University of Oxford

University coat of arms

The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the United Kingdom, comprising a number of self-governing colleges and other institutions, most of which are located in and around the centre of Oxford.

The date of the foundation of the University is not known, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. In 1188, the historian, Gerald of Wales, gave a public reading to the assembled Oxford dons.

LGBT history

The Oxford University LGBT Lectures have been held annually since 2010.

Notable alumni and academics

Balliol College

• Anthony Asquith
• Lionel Blue
• Boris Johnson
• Beverley Nichols
• Harold Nicolson
• Algernon Charles Swinburne
• John Addington Symonds

Brasenose College

• Richard Barnefield
• David Cameron

Christ Church

• see Christ Church, Oxford.

Corpus Christi College

• Stephen Doughty
• Alan Hollinghurst (lecturer)
• Kenneth Kendall

Exeter College

• Alan Bennett
• Edwin Emmanuel Bradford
• Ned Sherrin

Hertford College

• Richard Addinsell
• Stephen Frost
• Evelyn Waugh

Jesus College

• T E Lawrence

Keble College

• Sir Peter Pears, singer

Lady Margaret Hall

• Nellie Benson
• Margaret Benson
• Philip Hensher

Magdalen College

See Magdalen College, Oxford

Merton College

• Edmund Backhouse
• Lennox Berkeley
• John Heath-Stubbs, poet (lecturer)
• Angus Wilson

New College

See New College, Oxford.

Nuffield College

• Michael Steed

Oriel College

• Ross Burgess
• John Henry Newman (Fellow)

Pembroke College

• David Allen Green
• Hugh Lygon
• Roz Kaveney

Queen's College

• John Heath-Stubbs, poet
• Walter Pater
• R B Parkinson

Somerville College

• Alan Hollinghurst (lecturer)

St Anne's College

• Michael Dillon (as Laura Dillon)

St Catherine's College

• Stephen Daldry (visiting professor)
• Jeanette Winterson

St Edmund Hall

• Peter Scott-Presland

St Hilda's College

• Ruth Hunt
• Val McDermid

St Hugh's College

• Sarah Outen

St John's College

• A E Housman

Trinity College

• James Elroy Flecker
• John Henry Newman
• Terence Rattigan
• Jeremy Thorpe

University College

• Paul Gambaccini
• Owen Jones
• Stephen Spender
• William Whitehead

Wadham College

• Maurice Bowra (Warden)
• Ian Dodds
• Andrew Hodges (Fellow)
• Laurie Penny
• Robert Thistlethwayte (Warden)
• John Wilkins (Warden)
• Rowan Williams

Wolfson College

• David Isaac

Worcester College

• Stephen Oliver