Thank You
From the Provost
As this lands on your digital doormat, the College is looking ahead to another academic year with anticipation. There is much to be excited about at Worcester.
On the academic side, we are delighted to welcome two new professors, Professor Charlene Villaseñor Black, the first Loevner Fellow & Tutor in History of Art, and Professor Devyani Sharma, incoming Professor of Language and Communication and Worcester fellow. We also welcome three new fellows, Dr Lisa Pilar Eberle (Ancient History), Dr Jean-Baptiste Lugagne (Engineering), and Dr Morgan Day Frank (American Literature). Philanthropy has been instrumental in the first two appointments, while all our fellowships are made possible by the Worcester Fund. The Worcester Fund, which is flexible and supports College life in the round, has benefitted from the donations of hundreds of you reading this.
As the finishing touches are put to this report, the ‘Uncovering Hidden Biology 2025’ symposium will just have drawn to a close. We are delighted to be hosting Nobel Prize winner Professor Richard Henderson at Worcester, as well as researchers from the physical, chemical and biological sciences, all focused on developing cutting-edge biomolecular methods to redefine our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of disease. The Wigmore Research Fund (established by Barrie (1964, PPE) and Deedee Wigmore) has been instrumental in making this possible, further reinforcing Worcester’s position as a stronghold of interdisciplinarity in Oxford.
Interdisciplinarity is also key in the latest work by Professor of Composition Jen Walshe, MARS, which recently premiered in Galway to rave reviews and five-minute standing ovations. Jen’s pioneering work is redefining opera, even as she explores questions around AI, the non-neutrality of technology, space colonisation, and hustle culture.
In the year ahead, we look forward to varied musical opportunities, rowing success for the Boat Club in their 200th year, ongoing ‘greening’ of our College buildings, and appointing an architect for the new Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones Library. Our first student studying for the BCL supported by the Francis Reynolds Scholarship will also arrive. They are coming from New Zealand, proof of how funding for young scholars attracts the best graduates worldwide to study at Worcester. We are very grateful to George Davitt (1980, BCL Law) for spearheading the campaign for this scholarship, and to everyone who contributed to it. It is an excellent example of what we can achieve when we come together.
Each thread of the tapestry of life at Worcester is made possible by you. This year, I have been struck by a few outstanding acts of generosity in particular: the team effort of very large numbers of alumni who contributed towards repairing the lake (see the Development Director's report for more on that); the gift from David (1976, Economics) and Catherine Loevner creating the new fellowship in History of Art; and parents on Giving Day responding to our Instagram campaign because their son was having such a brilliant time. Every gift is appreciated. In fact, so many of you gave on the Giving Day that it was the most successful ever held in Oxford. Another College accolade you have all made possible.
Together, in 2024-25 you have contributed £4million to helping Worcester thrive. I am excited about the initiatives mentioned above and the many other things your philanthropy supports. You can find out more about the areas you and others have chosen to support below.
As we look ahead, there are, of course, still particular areas on which we need to focus – graduate scholarships, student welfare, and flexible Worcester Fund gifts in particular – and you will find out about some of these during November’s Giving Day.
I hope you might have the opportunity in the year ahead to visit Worcester, and see the difference you make to College. In the meantime, my warmest thanks.
David Isaac CBE | Provost
From the JCR
I am Indi Sharp, and I have just wrapped up my term as JCR President. Now stepping into my final year reading Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, I can confidently say that serving as JCR President has been the most enriching element of my university experience thus far. It was a genuine thrill to witness the monumental effort that each Worcester staff member contributes, and I am grateful to them all for treating me with warmth and patience.
As President I have had increased contact with the entire student body at Worcester, and have therefore seen firsthand the significant impact that donors’ contributions make. Your generosity inserts itself into the minutiae of daily life at Worcester, and is felt by all.
Worcester is, undoubtedly, a very special place - a place I will be very sad indeed to leave at the end of this academic year. I hope one day to be as generous as many of the Old Members continually are. Enabling passionate students to come to this excellent college and university is a very worthwhile cause. With the knowledge that every undergraduate student is subsidised by thousands of pounds each year by College - possible due to gifts from Old Members - I want to personally and sincerely thank you.
