Faculty | The Cambridge Prep Experience Faculty

Summer Ash. BS Stanford University, MSS International Space University, France. A doctoral student at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, Summer conducts her research on the evolution of galaxies at the Cavendish Laboratories. She has considerable professional experience, having worked at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii and the Orbital Sciences Corporation in Virginia, where she was involved in a variety of NASA satellite projects. Holding the Military Order of World Wars from her university ROTC program, she is also an accomplished rower at Cambridge and an enthusiastic baseball coach in the United States.

Gavin Ayliffe. BA (Hons), MA (Hons) Oxford, MPhil Cambridge. A distinguished graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Gavin currently teaches English to refugees in London. He earned a BA (First Class Honours) in English Literature from Oxford and then an MPhil in Intellectual History from Cambridge.  A former British champion in public speaking, Gavin is a keen athlete, pop group leader, charity fundraiser, former Student Admissions Officer at Oxford, and experienced tutor. Gavin brings his numerous talents to the program for an eighth year.

Myrlin Hermes. BA (Hons) Reed College, MA Royal Holloway, University of London. Myrlin’s first novel, Careful What You Wish For, was published in 1999 to critical acclaim and she has since published poems and short stories while she works on her next book. As an actress, she has considerable experience with Shakespeare and, as a journalist in Oregon, she has written and edited arts and entertainment articles; as a performer, she has worked for Fire Pixie Entertainment, holding shows at schools and public events. With her creativity and character, she brings both engaged enthusiasm and commitment to the program for a fourth year.

Viktoriya Kukovenkova. BA (Hons) Donetsk State University, Ukraine, MPhil Cambridge. Having completed an MPhil in Linguistics at Queens’ College, Cambridge University, as a Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Open Society Institute Chevening Scholar, Viktoriya lives in London as an interpreter and teacher.  She graduated from Donetsk State University with perfect grades in 1999 and joined the university as a Junior Instructor, where she taught English Language and Literature for several years. In her native Ukraine, she has also worked at Donetsk State University’s Centre for Foreign Languages, at the Gorod newspaper, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation as an interpreter.

Ian Wilkie. BA, MA University of St Andrews, Scotland, PGCE Institute of Education, London. A twenty-year veteran of London theatre and television, Ian has recently devoted more time to teaching young actors and actresses.  Specializing in comedy, he is part of a longstanding and well-known satirical theatre revue in London, Newsrevue. Ian also works with the British Council, bringing students from all over the world on government sponsored tours of educational institutions in the United Kingdom. He guest lectures during the year at schools and clinics throughout the world while continuing his acting pursuits in London.

Dr Raymond Malewitz. BS (Hons) Universityof Michigan, MA, PhD University of Virginia. Ray is a Lecturer at Yale University, having recently completed his PhD in contemporary American literature and authors of the New Media. He developed his distinctly scientific slant to his research during his undergraduate degree as a literature and biochemistry student at the University of Michigan, after which he became a Biochemistry teacher at the Awty International School in Houston, Texas. In 2000, he was selected as one of ten ‘Rising Stars in Texas Education’ and, at UVA, he was elected the Lynde and Harry Bradley Fellow in 2004-5. At Yale, he holds a Shannon Post-Doctoral Fellowship. He brings his many talents to the program for a sixth year.

Victor Madeira. BA (Hons) University of Toronto, MPhil Cambridge. Victor is completing his PhD in British counter-intelligence against Soviet Russia as a member of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University.  He spent nearly three years in the Persian Gulf, where he worked for a leading Western security company. A recipient of several distinguished academic awards, including a Chevening Scholarship, Victor brings to the program extensive experience in academia, business, and government. Several influential academic journals have published his work, including an article exposing what is so far the earliest-known instance of Soviet penetration of British intelligence.

David Kendall. BA (Hons) London College of Communication. David is a photographer and tutor with ten years’ experience of working in communications media and photography, and a postgraduate researcher in Photography & Urban Cultures at the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths College, University College London. A graduate of the London College of Communication, where he studied Photography and Graphic Media Design, he has worked with cultural, educational, and social organizations, NGOs, journalists, artists, and designers. His current research interests include geo-sociology, urban cultures, and the dynamics of photographic narrative.

Mabel Brodrick-Okereke. AB (Hons) Harvard University, MSc The London School of Economics, MS Columbia University. Mabel is pursuing her doctorate in Politics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. Her research focuses on the dynamics of conflict in developing countries.  Her interests include globalization, the role played by multinational corporations in the political economy of developing countries, corporate social responsibility, international development and human rights. She has also worked at the United Nations in New York, as an Associate Program Management Officer, Political Affairs Officer and Information Officer, and established her own media consultancy, MINB Enterprises.  Mabel is also an alumna of L’Académie de Paris, Oxbridge Academic Programs’ summer study program in Paris, France.

Julia Cockle. MBChB BSc (Hons) Leeds University. The winner of the National Health Foundation Medical Student Fellowship, Julia graduated in Medicine from Leeds University. In 2006, she also won the University’s Thorp Award and Wiley and Birkett Prizes. Her literature review on the role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in preterm labour has been published in the Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. She begins her career with a medical academic training job in Oncology and hopes to develop a career in medical teaching and research. As an undergraduate, she was also President of the Leeds University Medical Society. A keen soccer player, she is a member of Leeds Medics and Dentists Women’s Football team.

Cristian Constantinescu. BA, MA University of Bucharest, Romania, BPhil Oxford. Cristian is pursuing his doctorate in Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge University, as a Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholar. He specializes in Moral Philosophy and Metaethics, and is particularly interested in topics such as relativism and moral disagreement. He graduated from the University of Bucharest in 2002 and, after spending one year teaching philosophy at the Polytechnic University there, went to Oxford to pursue a Master’s degree as a Dulverton & ORS Scholar. At Cambridge, he tutors undergraduate students at the Faculty of Philosophy, specializing in Ethics.

Heidi Asten. BA, LLB (Hons) University of Melbourne, Australia, LLM Cambridge. In her native Australia, Heidi won the University of Melbourne’s Coors Chambers Westgarth Prize, R. J. Hamer Prize and Dwight’s Prize as the highest ranked student in her class. She is now a qualified lawyer with domestic experience in public and environment law. Her international legal experience includes international project financing in Korea and the United Arab Emirates and an undergraduate internship in Guatemala, working on cases in the Inter-American Human Rights System.

Juliana Leite. BA (Hons) Chelsea College of Art and Design, MFA Slade School of Fine Art, MA Camberwell College of Art. The winner of the Kenneth Armitage Sculpture Award in 2006, Juliana is a talented artist who has exhibited, taught and worked throughout the UK. Most recently, she has worked at Tate Britain, one of the UK’s most prestigious galleries, and contributed to New Figurative Realism, an exhibition at the Clapham Art Gallery in London. She has curated a number of exhibitions throughout London and is a participant at international art fairs, including those in London, Chicago, Miami, and New York City.

Irenee Daly. BA (Hons) Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, MSc University of Durham, MPhil Cambridge. Irenee is a doctoral psychologist at Jesus College, Cambridge University, where she studies theoretical approaches to the psychology of self-harm. She has also worked at Cambridge University’s Cambridge MIT Initiative, examining whether a university education encourages entrepreneurial flair and the entrepreneurial ambitions of mid-career female professionals. Irenee has also represented Jesus College in rowing, Ultimate frisbee and gaelic football. During her time at Trinity College Dublin, she boxed for the University.