Many months ago, the Department was contacted by Dr. Alan Cane who, along with his contemporary Nick Owens, was organising a reunion of Part II students from 1969. He asked if the party could visit Zoology, and Malcolm Burrows enthusiastically agreed.

On Saturday 8 August, 15 of the original 23 former students, together with their partners, were welcomed to the Department by Malcolm, William Foster (class of '70), Helen Skaer (class of '68), Jenny Clack and Michael Akam. The party was taken on a tour of the Department, which enabled them to get a sense of how much change there had been in the last 40 years, and Malcolm Burrows prompted some discussion on the differences between the class lists of 1969 and 2009. Afterwards the party left for a drinks reception at the University Centre where they were joined by graduate students Marta Costa, Stephen Montgomery, Richard Walbank and Jennifer Harcourt. Before leaving the Department they posed for a group photograph, taken, by a pleasing coincidence, by Neal Maskell, who had also taken their class photographs 40 years ago.

The career paths of the Class of '69 are instructive. Of 18 people who provided information, 15 went on to take higher degrees, and 13 of them then went on to work in biological or medical fields.

In expressing thanks to Malcolm Burrows and the Department, Alan Cane commented that it had been "an unforgettable experience. It was good to see again the familiar (and rather less well remembered) places, and to gain some appreciation of the many changes since 'our day'. I was particularly struck by the dedicated and largely unseen work of support staff and volunteers."