A Master of an Oxbridge College Best answer on the web

Posted in: darrelrussell.com edit
08 Jan 2009
  • What is the best, sure-fire way of being elected as a Master of an Oxford or Cambridge College, perhaps in terms of the track records of those already elected as such


  • Dear dtnl42-ga,
    This has proved to be a demanding task as I had to review each college to enable me to give you a complete answer. In both Oxford and Cambridge the Head of a College can be given the following title: Master/Mistress, President, Provost, Rector, Principal, Dean and Warden.
    During my research I found one college, Trinity College, whose rules specified that the appointment must be made by the Monarch on advice of the Prime Minister and they must hold a degree from Cambridge. Of course there may be others but I did not find them.
    "The Mastership of Trinity is a Crown Appointment, made by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Master must hold a degree from Cambridge, and has in the past usually been a member of Trinity College." http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=172

    Apart from the above, I found no evidence of any restriction or requirement that they have attended the college earlier in their academic career. Indeed, I found examples of Cambridge graduates being appointed at Oxford, although it must be said that there were fewer examples in the reverse. There are, however, some Masters are serving at the college where they obtained their first degrees.
    The main attributes for all the Masters I noted were:
    United Kingdom born;
    Either a distinguished academic background, some had been abroad at other universities or academic institutions, others have been Government advisors or sitting on various committees or organisations appointed by the Government; or, a long-serving Civil Servant ? a number were diplomats who had been with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for over 25 years. Slightly suprising, another civil servant was Sir Richard Dearlove, who was former head of MI6.
    There were, however, a smattering of lawyers, two Oxford Masters with strong media backgrounds in the BBC and Channel 4, and a couple of engineers. No musicians, sports persons, or Google Researchers, so stay clear of that.
    Gender is not an issue.

    Also helpful is to have a Knighthood, or some other award such as OBE, CBE; Honorary Degrees are always useful; or to have previously held positions in other Universities such as Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor.
    Finally, I?m sure it may be a case of not what you know, but who you know.

    Some have held the position for over 13 years and it is difficult to ascertain their biographies at the time of their appointment. Below is a list of the Masters and a link to their biographies. To cut down on the length of the list I have not included their qualifications ? apologies to all concerned.

    I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as soon as I receive it. Thank you
    answerfinder



    CAMBRIDGE
    =========

    List colleges taken from here.
    http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/finding/addresses/college.html

    Christ's College Master Malcolm Bowie
    http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/people/master.html]

    Churchill College Master Sir John Boyd
    http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FDOHP%2060

    Clare College Master Professor Anthony J Badger
    http://janus.mtsu.edu/Gore_Bio_Project/anthony_j.htm
    http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/academic_staff/further_details/badger.html

    Clare Hall President Professor Ekhard Salje
    http://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/index.php?id=67

    Corpus Christi College Master Professor Haroon Ahmed
    http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/fellowship/directory.php?contid=8

    Darwin College Master William A. Brown
    http://www.nuigalway.ie/cisc/whatsnew/

    Downing College Master Professor Barry Everitt
    http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/dow_server/mfs/master.html
    http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/~do/newmaster.html

    Emmanuel College Master Lord Wilson of Dinton
    http://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/about/fellows/fellows_display.cfm?fellow=168&honorary=0

    Fitzwilliam College Master Professor Brian F.G. Johnson
    http://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/newsite/master/master.jsp

    Girton College Mistress Professor Marilyn Strathern
    http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/strathern_marilyn.html

    Gonville and Caius College (Master Elect 2006) Sir Christopher Hum
    http://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news.php?nw_id=70
    http://www.uk.cn/bj/index.asp?menu_id=274&artid=72

    Homerton College Principal Dr Kate Pretty
    http://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/college_officers.htm

    Hughes Hall President Professor Peter Richards
    http://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/fellows/fellows-details.php?fellows_id=5

    Jesus College Master Professor Robert Mair
    http://www-civ.eng.cam.ac.uk/geotech_new/people/mair/mair.html

    King's College Provost Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas
    http://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/bbkmag/15/dame.html

    Lucy Cavendish President Dame Veronica Sutherland
    http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=140830

    Magdalene College Master Duncan Robinson
    http://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/people/master.html

    New Hall President Anne M Lonsdale
    http://www.newhall.cam.ac.uk/people/lonsdale/

    Newnham College Principal Dr Onora O'Neill The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve (1992) http://languages.nuffieldfoundation.org/languages/aboutus/steering.asp
    Pembroke College Master Sir Richard Dearlove
    http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2003111101

    Peterhouse Master David Clive Wilson (The Rt. Hon. Lord Wilson of Tillyorn)
    http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst1362.html

    Queens' College President Dr John L Eatwell
    http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/faculty/eatwell/
    http://www.warburgpincus.com/team/team_econ.htm

    Robinson College Warden Professor Anthony David Yates
    http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/press/dpp/2001030801

    St Catharine's College Master Professor David S Ingram
    http://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/fellows/ingram-d.html

    St Edmund's College Master Professor Paul Luzio
    http://db3.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk:591/fellows/FMPro?-db=fellows.fp5&-format=fellows-ind.html&-sortfield=last%20name&lay=Web-List&-max=99&-recid=23&-findall=
    St John's College Master Professor Richard Perham
    http://www.the-funneled-web.com/N&V_2005(Jan-Dec)/N&V_0501/news__views_item_janauary_2005-050109.htm
    Selwyn College Master Professor Richard Bowring
    http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/www_server/Fellows/R.J._Bowring.html

