St Catherine's College, Oxford

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For other educational institutions of the same name, see St Catherine's College (disambiguation).

Full name

St Catherine's College

Motto

Nova et Vetera
The New and the Old

Named after

Previous names

St. Catherine's Society

Established

1963

Sister College(s)

Robinson College

Master

Prof. Roger Ainsworth

Location

Manor Road

Undergraduates

450

Postgraduates

160

Homepage

Boat Club

St Catherine's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is one of the largest colleges of the University and its motto is Nova et Vetera ("the new and the old").

1 History
2 College life
3 Notable alumni
4 References

[edit] History

St Catherine's College was founded in 1962 by the distinguished historian Alan Bullock, who went on to become the first Master of the college, and later Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. However, the college's roots lie in the previous century.

St Catherine's traces its descent from the Delegacy of Non-Collegiate Students, founded in 1868 to offer university education at Oxford without the costs of college membership. Nonetheless, the social role of a college was re-established by the Delegacy's students, meeting as St Catherine's Club in a hall on Catte Street [1]. The Club was officially recognised by the University in 1931 as St Catherine's Society. It was thus developing the characteristics of a college, and in 1956 the Delegates decided to formalise this change in status [2].

After acquiring 8 acres from Merton College, Oxford on part of Holywell Great Meadow for £57,690, monies were sought from the University Grants Committee who also agreed to supply £250,000 towards the building, and additional funds up to £400,000 for all facilities. By 1960 Sir Alan Bullock raised a further £1,000,000 with invaluable assistance from two industrial notables, Sir Alan Wilson (met by chance on the RMS Queen Mary) and Sir Hugh Beaver. After a total cost of £2.5 million, the college opened in 1962 to male students, St Catherine's admitted women from 1974, becoming one of the first five co-educational colleges in the university.

The college is situated towards the east of Oxford, on the bank of the Cherwell river. Its striking buildings in glass and concrete by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen marry modern materials with a traditional layout around a quadrangle. Jacobsen's designs went further than just the fabric of the buildings, with cutlery, furniture, and lampshades being of his own idiosyncratic design. The dining hall is notable for its Cumberland slate floor. The buildings have received a Grade I listing. Jacobsen's plans for the college did not include a chapel: St Cross church on the corner of Manor Road and Longwall Street serves this purpose when required. The college has a bell tower however; it is particularly visible since no college building is more than three storeys high. An extra floor was reputedly planned for most accommodation blocks, but due to regulations concerning safe building on marshland, this was removed from the final design.

[edit] College life

A view of the quad at night

St Catherine's (commonly known as Catz or St Catz) has acquired a reputation for having a less formal and more relaxed atmosphere than many other colleges. For most residents, its location and initially forbidding architecture give a feeling of space and light and peace; it backs onto Merton College's playing fields and the University Parks.

As well as the usual college facilities, St Catherine's has a number of lecture theatres and seminar rooms, a music house, two student computer rooms, a gym, squash courts, a punt house, and among the most spacious, and well frequented, common rooms in Oxford. There are also additional purpose-built conference facilities with lecture theatres, meeting rooms and bar, and car parking. The dining hall, which seats 350 diners, has the largest capacity of any Oxford college.

St Catherine's has recently completed the construction of seven new accommodation staircases with en suite rooms, which means that most undergraduates are able to live on the main College site for the duration of their course. These new staircases effectively form a second quad, which is largely used to provide accommodation for conferences during the breaks between academic terms.

[edit] Notable alumni

Note that some of these alumni were associated with the St Catherine's Society prior to the official founding of the College.

John Birt — former Director-General of the BBC.
Michael Billington — Critic, author and radio presenter.
Sir Victor Blank — Chairman of Lloyds TSB.
Alan Chesters - Anglican Prelate
Sir John Cornforth — 1975 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
Alice Eve - Actress.
Lord Tim Garden — Liberal Democrat
Phil de Glanville — former England rugby captain.
Joseph Heller — American author; Catch-22.
David Hemery — Olympic gold medallist.
Richard Herring — Comedian and writer.
Peter Mandelson — architect of "New Labour", twice a UK Cabinet minister, Trade Commissioner in the Barroso Commission since 2004.
Chris Maslanka — Writer and broadcaster.
Tom Phillips — artist and Royal Academician.
Matthew Pinsent — Quadruple Olympic gold medallist in rowing.
Asheem Singh — British Screenwriter
Paul Spike — Author, editor and journalist.
Sir John Vane — 1992 Nobel Laureate in Medicine.
John E. Walker — 1997 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
Simon Winchester — British author and historian; The Surgeon of Crowthorne; The Map that Changed the World.
Jeanette Winterson — British author; Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.