Professor Colin Renfrew, Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn read Natural Sciences, Archaeology and Anthropology at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1962. He completed his PhD thesis at Cambridge in 1965 and began his career first as a lecturer at the University of Sheffield and then as Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton. In 1981, he became the tenth Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, and he was appointed the founding Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in 1990.
 
Colin served as Master of Jesus College from 1986 until 1997. A highlight of his Mastership was the opening of the Quincentenary Library by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996. In an account of the visit written for the College's Annual Report, he remarked that the Queen "wore scarlet which matched the red of the College's red-and-black".
 
He brought his love for contemporary art to the College, founding the Sculpture in the Close exhibition series in 1988. Colin continued as chairman of the Works of Art committee until 2017 and remained active in this area, meeting Sir Antony Gormley when he visited the College in early 2024.
 
After his retirement in 2004, Colin continued his archaeological work, remaining a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute and directing excavations on the Cycladic Island of Keros. From 1991 he was also a working peer in the House of Lords, where he spoke up for matters of heritage and archaeological legislation.
 
He married Jane Ewbank, an archaeologist and botanist, in 1965, with whom he had three children: Helena, Alban and Magnus.