St Leonard's College of the University of St Andrews (originally the College of Poor Clerks of the Church of St Andrews) was founded in 1511 by Alexander Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews and John Hepburn, Prior of St Andrews (receiving Papal recognition by proxy in 1545), on the site of St Leonard's Hospital and Church. Its creation was a result of the poverty and declining status of St John's College/Pedagogy and Arts Faculty of St Andrews.
The first Provost was the Dominican, John Annand (a pupil of Jan Standonck) and a determined reformer of the clergy. St Leonard's was consequently extremely monastic in nature, with members of the college being subjected to a far more rigorous and formal code of conduct than was in practice at St Salvator's.
Because of financial considerations and the general decline of the university, St Salvator's and St Leonard's Colleges were amalgamated to form the The United College of St Salvator and St Leonard in 1747. The buildings of St Leonard's College on South Street were sold and teaching limited to the St. Salvator's College site on North Street.
The old college site was visited by Samuel Johnston and James Boswell in August 1773[1]. The old college site has, since the late 19th century, been occupied by St Leonards School[2]. The college chapel remains the property of the university[3].
Famous alumni of St Leonard's College include Alexander Ales (Alesius), John Knox, George Buchanan[4], Patrick Adamson and James Melville.
St Leonard's College was re-established in 1972[5] as a non-statutory college exclusively for postgraduates, postdoctoral fellows and research staff. After matriculation such students are de facto members of St Leonard’s College. St Leonard's College does not own any property - its function is to act as a central point of administration for postgraduate and postdoctoral students. As such it organises postgraduate events[6]. The head of the college retains the medieval title of the older St Leonard's College, provost. Previous provosts of St Leonard's College include Prof. Martin Kemp[7], Dr. Frank Riddell[8] and Peter Clark[9].
The current Provost of St Leonard's College is Professor Dina Iordanova.
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