Indi Sharp | JCR President
One gift, multiplied
One Old Member, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to change the life of students who otherwise wouldn't be able to pursue their degree. His generosity was multiplied thanks to leveraging match funding, so he changed the lives of seven students in 2024/25. We spoke to him, and some of the students, about why that gift was so important.
“My years as a Maths undergraduate were the foundation for a very fulfilling career and a very special time in my life.
So I am very pleased to be able to help provide scholarships to enable other budding mathematicians to have the same opportunity to benefit from being a member of Worcester College. It is heartwarming to see the beneficiaries taking full advantage!”
Mia has just completed her MSt in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, supported by a Masters Scholarship in Mathematical Sciences.
Studying for a Masters in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics at Oxford has been the most academically challenging and rewarding experience of my life so far. It’s been a year full of growth, persistence, and moments of quiet joy, and I know I owe much of it to the support of my scholarship. Without it, I wouldn’t have had the same freedom to explore ideas so deeply or immerse myself in the topics I care about most.
I’ve especially loved being able to focus on differential geometry, which continues to be an area I would like to specialise in going forward. The Maths Institute is such a special place, full of energy, care, and brilliant people. I’ve been lucky to learn from staff who are leading experts in their fields, and generous with their time and knowledge.
One of the biggest highlights was writing my dissertation on the parallels between minimal surfaces and Einstein four-manifolds. I was given the freedom to choose the specific topic myself, as long as it tied into the broader theme of Einstein manifolds, and that freedom made it feel like my own in a meaningful way. I even had the chance to speak with lecturers from across the world to gather different perspectives. Since finishing, I’ve converted the project into a preprint, and I presented the work as a poster at a recent mathematics conference, which is something I never thought I’d be doing just a year ago.
In between modules and dissertation-writing, I found myself thinking more and more about how much I want to continue in research, to keep learning, and eventually to contribute to the field in a meaningful way. I applied to several PhD programmes, as well as the Martingale Foundation Scholarship, which is a generous and competitive award that supports students pursuing doctoral studies in maths. I’m so grateful to have been selected as a scholar, and to be able to stay at Oxford for my DPhil, with Martingale’s support behind me.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to continue working in differential geometry, with a focus on problems in geometric analysis and mathematical physics. I’d love to build on the ideas I explored in my Masters project, and eventually contribute to the broader understanding of geometric structures that appear in physics. More than anything, I’m looking forward to the time and space to ask thoughtful questions - and, I hope, to help others ask theirs too.
Joe has also just completed his MSc in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing, with the support of the Masters Scholarship in Mathematical Sciences.
I would love to share how this scholarship has allowed me to experience a truly exceptional and transformative year. I’ve included some images (left) from a span of just a few weeks, to emphasise how wonderful my time has been.
I’ll start with some amazing news: thanks to the Masters scholarship, the work I've produced and the connections I've made at Oxford have enabled me to secure a fully-funded DPhil in mathematics at Oxford. The DPhil will focus on the training aspect of deep learning (AI), developing efficient and scalable methods for increasingly complex modern problems.
The research process this year has already been deeply rewarding, with my dissertation just finished. I’ve only had one piece of written work graded so far, which received a grade of 91% – I believe this is almost unheard of, especially for Oxford! The work solved an open problem for a particular architecture in deep learning, allowing it to now be more widely used. My feedback for this paper was that it was of publishable standard and that I should pursue writing it up for publication in a journal. Whilst I’m rather busy, I am hoping to do this.
I want to emphasise that the funding did more than just make my studies this year possible. I am the first member of my extended family to go to university. They’re very proud of me and have done everything they can to support me throughout my education; however, when I received my offer from Oxford, I knew that pursuing it would jeopardise my family’s financial situation. As the year has progressed, I honestly cannot see how this would have been possible without external help – it is rather scary to think about. The funding saved me from an incredibly uncertain path and prevented me from becoming a financial burden, allowing me to focus on my studies without worrying about my family and finances, for which I am immensely grateful.
I’ve made wonderful friends and memories at Worcester, and I’m very excited to spend four more years here on my DPhil, hopefully making great contributions to my field and to the Oxford community.
Emmanuel (MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management; second from left in photo) is one of five scholars funded by the Wiedenfeld-Hoffman Trust and a Worcester College donor. Here, he tells us how his life has changed.
