High Steward (academia)
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The High Steward in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (sometimes erroneously known as the Lord High Steward) is a once important but now largely ceremonial university official. Originally a deputy for the Chancellor, the office of High Steward had by the eighteenth century undergone the same evolution and become a position by which the universities honoured prominent external figures. The High Stewards still retain some functions relating to adjudication in disputes, appeals, and deputizing if there is a vacancy in the Chancellorship. In Oxford the office of High Steward is now more similar to the office of Commissary in Cambridge.
In Oxford the High Steward is appointed by the Chancellor. In Cambridge he or she is still elected by the University Senate, one of that body's few remaining functions.
