Richard McKay
Dr. Richard McKay (Director of Studies, Magdalene) is an author and historian who has made significant contributions to writing queer history, particularly in the study of public health, history of sexuality and history of HIV/AIDS.
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The photograph shows Richard and his husband Theo Raymond.
Richard came up to Cambridge in January 2013 on a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship, following a master's and doctorate at the University of Oxford and an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at King's College London. His current research project, 'Before HIV: Homosex and Venereal Disease, c.1939–1984', examines the process by which healthcare workers and gay men, among other groups, became increasingly interested in the role played by men who had sex with men in the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Richard works part-time as a historical researcher and writer, spending the rest of his working time in private practice as a credentialed career/academic/life coach, accredited by the International Coach Federation.
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Richard’s research on the history of the idea of 'patient zero' has been adapted for various audiences, offering inspiration for a German and English musical theatre production, 'AIDS Folies', performed in Berlin, Vienna, and Stuttgart in 2018. He served as historical consultant for Killing Patient Zero (Fadoo Productions, 2019), the documentary feature based on his book, Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic. The film, written and directed by Laurie Lynd, was awarded the American Historical Association's 2020 John E. O'Connor Film Award for outstanding interpretation of history through film (documentary category).
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In 2019, Richard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.