University College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. Its alumni include politicians, lawyers, bishops, poets, and academics. The overwhelming maleness of this list is partially explained by the fact that, from its foundation in 1249 until 1979, women were barred from studying at the college.
Alumni The sub-headings are given as a general guide and some names might fit under more than one category.
Abbreviations used in the following tables M – Year of matriculation at University College (a dash indicates that the individual did not matriculate at the college) G – Year of graduation / conclusion of study at University College (a dash indicates that the individual graduated from another college) DNG – Did not graduate: left the college without taking a degree ? – Year unknown; an approximate year is used for table-sorting purposes. (F) after name – later became a Fellow of University College, and included on the list of Fellows (HF) after name – later became an Honorary Fellow of University College
Degree abbreviations Undergraduate degree: BA – Bachelor of Arts Postgraduate degrees:
BCL – Bachelor of Civil Law BD – Bachelor of Divinity BLitt – Bachelor of Letters BMus – Bachelor of Music BSc – Bachelor of Science BTh – Bachelor of Theology MA – Master of Arts MB – Bachelor of Medicine MD – Doctor of Medicine
MLitt – Master of Letters MSc – Master of Science MPhil – Master of Philosophy DCL – Doctor of Civil Law DD – Doctor of Divinity DLitt – Doctor of Letters DMus – Doctor of Music DPhil – Doctor of Philosophy DTh – Doctor of Theology
The subject studied and the degree classification are included, where known. Until the early 19th century, undergraduates read for a Bachelor of Arts degree that included study of Latin and Greek texts, mathematics, geometry, philosophy and theology. Individual subjects at undergraduate level were only introduced later: for example, Mathematics (1805), Natural Science (1850), Jurisprudence (1851, although it had been available before this to students who obtained special permission), Modern History (1851) and Theology (1871). Geography and Modern Languages were introduced in the 20th century. Music had been available as a specialist subject before these changes; medicine was studied as a post-graduate subject.
Politicians and civil servants
NameMGDegreeNotesRef (F)19011904BA Modern History (2nd)British Prime Minister19621965Law (1st)Labour politician-19411947BA PPE, DPhilPrime Minister of Ghana-??LawA founder of the League of Nations, Nobel Peace Prize 1937.- (HF)19681970[DNG]42nd President of the United States of America-???Ceylonese politician-?1981MA Agricultural EconomicsLiberal Democrat MP-???Conservative MP-??PPEConservative Chancellor of the Exchequer 2016–present, Foreign Secretary 2014–2016- (HF)??BLittAustralian Prime Minister (Labor)- (HF)??EconomicsPresident of Botswana-19741977BA PPESilver medal 1980 Olympics, Conservative MP 1983–92, Minister for Sport 1987–90, Chairman British Olympic Association 2005-19681970PPE22nd United States Secretary of Labor (Democratic Party)- (HF)??LawMP-?1770BALord Chancellor of Great Britain-19631967Literae humanioresBritish consul-general to Turkey-??Literae humanioresUniversity teacher; Sri Lankan Liberal Party MP, 2010–15-19731976PPESingaporean politician and former civil servant-1744??MP-??Economicsgovernor of Massachusetts-?1973MLitt PhilosophyAustralian Labor Party, first Australian federal MP to be imprisoned for corruption.-???Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia-??History (1st)KC MP-Thomas A. Shannon Jr.1980?PoliticsAmerican diplomat, former acting United States Secretary of State???Labour MP for Glasgow Cathcart, 1979–2001-??MPhil International RelationsTreasurer of Australia, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia-??PPELabour MP for Swansea West, 1964–2010-??PPELabour MP for Warwick and Leamington, 1997–2010-??BA PhysicsConservative MP for Croydon South-20032006HistoryConservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland-?1989PPEChief Economist of the Bank of England Lord Butler of Brockwell, civil servant, college master Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool, longest-serving President of the Board of Trade, namesake of the Hawkesbury River Sir Angus Mackintosh, British diplomat Sir Roger Newdigate, MP for Middlesex and for Oxford University, establisher of the Newdigate Prize Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor, MP for Salisbury William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell, Camden Reader of Ancient History, judge of the Admiralty Court, MP for Oxford University Sir Banastre Tarleton, British military leader during the American Revolutionary War and later Whig MP for Liverpool William Windham, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
Clergy George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (1611–33) Charles Boyd, Archdeacon of Colombo (1891-1901) Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark (2011–present), Bishop of Woolwich (2005-2011) Anthony Fisher, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney 2014–present, Bishop of Parramatta (2010–2014) Richard Fleming, bishop of Lincoln (1420–31) George Horne, bishop of Norwich (1790–92) Tom Longworth, bishop of Pontefract 1939–49, bishop of Hereford (1949–61) Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York (1606–28) Malcolm Menin, bishop of Knaresborough (1986–97) Peter Mumford, bishop of Hertford (1974–81), bishop of Truro (1981–89) Richard Godfrey Parsons, bishop of Middleton (1927–32), bishop of Southwark (1932–41), bishop of Hereford (1942–48) Herbert Sidney Pelham, bishop of Barrow-in-Furness (1926–1944) John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (1737–47) Grandage Edwards Powell, bishop of Penrith (1939-44) Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster (1863–81), Rector of St Andrews (1874-77)
Architects Jack Diamond, architect of Mariinsky Theatre II and Sidney Harman Hall Sir Philip Dowson, architect of four accommodation blocks at Stavertonia
Artists and writers
