Concept

Wolfson College, Oxford

Summary
Wolfson College (ˈwʊlfsən) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of subjects, from the humanities to the social and natural sciences. Like the majority of Oxford's newer colleges, it has been coeducational since its foundation in 1965. The liberal philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin was the college's first president, and was instrumental not only in its founding, but establishing its tradition of academic excellence and egalitarianism. The college houses The Isaiah Berlin Literary Trust and hosts an annual Isaiah Berlin Lecture. From 2017, the president of the college has been Sir Tim Hitchens. As of 2021, the college had a financial endowment of £60.3 million. The college is registered as a charity. Wolfson's first president Sir Isaiah Berlin, the influential political philosopher and historian of ideas, was instrumental in the college's founding in 1965. The college began its existence with the name Iffley College, which offered a new community for graduate students at Oxford, particularly in natural and social sciences. Twelve other colleges of the university provided grants to make the establishment of Iffley possible. As of 1965, the college had neither a president nor a building. Berlin set out to change this, eventually securing support from the Wolfson Foundation and Ford Foundation in 1966 to establish a separate site for the college, which included 'Cherwell', the former residence of J. S. Haldane and his family, as well as new buildings built around it. In recognition of Isaac Wolfson's contribution to the foundation of the college, its name was changed to Wolfson College. But Berlin's work as the president of the college was far from over. Formally taking over the reins of the college in 1967, he envisioned Wolfson to be a centre of academic excellence but, unlike many other colleges at Oxford, also bound it to a strong egalitarian and democratic ethos.
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