Message Thank you Sir Christopher and Dr. Mary Dobson for welcoming me to the St. John's community during my MPhil year. My condolences to your family.

Message Very sad to hear the news about Sir Christopher. An outstanding Master who has done much to enhance the standing of the college with his leadership and humanity. My deepest sympathies to Mary and the family.

Message Truly saddened by the news of Sir Christopher’s untimely death. A good man who cared deeply about the College and its role. I remember with fondness a dinner with him in NYC.

His achievements are his legacy.

Message My heartfelt condolences to Mary, Richard and William. I got to know Chris and Mary through the Jazz Fund that was set up at St John's College on his recommendation and approval by the College Council. We have fostered jazz education and events for over 10 years and have enjoyed some of the most magical musical evenings in the Masters Lodge Concert series. Chris epitomized everything that could be set as a wish list for the perfect forefront university leader. First-class in every aspect of academic and pastoral life. I was witness to Chris' boundless enthusiasm and ability to energize everyone from the youngest undergraduate or the most seasoned professorial peer. He had an aura about him which we shall all miss drawing energy from, but what gratitude we are left with for his being, and the memories and inspiration he instilled in us will continue to live on in all of us.
"Blackbird" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E7Y7fz95Qg

Message Very sad to hear of Chris Dobson's death. I much admired Chris for his work on protein folding and NMR and was delighted when he became Master of St John's, my own post-doctoral college at Cambridge. Our paths crossed at Oxford when he was a Reader in Chemistry and I was running British Biotech and I came to know him as warm and kind man as well as a great scientist. My thoughts are with his family and all his colleagues and friends in St John's and Cambridge.

Message I was always impressed by Professor Dobson's moral stature and his great love for St. John's mission.

Message He will be greatly missed by many and in so many ways. A great shock,

Message If I could take the whole Earth in a single bite
And taste it,
I would be happier for a moment…
But I don’t want to be happy all the time.
Unhappiness is necessary sometimes,
If one’s to be natural…
The sun doesn’t always shine,
And the rain, when it does not come, is missed.
So I accept both happiness and misery,
Naturally, as one who is not surprised
That there are both mountains and plains
Stones and grass…
What is necessary is to be natural and calm
Both in happiness and unhappiness,
To feel in the same way we gaze,
To think in the same way we walk,
And when we are about to die, to remember that the day also dies,
And that the sunset is lovely and so is the night that falls…
So it is and so let it be…
(Alberto Caeiro)

Message ܠܥܒܕܟ ܐܢܝܚ ܒܝܢܬ ܟܐ̈ܢܐ ܒܪܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܒܗܝ ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܠܐ ܡܫܬܪܝܐ ܥܡ ܩܕܝ̈ܫܐ
"Give rest, O Son of God, to Your servant in the imperishable kingdom with Your saints." (From the Syriac Orthodox Funeral Liturgy)

May he rest in peace in the Heavenly Jerusalem with the Just and the Saints.

The Kiraz Family

Message My heartfelt condolences to Dr Mary Dobson, Richard and William. St John’s College has gone from strength to strength under Sir Christopher’s outstanding leadership and I’m certain he will be deeply missed by all.