Edwin Arnold, poet, journalist, translator from Hindi Peter Bayley, literary critic Augustus Hare, writer Michael Brand, composer W. G. Collingwood, artist Kodwo Eshun writer, theorist and filmmaker Maurizio Giuliano, writer, traveller, and United Nations official Ivo Graham, comedian and writer Fred Harrison (born 1944), author and economist Armando Iannucci, comedian, writer, satirist and radio producer Richard Ingrams, co-founder of Private Eye Richard Jago, poet Gerard Langbaine, biographer C. S. Lewis, writer, critic; student there from 1919 to 1923 (originally joined in 1917 but left soon afterwards after being called up for action in the Great War); Philosophy tutor from 1924 to 1925In the Footsteps of C.S. Lewis, Oxford , Sacred Destinations. Peter McDonald, poet Cecil Mercer, novelist Andrew Motion, British Poet Laureate Neel Mukherjee, novelist Braham Murray, theatre director Shiva Naipaul, novelist and writer Sir V. S. Naipaul, writer and Nobel Laureate Andrew Robinson, author and former newspaper editor Aubrey de Sélincourt, writer and classicist William Shawcross, chairman of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, writer Desmond Shawe-Taylor, artist Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet Sophie Solomon, violinist, songwriter and composer Charles Sorley, poet Stephen Spender, poet and writer Mams Taylor, recording artist/songwriter, mixed-martial arts fighter and activist Rajiva Wijesinha, writer Fabian S. Woodley, poet
Philosophers and theologians Willie E. Abraham, Ghanaian philosopher, first African fellow of All Souls College, Oxford F. H. Bradley, Idealist philosopher David O. Brink (visiting student), American moral and political philosopher Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, orientalist and religious thinker A. C. Ewing, philosopher A. D. Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker, Scottish political philosopher and historian of philosophy, Master of Balliol College, Oxford R. G. Collingwood, Idealist philosopher and archaeologist Gareth Evans, philosopher of language and mind, Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy John Finnis, Australian legal philosopher Owen Fiss, American jurist, Sterling Professor (Yale University) Mark de Bretton Platts, philosopher of language Mortimer Sellers, American jurist Irving Singer (did not take degree), American philosopher Peter Singer, Australian moral and political philosopher, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics (Princeton University) Jeremy Waldron, New Zealander political and legal philosopher, former Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory Kwasi Wiredu, Ghanaian philosopher
Broadcasters, journalists and entertainers
Peter Beinart, The New Republic 1999–2006, editor-at-large 2006– Nick Denton, founder of Gawker media Edward Enfield, broadcaster and writer Paul Foot, journalist and socialist Richard Francis, managing director of BBC radio Paul Gambaccini, presenter of and writer on pop music Christopher Hitchens, atheist, Vanity Fair Writer Gordon Honeycombe, actor and playwright Tom Hooper, Academy Award-winning director Aboubakr Jamaï, journalist Owen Jones, author and journalist Christina Lamb, journalist and author Warren Mitchell, actor James Owen, writer and journalist Nigel Playfair, actor and theatre manager Mike Ratledge, keyboardist and composer James Ridley, author Nick Robinson, journalist and BBC political editor Rajdeep Sardesai, journalist Peter Sissons, television newsreader Philippa Thomas, journalist and chief presenter at BBC World News Alex Thomson, television journalist Michael York, actor Andy Zaltzman, political comedian
Scientists, inventors and engineers
NameMGDegreeNotesRef19741977MAComputer scientist-???Clergyman and loom-inventor-19591962BATheoretical physicist-???Royal Physician to William & Mary and politician-?1981BM BChPsychiatrist- Bob Allen, surgeon Bill Roscoe, computer scientist Paul Thompson, neuroscientist
Social scientists, historians and philologists Ernst Badian, classical scholar, John Moors Cabot Professor of History Emeritus at Harvard University James Franck Bright, historian, Master of University College, Oxford Hedley Bull, Australian scholar of international relations Robin Darwall-Smith, archivist of University College E. R. Dodds, Irish classicist, Regius Professor of Greek (Oxford) Katharine Ellis, music historian Christopher Fyfe, historian of west Africa E. V. Gordon, Canadian philologist, editor and teacher of medieval Germanic languages Norman Hampson, historian of the French Revolution Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin, historian Sir William Jones, Anglo-Welsh philologist, discoverer of Sanskrit's relationship to Latin and Greek Aly Kassam-Remtulla, Canadian anthropologist Monier Monier-Williams, linguist, Boden Professor of Sanskrit Herman Ramm, archaeologist Geoffrey Serle, Australian historian Ernest de Sélincourt, literary critic and editor
Sports people John Allen, Australian teacher, rugby player and cricketer Francis Birley, three-time winner of the FA Cup in the 1870s Mark Evans, Canadian rower, Olympic Gold Medallist in the 8+, Los Angeles 1984 Olympics J. Michael Evans, Canadian rower, Olympic Gold Medallist in the 8+, Los Angeles 1984 Olympics Alan Fyffe, 1908 Olympian Thomas Gubb, rugby union international, represented Great Britain on 1927 British Lions tour to Argentina Douglas Mackintosh, alpine skier, participated in the 1956 Winter Olympics Nick Mallett, rugby player and coach Charles Thomas McMillen, retired NBA professional basketball player, US congressman Richard Nerurkar, Olympic athlete Acer Nethercott, British coxswain, Olympic silver medallist for GB 8+, Beijing 2008 Olympics James Parker, rower Tom Solesbury, GB pair, Beijing 2008 Olympics, and GB quad, London 2012 Olympics Adrian Stoop, rugby player Ralph Williams, cricketer and barrister
Judges and lawyers Oswald Cheung, barrister of Hong Kong, known as the "doyen of the bar" Christian Cole, Inner Temple member and first black graduate of Oxford University