    Sidney Sussex College Master Professor Sandra Dawson
    http://www.sid.cam.ac.uk/members/Pheon_11_-_Front_Page/pheon_11_-_front_page.html
    http://www.jims.cam.ac.uk/people/faculty/dawsons.html

    Trinity College Master Professor Sir Martin Rees
    http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=172

    Trinity Hall Master Professor Martin Daunton
    http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/academic_staff/further_details/daunton.html

    Wolfson College Gordon Johnson President
    http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/fellows/#president



    OXFORD
    ======

    The below list is adapted from ?List of Heads of House Table reproduced from Oxford University Calendar, 2003-2004? http://www.akme.btinternet.co.uk/oclz02.html

    University Master Lord Butler of Brockwell
    http://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/collegelife/master.html

    Balliol Master Andrew Winston Mawdsley Graham
    http://www.communicationswhitepaper.gov.uk/dti-dcms_comms-reform_exp_bib.html

    Merton Warden Professor Dame Jessica Rawson
    http://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/fellows/rawson.htm

    Exeter Rector Professor M. S. Butler
    http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/archive.asp?fellowsID=2533

    Oriel Provost Sir Derek James Morris
    http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/annualreview/12.shtml

    The Queen's Provost Sir Alan Budd
    http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10530-470667,00.html

    New College Warden Professor Alan Ryan
    http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/stafflist.asp?action=show&person=94&special=

    Lincoln Rector Professor P. Langford
    http://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/fellows/langford/

    All Souls Warden J. H. R. Davis
    http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/

    Magdalen President Anthony. D. Smith
    https://www.brookes.ac.uk/hon_grads/1997/graduates/smith_a

    Brasenose Principal Professor R.J. Cashmore
    http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/annualreview/12.shtml

    Christ Church Dean The Very Revd C. A. Lewis
    http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/annualreview/12.shtml

    Trinity President The Hon. M. J. Beloff
    http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/members/profile.phtml?lecturer_code=beloffm

    St John's President Sir Michael Scholar
    http://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/index.php?A=2&B=3&X=230&PHPSESSID=6a88f9e15bdfb8c8ec2d39220a42dc5a
    Jesus Principal Sir Peter North
    http://www.icstis.org.uk/icstis2002/default.asp?node=14

    Wadham Warden Sir Neil Chalmers
    http://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/alumni/news/neilchalmers

    Pembroke Master Giles Henderson
    http://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/profiles.cgi?profileid=50&type=collegeofficers
    http://www.themoneybag.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-6458.html

    Worcester Provost Richard G. Smethurst
    http://tel.occe.ou.edu/halloffame/2002/smethurst.html

    Hertford Principal Sir Walter Bodmer
    http://www.antigenic.com/about/leaders/bodmer.html
    http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/bms/medical/synopses/bodmer.html

    Keble Warden Professor Averil Cameron
    http://senior.keble.ox.ac.uk/fellows/homepage.php?fellow=camerona
    http://senior.keble.ox.ac.uk/fellows/extrapages/camerona.php

    St Edmund Hall Principal Professor Michael Mingos
    http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/1998-9/weekly/290499/news/story_4.htm

    Lady Margaret Hall Principal Dr Frances Lannon
    http://clients.networks.co.uk/ladymargarethall/collegelife/staff_detail.html?staff=34
    Somerville Principal Dame Fiona Caldicott

    St Hugh's Principal Andrew Dilnot
    http://www.londonspeakerbureau.co.uk/speakers/printSpeaker.aspx?speakerid=13
    http://www.thersa.org/read/speakerCloseUp.asp?speakerID=863

    St Hilda's Principal Lady English (formerly Judith Milne
    http://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/people/jenglish.php

    St Anne's Principal Tim Gardam
    http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/news/2003-04/mar/18a.shtml

    St Peter's Master Professor Bernard Silverman
    http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~silverma/pdf/silvermancv.pdf

    St Catherine's Master Professor R. W Ainsworth Engineer
    http://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/Alumni_and_development/new_master_elected.htm

    Nuffield Warden Sir Tony Atkinson
    http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/EURVP/web.nsf/0/fddec9d8111d351cc1256cd1003a470b?OpenDocument
    St Antony's Warden Sir Marrack Goulding
    http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/people/warden.shtml

    Linacre Principal Professor Paul A. Slack
    http://www.linacre.ox.ac.uk/fellows/details.asp?ID=38

    St Cross Master Professor A. S. Goudie
    http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/agoudie.html

    Wolfson President Sir Gareth Roberts
    http://www.hepi.ac.uk/board.asp?ID=83

    Green College Warden Sir John Hanson
    http://www.green.ox.ac.uk/academic/people/warden.htm

    Kellogg President Geoffrey. P. Thomas
    http://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/fellows/thomasg.htm

    Mansfield Principal Diana. M. Walford
    http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpa/news/phls_archive/press_releases/2001/010906.htm

    Templeton President Sir David Rowland
    http://www.templeton.ox.ac.uk/DavidRowland/

    Harris Manchester Principal The Revd Dr Ralph Waller
    http://fusion.stolaf.edu/inside/index.cfm?fuseaction=ArticleDetails&id=191


  • Dear dtnl42-ga,
    Just to make sure I'm going in the right direction. As well as Master, some of the Heads of House of Oxford Colleges can also be titled Provost, Dean or Warden. Do you wish me to included these? answerfinder-ga