Professor Richard Gilbertson has been installed as the Master of Gonville & Caius College following a ceremony in Chapel on Wednesday 1 October.

Professor Gilbertson becomes the 44th Master of Caius, which was founded in 1348. In June 2024, he was announced as successor to Professor Pippa Rogerson, who has retired as Master following seven years in the role.

A caduceus donated to the College by John Caius was part of the ancient ceremony. The President, Professor Peter Robinson, handed the caduceus to Professor Gilbertson as a symbol of prudent government.

Professor Gilbertson is the Li Ka Shing Chair and a Senior Group Leader at the CRUK Cambridge Institute, and was formerly Head of Department of Oncology and Director of the Cancer Centre. He was a Fellow of St John’s College until September 2025.

Professor Gilbertson and Professor Robinson in the Chapel

The caduceus was returned on September 29 following conservation work by Stephanie de Roemer and Sophie Rowe of the University of Cambridge Conservation Shared Service, which is run by the Fitzwilliam Museum. The work was to clean, polish and consolidate the caduceus and its enamel decorations, and to repair and clean its original cuir bouilli case, an astonishing survival from the sixteenth century. The work was completed ahead of the installation of Professor Gilbertson, in which the caduceus played a starring role.

As part of his refoundation of the College in 1557, John Caius donated the caduceus, a silver staff of office with entwined snakes and an enamelled image of Caius's coat of arms. Caius was a doctor, and the caduceus is sometimes confused with the Rod of Asclepius, a symbol of healing and medicine, which has just one snake. In fact, the multiple snakes on our caduceus allude to the staff carried by Hermes, messenger of the Gods in ancient Greek mythology. The caduceus symbolises negotiation and eloquence - two qualities of any successful Master!