Wykeham Professor Explained

The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after William of Wykeham, who founded New College.

Logic

The Wykeham Professorship in Logic was established in 1859, although it was not known as the Wykeham chair until later. Its first chair was Henry Wall.^[1]

List of holders of post

• Henry Wall,^[1] 1849?–1870
• Thomas Fowler, 1873–1889
• John Cook Wilson, 1889–1915
• Harold Henry Joachim, 1919–1935
• Henry Habberley Price, 1935–1959
• Alfred Jules Ayer, 1959^[1] –1978
• Michael Dummett, 1979–1992
• David Wiggins, 1993–2000
• Timothy Williamson, 2000–2023

Ancient history

The Wykeham Professorship of Ancient History was established in 1910. It concentrates on Greek history to avoid possible duplication with the far older Camden Professorship of Ancient History, which focuses primarily on Roman history.

List of holders of post

• J. L. Myres, 1910–1939
• Theodore Wade-Gery, 1939–1953
• Antony Andrewes, 1953–1977
• W. G. (George) Forrest, 1977–1992
• Robert Parker, 1996–2016^[2]
• Nino Luraghi, 2018–present

Physics

The Wykeham Professorship of Physics is the only endowed chair in the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford.^[3] This professorship is associated with New College.^[4]

List of holders of post

• John Sealy Townsend, 1900–1941^[5]
• Maurice Pryce, 1946–1955^[5]
• Willis Lamb, 1957–1962^[5]
• Sir Rudolf Peierls, 1963–1974^[5]
• Sir Roger Elliott, 1974–1988^[6]
• David Sherrington, 1989–2008^[7]
• Shivaji Sondhi, 2021–present.^[8]

Tencent Chair of Theoretical Physics

In February 2021 The Times reported that the Wykeham Professorship of Physics was to be renamed "Tencent-Wykeham Professorship of Physics" following a donation,^[9] but the University later said the Wykeham Professorship of Physics will not be renamed; instead the current holder will also be given a separate post called "Tencent Chair of Theoretical Physics" to run concurrently with his Wykeham post.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: History of Philosophy at Oxford: University Reform . Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford . 28 December 2010 . W.J. . Mander . https://web.archive.org/web/20161226001340/http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/the_faculty/history_of_philosophy . 26 December 2016.
2. Web site: Fellows & Staff: Robert Parker . New College, Oxford . 15 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920220835/http://www.new.ox.ac.uk/robert-parker . 20 September 2016.
3. Web site: Further Particulars For The Wykeham Professorship of Physics . University of Oxford . 20 April 2013.
4. Web site: Physics . New College, Oxford University . 6 October 2018.
5. Web site: Physics at the University of Oxford . Oxford University Department of Physics . 27 May 2017.
6. Web site: Roger J. Elliott . . 27 May 2017.
7. Web site: David Sherrington . Academia Europaea . 27 May 2017.
8. Web site: Eminent theoretical physicist joins Oxford. University of Oxford Department of Physics. 30 Aug 2021.
9. News: Oxford renames 120-year-old Wykeham professorship for Tencent, Chinese software company . 9 February 2021 . The Times.
10. Web site: Eminent theoretical physicist joins Oxford . 26 August 2021 . University of Oxford Department of Physics . The Department of Physics is delighted to confirm the appointment of Professor Shivaji Sondhi to the University’s Wykeham Professorship of Physics, a Leverhulme International Professorship, and the Tencent Chair of Theoretical Physics..