If there is one thing I am truly grateful for, it is the opportunity to study at the prestigious University of Oxford and be part of Worcester College. Coming from Uganda, with a different educational background, felt like transitioning from a stream to navigating an ocean. Initially, it was quite overwhelming. The entire experience at Oxford is something I will never find elsewhere.
My admiration for this university has been immense since childhood. Honestly, Oxford is worthy of being called the best university in the world. The teaching style, student support, critical thinking, and organizational structure are all exceptionally outstanding. I believe my time here has transformed my perspective, teaching me to be open-minded and engage in discussions without preconceived notions.
Additionally, I believe my research skills have improved. My research focuses on "Decision Dynamics and Water Scarcity in Gulu City When Rationing Strategies Are Implemented." I aim to understand how decisions are made during water droughts and scarcity and how these decisions impact those who are voiceless and not involved in the decision-making process. I aspire to advocate for the underrepresented.
My life has been quite chaotic since childhood, with little hope and few people believing in me. But then, in just a single moment, Oxford said, "Yes, we believe in you, we understand you." This is what makes Oxford so special. I believe there are many people whose stories began at Oxford, and I am incredibly proud of this university.
To the donors, I may not know you personally, but trust me, every morning and evening when I meditate, I acknowledge that someone's support has taken me from having no hope to being at Oxford. My heart blesses each one of you every single day, and I do not take this for granted. Your support is not just for me; you have supported my family, my neighbours, my clan, and my country. You have given hope to someone who is the first in the family to have a degree, and courage to challenge me every single day to ask, how can I also do the same to help someone in need, regardless of their race or any other affiliations. I may not know you, but you are my heroes.
Worcester College is not just a college to me; it is a home. In my culture, when a stranger takes you in and feeds you, they become your family. Worcester has taken me in and fed me since I arrived in the UK. I do not know where life may take me, but I hope to become a prominent alumnus of Worcester College. I feel so blessed to be part of Worcester College. I am also grateful to the British people for their generosity and kindness. Honestly, I have learnt many things from them, especially being thankful, kind and hard working.
The difference you make
So many of the Old Members I meet describe how their time at Worcester shaped their life.
Today, we aim to be a college that inspires and educates students, teaches them resilience and critical thinking, and sets them on the best possible path to future success on their terms. Surrounded by complex global problems, we must continue to nurture graduates who are curious and open to dialogue with others.
This is why the college experience continues to be more important than ever. Of course this centres on the tutorial system – the intellectual core of Oxford teaching – but Worcester life offers so much more than that. Every summer, in the pause between academic years, I have the chance to reflect upon this, and to reflect upon how you, our alumni and friends, continue to make this possible.
This report describes just some of the impact of your giving. There isn’t space to explore it all, so I’d like to mention a few other projects which have particularly resonated for me.
Simon Curwen (1958, Geography), in Canada, brought forward his legacy to Worcester in order to enjoy seeing how his gift would make a difference. He supported the installation of low-energy lighting in the Earl Building, which has made the rooms much more pleasant for students and slashed energy use by almost 70%. Over the next decade, we expect the associated cost saving is likely to be several times greater than the initial donation – truly a gift that keeps giving.
Several years ago, Henry Tinsley (1974, Modern History) and his wife Rebecca kindly supported the creation of an access and outreach officer post in College. The impact was almost immediate as applications to Worcester and to Oxford rose, and we are delighted with the successful work of the Tinsley Senior Outreach Officer, with the support of a colleague, in ensuring bright young people can make the best possible Oxford application which reflects their academic ability. Henry and Rebecca continue to support these efforts, and each year more lives are changed when school pupils realise the opportunities before them. In Henry's words:
"Every bright young person should be given the chance to fulfil their potential and discover what they are capable of. We firmly believe this, which is why we have supported the access and outreach officer role at Worcester. It is profoundly satisfying to see the success the access team is now having in inspiring young potential applicants from all backgrounds – and we hope it’s contributing to Worcester being the most popular Oxford college to apply to too!"
Finally, classicist Tim Livingstone (2023, MSt Greek & Latin Languages and Literature) was one among several alumni set up a regular gift to College as soon as he graduated, a particularly meaningful gesture from someone who had only just left, and an act of thoughtful generosity we warmly appreciate.
"I was quite convinced by the notion that even small regular donations can be helpful. I had such a lovely time at Worcester and Oxford and it was only possible thanks to scholarships and to the subsidised food and all the other support that College provides, so I just wanted to give a little bit towards that."
