Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It was founded in memory of the Anglican clergyman John Keble, who died in 1866, and was intended to cater for men whose financial resources were insufficient to enable them to study at one of the older Oxford colleges. After a public appeal for donations in John Keble's memory, the college opened in 1870. The college's buildings – which were quite unlike any previous Oxford college, with their use of coloured bricks in patterns – were designed by William Butterfield; there have been later additions as the college has grown.[1]
The Governing Body of the college has the ability to elect "distinguished persons" to Honorary Fellowships.[2] Under the current statutes of the college, Honorary Fellows cannot vote at meetings of the Governing Body and do not receive financial reward, but they receive "such other privileges as the Governing Body may determine."[2] They can be called upon to help decide whether to dismiss or discipline members of academic staff (including the Warden of the college).[3]
The first four Honorary Fellows were elected in 1931. Two of them (Edward Talbot and Walter Lock) were former Wardens of the college; the other two, Sir Wilmot Herringham (a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of London) and Sir Reginald Craddock (a former Lieutenant-Governor of Burma), had studied at Keble College before achieving prominence in public life. Honorary Fellows have included former students (Old Members), Fellows, and Wardens, as well as some with no previous academic connection to the college. In this latter group there are benefactors (for example Sir Anthony O'Reilly, elected 2002), and individuals of distinction such as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan (elected 1994) and the poet Sir John Betjeman (elected 1972). Betjeman, who studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, was involved in Keble's centenary appeal in 1970: The Times said in its obituary of him that the Honorary Fellowship was particularly appropriate because of the college's "architectural and Anglican connotations", Betjeman having strong interests in both areas.[4] As of July 2011, the longest-serving Honorary Fellows are Raoul Franklin and Dennis Nineham, both of whom were elected in 1980.[5] The three longest-serving Honorary Fellows are Sir John Forsdyke (Principal Librarian of the British Museum; appointed 1937, died 1979), Sir Thomas Armstrong (conductor; appointed 1955, died 1994) and Harry Carpenter (Warden, later Bishop of Oxford; appointed 1960, died 1993).
The abbreviations used in the "Link" column denote the person's connection with the college before election as an Honorary Fellow:
A dash denotes that the person had no previous academic link with the college.
Name | Year | Link | Notes | Ref(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1960 | W | Warden (1956–60); Dean of Westminster Abbey (1959–74) | [6] [7] | ||
2008 | OM | Secretary of State for Transport (2009–10) | [8] | ||
1955 | OM | Organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (1933–55); Principal of the Royal Academy of Music (1955–68) | |||
1989 | W | Warden (1980–88) | [9] | ||
2008 | OM | Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (2007–10) | |||
1981 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Classics (1952–81) | [10] | ||
2013 | OM | Economist, School Professor of Economics and Political Science LSE | [11] | ||
1972 | – | Poet Laureate (1972–84); one of the "Friends" of the college's Centenary Appeal | [12] | ||
2020 | F | Burser of Keble | [13] | ||
1982 | – | Human geneticist; Principal of Hertford College, Oxford (1996–2005) | [14] | ||
2020 | OM | Documentary filmmaker | [15] | ||
2003 | OM | South African Rhodes Scholar; Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (2000–08) and of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 2009 | [16] [17] | ||
1960 | W | Warden (1939–55); Bishop of Oxford (1955–70) | [18] | ||
1952 | C | Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford (1892–1936); MP for Oxford University (1910–37); council member (1898–1952) | [19] | ||
1993 | – | American businessman and philanthropist; chief executive of ARCO, a college benefactor | [20] | ||
1931 | OM | Lieutenant-Governor of Burma (1917–22); MP for Combined English Universities (1931–37) | |||
2008 | F | Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford, and Fellow (1972–2007) | [21] | ||
1998 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Economics (1963–1985); a former Chairman of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, among other conservation roles | [22] [23] | ||
1968 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Jurisprudence (1933–68), also Bursar (1945–68) and Sub-Warden (1965–68) | |||
Andre de Breyne | 1973 | – | College benefactor; his ashes are buried in the college quadrangle named after him. | [24] [25] | |
Victoria de Breyne | 2002 | – | College benefactor, widow of Andre de Breyne; graduate scholarships are named after her. | [26] [27] [28] | |
1944 | – | Poet and novelist | |||
1971 | F | Fellow and Tutor in History (1933–49); Professor of History at the University of London (1967–77) | [29] | ||
2009 | OM | John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology at the University of Cambridge (2001 onwards); Master of St John's College, Cambridge (2007 onwards) | [30] [31] | ||
1960 | OM | Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leeds (1939–45); Professor of History at the University of Bristol (1945–63) | |||
2006 | F | Junior Research Fellow in History (1983–86); former Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England; appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham in 2009 | [32] [33] | ||
1989 | OM | High Court judge (1981–89); Court of Appeal judge (1989–95) | [34] | ||
1937 | OM | Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum (1936–50) | |||
1980 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Engineering (1963–78); Vice-Chancellor (1978–98) and Professor of Plasma Physics and Technology (1986–98) at City University London | [35] | ||
