November 2024 |
 |
‘Alumni will have heard that the College has now launched the search for my successor as Master when I step down in Trinity Term 2026. It is a curious feature of the appointment of Heads of Colleges that the process begins so soon, due to the demands of academic calendars. Earlier this week I presided at the annual St Catherine’s Night Feast, to which we invite students leaving this year. As always, we were there to celebrate our patron saint, St Catherine of Alexandria, and to remind ourselves why so many Catherine Wheels and images of her are dotted about the College. But it also struck me that the evening epitomised what I love about Balliol: our long history, our conviviality, the warm relationships between tutors and students, and our conviction that the College exists to make a difference in the world, collectively and individually. I reminded the students that they could all, in that sense, become “saints” themselves in whatever direction their future lives may lead them. 2026 seems a long way away and there is no shortage of things to be done, so I am not sitting back! One of the great pleasures is meeting our wonderful alumni at events here in Oxford and around the world, and I look forward very much to meeting you again soon.' Dame Helen Ghosh DCB, Master of Balliol |
|
|
|
|
Balliol has begun the search for a new Master to succeed Dame Helen Ghosh DCB as she completes her term of office in 2026. |
|
|
We are greatly saddened by the death of Alan Montefiore, who served as Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy 1961-1994, and was Emeritus Fellow since 1994. |
|
|
The University of Oxford has announced that Lord Hague of Richmond will serve as its next Chancellor. He succeeds Lord Patten of Barnes (1962, Honorary Fellow), becoming the 160th Chancellor. |
|
|
Balliol recently hosted a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students visiting Oxford as part of a UK study tour organised by the Aurora Education Foundation. |
|
|
Emeritus Fellow Oswyn Murray has authored a new book, The Muse of History: The Ancient Greeks from Enlightenment to the Present. |
|
|
Professor Adam Smyth has been awarded the 2024 Bainton Prize for Best Reference Work for his edited book, The Oxford Handbook of the History of the Book in Early Modern England. |
|
|
Balliol College Library brought an extra chill to the season with its annual ghost story reading event, held in the Old Dean’s Room. Original stories by the winner and runners-up of the ghost story writing competition are available online. |
|
|
|
|
Carmen Bugan (2000) is set to release her new poetry collection, Tristia, with Shearsman Books in 2025. |
|
|
We would love to hear from Balliol alumni for next year's edition of News and Notes (for publication in Floreat Domus 2025): please send your news by email before 31 January 2025. |
|
|
|
|
PUBLICATIONS |
If you would like us to mention any significant work published this year or last, please send details to Yingying Jiang. Previously submitted publications are listed on the alumni publications page. |
|
|
