In 2018 Lucy Lewis became the first woman to be appointed Marshal of Cambridge University. Before this, she was the first female bomb disposal expert in the British Army. She later served in the Royal Military Police and then served a further eight years as a staff officer in the Ministry of Defence before retiring with the rank of major. The Marshal has responsibility for assisting the Vice-Chancellor in various ceremonies, including graduations and VIP visits; the Marshal also supports the Proctors in protecting good order and freedom of speech in the university, leading twenty-six part-time University Constables. The University Marshal is one of three ceremonial mace-bearers at the University of Cambridge. The first woman to carry a University of Cambridge ceremonial mace in procession was Nicola Hardy, who was appointed an Esquire Bedell on 1 October 2003 and is still serving.