It is wonderful that this year, 1,407 alumni and friends made a donation to College, 181 for the first time, with £294,194 donated in regular gifts. Thank you to each of you, from those who made their first gift, to those who continuing decades of giving.
A major gift to the endowment from Philip Mallinckrodt (1985, Modern History) and the Mallinckrodt Foundation is another example of generosity that keeps on giving, providing a fund to help us protect Worcester’s historic buildings on an annual basis in perpetuity.
We remain deeply grateful to the Old Members who are Trustees of the Worcester College Oxford Endowment Trust for their unstinting dedication to Worcester, and to the members of the Development Advisory Board for their counsel and support.
Many of you like to know how your donations are used – and indeed, one of the privileges of my job is understanding how attached people are to the different parts of College life. You can see here the areas that Old Members and friends have supported in the last year. To me, it shows how the various elements of Worcester life are so important to different people. We each have our own unique relationship with this unique institution.
I know many of you are eager for an update on our beloved Worcester lake too. It has been a difficult summer navigating red tape from the various regulatory agencies involved, but we are pleased that a path forwards appears to have opened. Our expectation is that investigative and sealing work will begin in November, followed by careful monitoring of water levels through winter. In the spring, a new outflow system will be fitted, followed by dredging next summer. While we knew repairing the lake would be a challenging task, the process has thrown up even more complexities than anyone could have initially envisaged. We are immensely grateful to everyone who has supported the project and patiently stood by us throughout.
To each of you who gives back to Worcester, thank you. We are immensely grateful.
Viola Kerr | Fellow & Director of Development
Understanding the endowment
Every Oxford college relies on its endowment to a greater or lesser extent. Here, Worcester's Finance & Estates Bursar Mike Huggins explains the impact of our relatively small endowment.
Each college has an endowment of some size, and we all know that some have extremely healthy endowments indeed! Less understood, however, is that colleges like Worcester have relatively small and highly restricted endowments, meaning each year we must work hard simply to meet core operating costs.
A pie chart of a typical college’s income looks like this:
Ours looks like this:
In the league table of college endowments, we rank 28 out of 36, placing us at the top of the fourth quartile. A consequence of this is that our investment income is much lower than other colleges and we have to compensate accordingly by undertaking more intensive trading activity than others.
Our direct income and investment returns only cover about two thirds – 66% – of our annual costs whereas the average all-college equivalent figure is 92% cover. That means we have to find a third of our annual costs from fundraising and from trading activity. And while our donations and legacies are comparable to other colleges, at a fifth of our income, we have to use a larger proportion of this income to defray our core expenditure rather than invest in College for the future.
These financial pressures are nothing new for Worcester. We had successive operating deficits for many years until we implemented a new financial strategy in 2022/23. In that year and the year after we managed to break even at an operating level, but this year, like many charities, our costs have risen faster than income and we have again incurred an operating deficit. At the time of writing, our accounts are still in draft form and have yet to go through our governance processes, but are showing an operating deficit of approximately £450,000, despite an overall surplus before investment gains of £1,900,000. This is because income received can be restricted, and therefore does not offset the fundamental operating deficit.
We currently subsidise every undergraduate place by around £5,000 per annum per student – a huge commitment. This subsidy for every undergraduate place comes from our investment income, support from Old Members, and surpluses on our conference activity. While the latter continue to grow, so too do energy, food and staff costs meaning that our progress has been kept in check. We also commit a significant proportion of our annual budget to maintenance of our buildings (£2,000,000 this year), including extensive repairs to the library roof. We are working through our schedule – admittedly slowly – and much still remains to be done.
New challenges continue to emerge as we work towards achieving long-term financial sustainability, the latest of which is decarbonising our estate and reducing our total energy consumption. Old Member support for this has been notable, and we are looking at implementing a number of measures on the estate-wide roadmap to net zero on a building-by-building basis. You will have the chance to hear more about these measures in our November Giving Day, which has sustainability as one of its focus areas.
We are also very grateful to the trustees of the Worcester College Oxford Endowment Trust, who generously support us every year.
We have many challenges, but also many opportunities to put the College on a firmer and more sustainable footing for generations to come. We can only do this with the support of our Old Members and friends, and we are immensely grateful for that support.
Thank you.
