Andrew Dobbie

Despite going to school with Mick Jagger, Andrew Dobbie calls his acceptance to the University of Edinburgh, 'the best thing that happened in my young life'.

Your time at the University

My family moved to London from Glasgow when I was seven years old then settled in Kent. I attended the local grammar school (Mick Jagger was a fellow pupil) and soon discovered that French was by far my favourite - and best -- subject. Based partly on my Scottish origins, when it came to choosing a university, my first choice was Edinburgh, which offered the ideal option of Honours French with German.

Although I didn’t quite achieve the required A-level grades, Edinburgh confirmed my place anyway. I’m not quite sure how or why, but it was the best thing that happened in my young life.

Modern language courses were incredibly popular - as I recall First Ordinary French had some 200 students. The David Hume Tower in George Square was the main Arts Faculty building and lectures were held in the attached lecture theatres, all brand spanking new in those days. The modern languages library moved twice in my time there - starting off in Minto House in Chambers Street before moving to Alison House, Nicolson Square, and then the new library when it opened in George Square in 1967.

Those were less enlightened times and the students’ unions were segregated, with the Men’s Union accommodated in Teviot Row House and the Women’s Union in a smart new building in Chambers Street.

During my final year, 1967-68, the University was at the heart of a brief national scandal when the rector, the noted journalist and writer Malcolm Muggeridge, very publicly announced he was resigning during a sermon at St. Giles Cathedral.

Tell us about your Experiences since leaving the University

I had always entertained ideas of becoming a journalist and after graduating I worked on a couple of newspapers. I enrolled in the National Council for the Training of Journalists scheme while working for a local newspaper in South London.

Looking for a career that would allow me to use my language skills, I found a job in the newsroom of the European and Overseas Service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation in Bern - a sort of smaller version of the BBC World Service.

During my final year, 1967-68, the University was at the heart of a brief national scandal when the rector, the noted journalist and writer Malcolm Muggeridge, very publicly announced he was resigning during a sermon at St. Giles Cathedral.

From there I went to the English service of the French news agency, Agence France-Presse (what Francophile could resist the chance to live in Paris?). After a few more moves, including a newspaper in Montreal, Canada, and the BBC itself, I wound up in mid-career at the Reuters news agency, where I stayed for almost 30 years, working as a chief subeditor on the main editing desk for political and general news.

Since retiring from Reuters in 2011, I have been working as a translator and editor for the Paris-based campaigning press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders and doing some journalism training for the Reuters charitable arm, the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Alumni wisdom

Follow your heart and do what you love. Don’t try to conform to what other people want you to do or be what they want you to be.