The material in this section deals with Kendrew's postwar career at Cambridge. Though by no means a complete record, it gives some picture of his involvement in university and college life.

For virtually the whole of this period, that is from the start of the MRC Unit on 1 October 1947, Kendrew was a full-time salaried member of the staff of the Medical Research Council and indeed remained so until his retirement from EMBL in 1982. His own position, like that of the MRC Unit itself, was thus somewhat ambivalent vis-à-vis the organisation of the university and its collegiate life, but like many of his colleagues he made a full contribution to the requirements of research, teaching and administration at university level, while his connection with Peterhouse gave him a valued link with college life.

Kendrew was elected to a Research Fellowship at Peterhouse from 1 July 1947 to 1953, and to a Supernumerary Fellowship from 1953 until he resigned in July 1975 on his secondment to Heidelberg; he was elected an Honorary Fellow in November 1975. Despite the intense pressure of his own research during the 1950s, together with his responsibilities for the protein crystallography section of the MRC Unit, he continued to be actively involved with many aspects of life at Peterhouse. He was Director of Studies in Natural Sciences 1950-1956 and a College Lecturer in Natural Sciences 1956-1967 and organised the selection and tuition of scholars and undergraduates with his accustomed efficiency; he was Steward from 1955 to 1959 and as a member of the Governing Body served on various committees. Official material relating to the latter is held in the College Archives.

Kendrew's annual reports to the Master of Peterhouse during the tenure of his Research Fellowship 1947-1953 give succinct and interesting accounts of his developing research and of the early growth of the MRC Unit.