangement of the city’s one-way traffic signs to generate an inescapable loop.
Christopher was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to humanitarian medicine in 2016. He was honoured for his work with Doctors of the world, which provides medical care to people affected by war, natural disasters, disease, hunger, poverty or exclusion around the world.
Commenting on his recognition at the time, Christopher said,
‘Getting involved in humanitarian aid work is the dream for many of us doctors and nurses. It has been an honour to contribute what I can. Certainly, helping those less well off than ourselves, especially when war or disaster has struck, feels like one of the most useful things that we can do.’
Christopher was an enthusiastic supporter of the college, where he is remembered as an individual passionate and committed to his endeavours. He served in many roles, including chair of the Library Sub-committee.
Associate Fellow Lindy Castell recalls her time as a hip-replacement patient of Christopher’s,
‘In 2003, Chris Bulstrode undertook a hip replacement operation on me. I well remember him saying that, rather than a modern technique, he proposed to use an old tried and trusted prosthesis method. I am so glad he did, as I have never had a problem with my hip in the 20 years since he performed the operation.
‘I also remember with affection when Chris and my college dinner guest (recently back from Kenya) talked enthusiastically in Swahili – there was a lot of laughter!’
Please email PA to the Principal Jo Ostridge if you would like to pass messages or tributes to the family.