Mike Huggins | Fellow and Finance & Estates Bursar
Worcester College Choir Tour
This summer’s Choir Tour saw our choral scholars travelling to Rouen in Normandy before spending a weekend in Brussels, thanks to the kind support of John Gowar (1958, Physics) and Alison Jane Bell (1982, PGCE French) in particular.
Chaplain Marcus Green writes:
We are enormously grateful to the Old Members who supported our travels, and especially to Alison Jane Bell, who organised the whole of the Belgian leg.
Twenty eight of us journeyed together, and sang in three of the finest buildings in northern France - Rouen’s wonderful cathedral (made known to most of us by Monet), the Abbey St-Ouen (almost as large) and the glorious Eglise St-Maclou. In Brussels, we understand we may have been the first choir to sing Evensong ever in the Cathedral there, and finished the week with mass at a packed Abbey de la Cambre (and a lavish picnic!) - but perhaps the stand-out event was an evening reception at the British Residence, the home of the British Ambassador in Belgium, on 4 July. The choir sang inside and out in baking sunshine, with the whole gathered company joining in at the end.
A tour is made up of all sorts of things - good company, good singing, and of course - good food!
We all - the chaplains, the Director of College Music, and every member of the choir - would very much like to thank again our friends and supporters who made this whole amazing experience possible. Here’s to next year!
The Choir in full voice at Brussels Cathedral
The Choir in full voice at Brussels Cathedral
The Choir sing at the British Ambassador's Residence in Brussels
The Choir sing at the British Ambassador's Residence in Brussels
Enjoying downtime and some of the local Belgian beers
Enjoying downtime and some of the local Belgian beers
2024 Giving Day:
Old Members and friends show they, and Worcester, are wonderful
There were many high points of Worcester’s Giving Day in November 2024, but it was perhaps the comments left on the donor wall about the lake which caused the most levity:
Least I can do after spending undergraduate time in the lake – Dr Philip Clamp (1986, Physiological Sciences)
And
Hope to help the duckies! - anonymous (!)
Many of you came to the aid of the lake in its hour of need – 364 of you to be precise, raising an astonishing £157,300.
(To the donor who was worried he caused the damage falling in, and to the second donor hoping it was caused by his friend’s faceplant – we don’t think it was your fault, but we haven’t ruled it out yet.)
The power of music in the College also struck a chord with 71 of you, who donated £23,300. Your gifts helped fund the choir tour to Belgium, gave 25 students the opportunity to learn an instrument for the first time in their life, and enabled young singers from state schools to experience choral singing in a chapel.
Supporting students is an enduring concern too, and 141 people contributed to funds which undergraduates and graduates can call on when times are hard. With 75 awards made to students struggling in the academic year 2024/25, every gift was a real lifeline. Student Financial Aid Officer, and Lightbody Fellow & Tutor in History, Dr Conrad Leyser says:
This support makes a huge difference to students' abilities to cope, not only financially but also psychologically. Feeling like the College has their back allows them to get through challenging circumstances.
Finally, there was the Worcester Fund, which supports all areas of College life where the need is greatest. So many of you shared special memories and why Worcester matters to you: wonderful tutors like Harry Pitt, Martin Frederiksen and Francis Lamport; a wedding in the Chapel; dear friends living and lost; and the doors it opened to future happiness.
My time at Worcester was among the most enriching periods of my life, and I know how grateful I was for the financial support I received from the college and elsewhere. With this in mind I gladly make this small gift for the support of present-day students at the college, and I wish them all the happiness and enlightenment I so richly enjoyed there myself – The Venerable David Painter (1965, Theology)
Perhaps, in light of this affection, it is not surprising that this was the most successful giving day ever held by an Oxford college. Thank you to everyone, all 579 of you from 23 countries, who contributed. There will be another opportunity to do so in November, before we take a year off in 2026.
The world needs more than ever the intelligent, caring graduates, motivated to make a positive difference, that Worcester produces – Robert Duncan (1970, Experimental Psychology)
Asking the Right Questions: the Franks Society and the Foundation Circle
The very best researchers and academics never stop asking questions. Why? Who? How? And so? This reaching for understanding was at the heart of every talk delivered as part of the latest Franks Society gathering in late 2024. Members of the Foundation Circle were invited to join current MCR and SCR members as selected graduate students and fellows laid out their research. It was an intellectual smorgasbord, exploring what it means to be human, what it means to be moral, and the very nature of reality as we conceptualise it.