1942 | OM | Bishop of Southwark (1919–32) and of Winchester (1932–42); Archbishop of York (1942–55) | |||
2010 | OM | Fund manager and founder of Neptune Investment Management who has donated more than £1,500,000 to Keble | [36] [37] | ||
1935 | OM | Bishop of Bangor (1928–44); Archbishop of Wales (1934–44) | |||
1996 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy (1966–96); White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford (1996–2000) | [38] | ||
1987 | OM | Businessman and government advisor on the National Health Service | [39] | ||
1998 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Economics (1968–75) | [40] | ||
1972 | F | Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford and Fellow (1946–72) | [41] | ||
1984 | OM | Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London (1974–94) | [42] | ||
1973 | – | Entrepreneur and philanthropist | [43] | ||
1959 | OM | First Civil Service Commissioner (1954–59); joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and Head of the Home Civil Service (1963–68) | [44] | ||
1931 | OM | Vice-Chancellor of the University of London (1912–15); Consulting Physician to the Forces in France (1914–19) | [45] | ||
1934 | F | Dean of Keble (1901–09); Bishop of Gibraltar (1927–33); Bishop of Lincoln (1933–42) | |||
1981 | OM | Poet; Professor of Literature and Religion at Boston University (1988–2006) | [46] | ||
2022 | OM | Economist, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies | [47] | ||
1988 | OM | Played international cricket for Pakistan (1971–92); founder of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | [48] | ||
1940 | W | Warden (1920–39) | |||
1941 | OM | Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (1909–26); a former organ scholar of the college | |||
1990 | OM | Opera singer and broadcaster | [49] | ||
1931 | W | Warden (1897–1920) | |||
1962 | OM | High Court judge (1962–71) | |||
1994 | OM | Writer and broadcaster; MP for Leyton (1974–83) | [50] | ||
2005 | OM | Benefactor of the college and the university, described as Oxford's "most generous benefactor in modern times" | [51] [52] [53] | ||
2020 | OM | German ambassador to the United Kingdom | [54] | ||
1999 | F | Fellow and Tutor in Chemistry (1976–92); Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford (1999–2009); Professor of Chemistry at Oxford (2000 onwards) | [55] | ||
1989 | OM | MP for City of Chester (1974–92); Minister of State in the Department of Employment (1983–85), Department of Trade and Industry (1985–86) and Department of Energy (1987–90) | [56] | ||
1951 | OM | Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford (1944–49); Bishop of Exeter (1949–73) | [57] | ||
2022 | - | Japanese ambassador to the United Kingdom and justice of the Supreme Court of Japan | [58] | ||
1980 | W | Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1964–69); Warden of Keble (1969–79); Professor of Theology at the University of Bristol (1980–86) | [59] | ||
1980 | OM | Bibliographer; Librarian of Westminster Abbey (1974–83) | [60] [61] | ||
2006 | OM | Pianist, composer and broadcaster | [62] | ||
1984 | F/OM | Fellow and Tutor in Law (1965–76); Law Commissioner (1976–84, retaining his Fellowship); Principal of Jesus College, Oxford (1984–2005); Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1993–97) | [63] | ||
2002 | – | Benefactor, after whom the O'Reilly Theatre is named | [64] | ||
1978 | OM | Singer and partner of Benjamin Britten; studied at Keble for one year without obtaining a degree | [65] [66] | ||
2022 | W | Civil servant and warden of Keble | [67] | ||
1994 | OM | Botanist and ecologist; scientific director of the Eden Project | [68] | ||
1949 | OM | Bishop of St David's (1927–50) and Archbishop of Wales (1944–49) | |||
1976 | OM | Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Bristol (1944–75) | [69] | ||
1972 | OM | Metallurgist
| [70] | ||
1994 | – | President of the United States (1981–89); visited the college in 1992 and was principal guest at a lunch | [71] [72] | ||
1994 | W | Economist; Warden (1989–94) | [73] | ||
2001 | OM | Diplomat, serving as British ambassador to Yugoslavia, Ireland and Italy; President of Trinity College, Oxford since 2006 | [74] | ||
2002 | OM | Hedge fund manager and college benefactor, after whom the Sloane Robinson building is named | [75] | ||
2022 | OM | Journalist and broadcaster | [76] | ||
2020 | F | Political philosopher | [77] | ||
1947 | OM | Professor of Modern History at Reading University (1912–46), Vice-Chancellor of Reading (1946–50) | |||
1983 | OM | Lawyer and academic; Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz (1987–91) and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford (1993–2001) | [78] | ||
1986 | – | British industrialist, who was chairman and managing director of British Leyland Motor Corporation (1968–75) | [79] [80] | ||
1931 | W | First Warden (1870–88); thereafter Bishop of Rochester (1895–1905), of Southwark (1905–11) and of Winchester (1911–23) | [81] | ||
1986 | OM | Military historian, with a particular interest in Douglas Haig and the First World War | [82] | ||
Richard Thornton | 1986 | OM | International investment manager and company director; supporter of the college chapel | [83] [84] [85] | |
1981 | OM | Founder of The Samaritans | [86] | ||
Alfred von Engel | 1982 | F | Physicist and Research Fellow at the college | [87] | |
1994 | OM | College benefactor; former director of Shell Oil | [88] [89] | ||
1939 | OM | Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin (1911–13); editor of the Dictionary of National Biography (1928–37); President of Trinity College, Oxford (1938–54) | |||
1990 | OM | Co-founder of The Independent; former president of the British Board of Film Classification | [90] | ||
1992 | OM | Academic at the University of Cambridge – President of Wolfson College, Cambridge (1980–92), Rouse Ball Professor of English Law, (1983–92) and Vice-Chancellor (1989–96) | [91] | ||
1987 | OM | Governor of Hong Kong (1987–92); Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge (2002–08) | [92] |
Notes
Bibliography