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TheUniversity of Oxford is acollegiateresearch university inOxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in theEnglish-speaking world and the world'ssecond-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167, whenHenry II prohibited English students from attending theUniversity of Paris. After escalating conflict between students and the Oxford townspeople, some Oxford academics fled northeast toCambridge, where they established theUniversity of Cambridge in 1209. The two universities share many common features and are jointly referred to asOxbridge.
The University of Oxford is made up of 43 colleges. Formally, only 36 of these are calledcolleges (independent bodies) while 4 arepermanent private halls (owned by a larger religious organisation), and 3 are societies (controlled directly by the University). and a range of academic departments that are organised into fourdivisions. Colleges control their own membership and activities. Typically social life for students is centred around fellow college members. All students are members of a college. Oxford does not have a main campus. Its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre and around the town.Undergraduate teaching at the university consists of lectures, small-grouptutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments.Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion.
Oxford operates theAshmolean Museum, the world's oldestuniversity museum;Oxford University Press, the largestuniversity press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2024, the university had a total consolidated income of £3.05 billion, of which £778.9 million was from research grants and contracts. In 2024, Oxfordranked first nationally forundergraduate education.
Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world. As of October 2025,[update] 76Nobel Prize laureates, 4Fields Medalists, and 6Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford. Its alumni have won 160Olympic medals. Oxford is home to a number of scholarships, including theRhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes in the world. (Full article...)
The firstHonorary Fellows of Keble College, Oxford, were elected in 1931, whenthe college's governing body was given power to elect "distinguished persons" to this position. Under the current statutes of the college, HonoraryFellows 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." Those elected have included college alumni (for example, the Pakistan cricketer and politicianImran Khan, elected 1988), benefactors (for exampleSir Anthony O'Reilly, elected 2002), and individuals of distinction without academic links to the college such as former U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan(pictured) (elected 1994) and the poetSir John Betjeman (elected 1972). The three longest-serving Honorary Fellows areSir John Forsdyke (Principal Librarian of theBritish Museum; appointed 1937, died 1979),Sir Thomas Armstrong (conductor; appointed 1955, died 1994) andHarry Carpenter (Warden of Keble, laterBishop of Oxford; appointed 1960, died 1993). (Full article...)
Davis Tarwater (born 1984) is an Americanswimmer who won gold at the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon for his contributions in the heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. He grew up inKnoxville, Tennessee, and began competitive swimming at age seven. During high school, he set three state swimming records and was named High School Swimmer of the Year in 2002. He attended theUniversity of Michigan, where he was a three-time NCAA national champion and won aBig Ten Medal of Honor for being the school's top student-athlete. Tarwater has represented the United States in the World Championships three times, winning a gold medal as part of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team in 2009. He has won three individual and five relay national titles, and set anAmerican record in the 200-meter butterfly in 2011. In 2004, 2008 and 2012, he narrowly missed making the Olympic team in the 200-meter butterfly. After failing to make the Olympic team in 2008, he retired from swimming and obtained a Master's degree in Latin American Studies atSt Antony's College, Oxford, returning to swimming full-time in 2010. (Full article...)
Pembroke College was founded in 1624 and named afterWilliam Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, who wasChancellor of the University at the time. Pembroke's coat of arms contains the English rose and Scottish thistle to representKing James I, in whose reign the college was founded, and three lions rampant from the arms of the Earl of Pembroke. The college was established on the site of a university hostel for law students dating from the 15th century, called Broadgates Hall, with money provided byThomas Tesdale (a merchant from Abingdon) and Richard Wightwick (a Berkshire clergyman). It is located just to the south of the city centre, oppositeChrist Church. It has gradually expanded in size, with further buildings added in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. There are about 400 undergraduates and about 120 postgraduates. Alumni include the lexicographerSamuel Johnson (although he did not complete his degree because of lack of funds) andJames Smithson (whose bequest founded theSmithsonian Institution inWashington, D.C.).J. R. R. Tolkien was aFellow of Pembroke for twenty years, writingThe Hobbit and the first two books ofThe Lord of the Rings during this time.Roger Bannister, the first man to run the mile in under four minutes, is a former Master of the college. (Full article...)
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Articles from Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives about the university and people associated with it:
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Events for27 November relating to the university, its colleges, academics and alumni. College affiliations are marked in brackets.
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