Katie Challoner (2023, DPhil Quantum Computing) started proceedings with her talk titled How to Build A Quantum Computer, which challenged our understanding of reality as she delved into the concepts of superposition (Schrödinger’s cat being alive and dead at once) and entanglement (two subatomic particles remaining connected even when they are lightyears apart). By using super-smooth mirrors, Katie traps ions as the basis for building a quantum computer. Quantum computing has the potential to transform the world around us, from discovering new drugs to rendering all existing cyber-security systems redundant.
Joel Pollatschek (2022, DPhil Ancient History) was next to the microphone, speaking on One Ideology Underlying Ancient Greek Slavery: The Patriarchal Family Structure. Joel opened by asking ‘how could they?’ – how could the ancient Greek society which prized freedom accept and live
with slavery? He explored how we should understand slavery in the ancient world as part of a patriarchal system which saw all household members – wife, children, concubines and slaves – as possessions of the master. Using linguistic analysis, he then compared this across cultures, from sub-Saharan Africa in the first millennium to the United States in the twentieth century.
Tort Liability in the Age of AI was next on the programme, as Amelie Berz (2024, DPhil Law) explored who should be held responsible when AI systems go wrong, particularly in the medical context. Do we blame the developer? Do we blame the consultant who decided to use AI to assist diagnosis, or the consultant who didn’t spot that the AI-generated results were off? And when should we blame someone for not using AI assistance, and a diagnosis is missed by a human being working alone?
Professor Ben Morgan (Fellow & Professor of German and Comparative Literature) closed proceedings with his talk on Reclaiming Liberalism: The Culture of a Democratic Society. In light of the profound changes in political discourse, especially since 2016, he asked how we understand work and action, reducing political discourse and finding points in common across ostensible divides. It is always better to try to persuade someone of your point of view by reminding them of issues you agree on first!
The talks were followed by a lively question session, and then discussion over crémant and afternoon tea. It was a pleasure to welcome members of the Foundation Circle to join in the conversations, bringing their perspectives, knowledge and experience. We look forward to inviting friends and Old Members to more of our academic events in future.
"It was extraordinary to be re-exposed to pure academic thought after a career spent in a more practical industry. We both enjoyed it hugely - one of the most stimulating and fascinating evenings I can remember. If future such events are scheduled, and I believe they will be, I would urge my fellow alumni to consider attending. I certainly shall."
Recognising Your Support
We would like to express our thanks to Old Members who have shown particular support this year.
Thank you to the Development Advisory Board: Richard, Lord Faulkner (1964, PPE), Paul Zisman (1978, Chemistry), Rosanne Murison (1979, PPE), Ed Wray (1987, Engineering, Economics and Management) and Charlotte Boyle (1990, Theology). Our thanks to David Grant (1993, Law) and Philip Stinson (1981, Geography) for so kindly hosting events in London on our behalf, and Alison Jane Bell (1982, PGCE) for all her choir tour arrangements. We are grateful to all Old Members who serve on College committees: The Viscount Chandos (1971, PPE), Matthew Taylor (1973, Literae Humaniores), Adrian Gardner (1981, Engineering Science), Sean Williams (1982, PPE), Hugo Llewelyn (1990, Literae Humaniores) Kathryn Ward (1993, Modern History), and Sophie Taylor (2017, Geography). We remain immensely grateful to our Old Members who sit on the Worcester College Oxford Endowment Trust board too: David Kemper (1972, English), David Loevner (1976, Economics), Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones (1965, Modern Languages), Martin Paisner (1962, Law), and Barrie Wigmore (1964, PPE).
The Record, as our official College record, lists all our donors in the academic year 2024/25. We are also immensely grateful to all those major benefactors to Worcester whose generosity is celebrated and honoured through membership of the University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Circle, Vice-Chancellor’s Guild and Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors.
We make every effort to ensure these lists are correct. If you find a mistake, please accept our apologies and notify us (development@worc.ox.ac.uk) so we can amend the list and our records.
We extend our thanks to members of the Foundation Circle for financial year 1 August 2024 – 31 July 2025:
Clive Anderson 1964
Dimitri Antonatos 1974
Philip Ashton 1966
Laura Barlow 1985
Lars Bespolka 1984
Professor Russell Betts 1965
Michael Biggs 1971
Dr Roger Bodley 1966
Andrew Boyle 1982
Sir Edward Braham 1980
Jeremy Broomhead 1969
Dr Katherine Bucknell 1979
Annabelle Cameron 1994
Charlotte Cooper-Evans 1990
Paul Corley (1969) and Marion Waldorf
Simon Curwen 1958
Nicholas Daglish 1959
Chris (1989) and Victoria (1989) Davison
George Davitt 1980
Lawrence Dore 1989
Geoff Dougherty 1973
Gerald Fox 1984
Michael Gibson 1967
John Goldsmith 1959
Peter Goodwin 1962
Dr Tony Gotto 1957
John Gowar 1958
James Grant 1977
Anthony Gutman 1992
James Hall 2010
Renee Harbers (2023) and Chris Liddell (1982)
George Harding 2009
The Revd David Harris 1981
Owen Hawkes 1995
Geoff Hayhurst 1966
Richard Hext 1975
Dr Paul Hirshman 1966
Benjamin Holmes 1992
Catherine Howard 1993
Steven Isenberg 1964
Seán Jones 1985
Ian Kennedy 1966
Peter Kosminsky 1976
Richard Mansell-Jones 1959
Henry and Mandy Marriott
Alex Mendes da Costa 1996
Rosanne Murison 1979
Mike Osborne (1998) and Rebecca Yearling (1997)
Alice Page 1995
Alice Palmer 1981
Oliver Parr 1970
Anthony Pitt-Rivers 1951
John Rivers 1964
Charlie Rodway 1989
Kathy (1994) and John Sawtell
Shah Shaharudin 1988
John Sharman 1963
Christopher Sharp 1971
Rick Sharp 1970
Andrew Shegog 1982
John Sheldon 1963
Andrew Sims 1977
Dennis Sullivan 1970
Philip Sutterby 1996
Michael Symes 1962
Matthew Taylor 1973
Paul Thornton 1969
Henry (1974) and Rebecca Tinsley
Ben Valentin 1989
Simon Walpole 1989
Dr Thomas Weston 1988
Sean Williams 1982
Nick Winsor 1980
Hsin Yong 1991
Paul Zisman 1978
The Abbado Trust
We also thank the four anonymous members of the Foundation Circle.
The Foundation Circle recognises donors who give £2,000 or more (£134 plus Gift Aid monthly; $2,500 via Americans for Oxford) in an academic year, if they are not a member of a University of Oxford donor society. The next Foundation Circle event for members listed here will be held in December 2025. We make every effort to ensure these lists are correct. If you find a mistake, please accept our apologies and notify us (development@worc.ox.ac.uk) so we can amend the list and our records.
The 1714 Society
The 1714 Society recognises Old Members and friends who have left a gift to Worcester in their will. We extend our special thanks to the 177 anonymous members of the 1714 Society and:
Robert Albright 1968
Rodger Alderson 1968
Trevor Allan 1974
John Allen 1987
Edward Anderson 1964
Arthur Annesley 1960
Dimitri Antonatos 1974
Roger Ashley 1958
Philip Ashton 1966
Emily Benmore 2003
Jeremy Blundell 1961
Roger Bodley 1966
John Bowker 1955
Christopher Brew 1963
Alban Brown 1974
Martin Budd 1960
Benjamin Bull 1977
Rhys Burriss 1970
David Burton 1995
Roger Bussell 1968
John Campbell 1971
Randall Caudill 1969
Matthew Cheung Salisbury 2007
John Chiddick 1960
Relf Clark 1973
Darren Clements 1999
Peter Clift 1984
Michael Codron 1948
Kate Colleran
Julian Cook 1974
Luis Cordero-Lecca 1973
Timothy Cornick 1976
Michael Coveney 1967
Andrew Crosthwaite 1975
John Crowley 1975
Kathryn Culley 1993
Robert Dent 1965
Lawrence Dore 1989
Alastair Drew 1961
Gillian Eastwood 1986
Mark Eynon 1995
David Fitt 1966
Peter Gibson 1955
John Gowar 1958
James Grant 1977
Michael Gray 1950
Peter Grosvenor 1951
William Gubbins 1967
Alexander Gunz 1994
Gerald Harris 1963
Richard Harris 1972
Simon Hawken 1971
Neil Hickman 1969
Gordon Higgott
Philip Hodgson 1968
Roger Howes 1966
Bruce Hugman 1963
Steven Isenberg 1964
Andrew Jardine
Nicholas Jefcoat 1973
Keith Johnson 1973
Jeremy Johnston 1976
Christopher Jones 1962
Christopher Jose 1959
Jeremy Kaye 1958
Ward Krohnke 1961
John Kyle 1960
Ioannis Ladas 2010
Ian Laird 1966
Andrew Lintott 1981
Richard Lloyd 1959
David Loevner 1976
Paul Longden 1973
Andrew Lorenz 1974
John Lourie 1962
Christopher Mahy 1972
James Maple 1952
William Marshall 1980
Robin Martin 1965
Jeremy Maynard 1973
Robert McCracken 1968
William McDermott 1971
Roy Meadow 1953
Clive Mitchell 1963
Derek Mitchell 1975
Graham Mitchell 1971
Benedict Morgan 1980
Peter Morgan 1984
Simon Morrish 1993
Nicholas Murphy 1962
Anthony Murray 1959
George Nicholson 1994
James Norris-Jones 1996
Richard Olsen 1962
Martin Orrom 1949
David Otterburn 1965
Lindsay Owen-Jones 1965
Paul Padley 1968
Stuart Parks 1980
Alan Pinniger 1962
Julian Power 1956
Oliver Price 1957
Thomas Price 1967
Thomas Price 1990
Terence Prideaux 1964
Hugh Priestley 1961
John Pritchard
Ian Proctor 1963
David Rayfield 1985
Anthony Record 1956
Elizabeth Reeve 1990
Christopher Rodgers 1978
William Rogers 1955
Colin Rowland 1963
Timothy Sainsbury 1953
Peter Saint 1972
Robert Saunders 1970
Tracey Scott 1987
Colin Sheaf 1971
Martin Sheeter 1968
John Sheldon 1963
Andrew Sims 1977
Simon Smail 1964
Simon Smith 1972
Robert Speed 1959
Andy Spriggs 1982
Peter Stewart 1965
Michael Stuart 1963
Christopher Swain 1964
Victoria Sykes 1988
Alan Thompson 1959
Richard Thompson 1958
Wendy Tomlinson 1993
Neil Traynor 1988
Timothy Tubbs 1979
John Turner 1974
Michael Vickers 1949
James Wallace 1966
David Walser 1958
Stephen Warren-Smith 1982
Laurence Weeks 1980
James Wetenhall 1980
Simon Wethered 1964
David White 1959
Robert Williams 1968
Adam Wood 2013
Jeremy Wright 1965
Flurry Wright 2008
Aidan Xu 1997
Michael Yardley 1966
Paul Zisman 1978
We know leaving a gift in your will is an immensely personal decision, so we only publish the names of those who have actively given permission. If you think your name should be on this list - or indeed we have made any other mistake - please contact Millie Papworth (millie.papworth@worc.ox.ac.uk) and we will correct it immediately.
Meet the Development Team
Viola Kerr
Viola Kerr is the Director of Development and a fellow of the College. She leads the College's fundraising and Old Member activities, and manages the Development and Alumni relations team.
viola.kerr@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 288 322
Dr Millie Papworth
Millie works with Worcester’s supporters and potential supporters, as well as overseeing our legacy and regular giving programmes. If you would like to learn more about becoming involved with an area of College, please get in touch.
millie.papworth@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 278 335
Melanie Moughton
Melanie is our Alumni Engagement Manager, responsible for events and communications for Old Members, including the alumni events programme, the Record, and the Magazine.
omevents@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 288 325
Rob Moss
Rob is our Regular Giving Officer, responsible for Worcester’s community giving, including the telethon and Giving Day.
rob.moss@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 288 321
Cait Ross
Cait is our Alumni Events Officer, so looks after our busy calendar of events, and is your contact for all event enquiries.
omevents@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 278 327
Carmen Guanzon
Carmen is our Development Officer. She is responsible for managing our database and processing donations.
donations@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 288 302
Emily
Emily is our Development Coordinator and works with Viola and Millie to look after our donors and ensure the team runs smoothly.
development.coordinator@worc.ox.ac.uk
+44 (0)1865 278 374
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