This page serves as a central navigational point for lists of more than 2,350 members of the University of Oxford, divided into relevant groupings for ease of use. The vast majority were students at the university, although they did not necessarily take a degree; others have held fellowships at one of the university's colleges; many fall into both categories. This page does not include people whose only connection with the university consists in the award of an honorary degree or an honorary fellowship.
The list has been divided into categories indicating the field of activity in which people have become well known. Many of the university's alumni/ae, or old members, as they are more traditionally known, have attained a level of distinction in more than one field. These appear only in the category with which it is felt they are most often associated, or in which they have been more recently involved. Hence Jeffrey Archer (Brasenose), a novelist, is listed as a life peer; Imran Khan (Keble), a former captain of the Pakistani cricket team, is listed as a Pakistani politician. Some academic disciplines are more difficult to define than others. In particular, many theologians, lawyers, and sociologists work in areas that might be thought to be encompassed by philosophy.
Oxonians (a term for members, students or alumni of the university derived from its Latin name, Academia Oxoniensis) have included two British kings and at least twelve monarchs of ten other sovereign states, twenty-eight British prime ministers, and thirty-five presidents and prime ministers of nineteen other countries. As of July 2019[update] there are seven Oxonians in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and two in the Shadow Cabinet. The university lays claim to twelve saints, ten blesseds, an antipope, eighteen cardinals, and eighty-nine archbishops (including thirty-two of Canterbury and twenty-two of York). The university claims forty-seven Nobel Laureates and three Fields Medallists. The university's oldest student was Gertrud Seidmann, who was awarded a Certificate of Graduate Attainment aged 91.[1]
This list also includes twenty-five princes and princesses (among them the heirs apparent of Belgium, Brunei, and Japan), thirty-four dukes, nineteen marquesses, eighty-two earls and countesses, forty-six viscounts and viscountesses, and 188 barons and baronesses; 246 bishops (Anglican and Catholic); 291 Members of Parliament (excluding MPs who were subsequently peers), eleven Members of the European Parliament (excluding MEPs also serving at Westminster), twelve Lord Chancellors, nine Lord Chief Justices and twenty-two law lords; ten US Senators, ten US Representatives (including a Speaker of the House), three state governors, and four associate justices of the US Supreme Court; as well as six puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Canada and a chief justice of the now defunct Federal Court of Canada.
Many journalists work in both print and broadcast media. The following are listed under the medium for which they are best known. Those who are known solely as sports commentators will be found at List of University of Oxford people in sport, exploration, and adventuring.
Print
Editors
- Paul Anderson (Balliol) Tribune 1991–93, Deputy New Statesman 1993–96
- Perry Anderson (Worcester) New Left Review 1962–82 & 2000–03
- Lionel Barber (St. Edmund) The Financial Times 2005–
- Paul Barker (Brasenose) New Society 1968–86
- Peter Beinart (University) The New Republic 1999–2006, Editor-at-large 2006–
- Tina Brown (St Anne's) Tatler 1979–83, Vanity Fair 1984–92, The New Yorker 1992–98
- George Earle Buckle (New College and All Souls) The Times 1884–1912
- Alastair Burnet (Worcester) The Economist 1965–74, The Daily Express 1974–76
- Charles C. W. Cooke (LMH) National Review Online 2016-
- William Percival Crozier (Trinity) The Manchester Guardian 1932–44
- Matthew d'Ancona (Magdalen and All Souls) The Spectator 2006–
- Geoffrey Dawson (Magdalen and All Souls) The Times 1912–19 & 1923–41
- John Thadeus Delane (Magdalen Hall) The Times 1841–77
- Bill Emmott (Magdalen) The Economist 1993–2006
- James Fallows (The Queen's) U.S. News & World Report 1996–98
- Kim Fletcher (Hertford) The Independent on Sunday 1998–99, Ed Dir Telegraph New Media 2000-03, Ed Dir Telegraph Group 2003-05
- Paul Foot (University) Socialist Worker 1972–78
- John Gross (Wadham) Times Literary Supplement 1974–81, New York Times Book Review (Dep. Editor) 1985–1989
- John Lawrence Hammond (St John's) The Speaker 1899–1906
- Max Hastings The Daily Telegraph 1986–95, The Evening Standard 1996–2001
- Alastair Hetherington (Corpus Christi) The Guardian 1956–75
- Ian Hislop (Magdalen) Private Eye 1986–
- Anthony Howard (Christ Church) New Statesman 1972–78, Deputy The Observer 1981–88
- Brian Inglis (Magdalen) The Spectator 1959–62
- Richard Ingrams (University) co-founder Private Eye 1961, Editor 1963–86, founder The Oldie 1992
- Aboubakr Jamaï (University) co-founder Le Journal Hebdomadaire 1997, co-founder Assahifa al-Ousbouiya 1998
- Simon Jenkins (St John's) Evening Standard 1976–78, The Times 1990–92
- Paul Johnson (Magdalen) New Statesman 1965–70
- Mehreen Khan Financial Times 2016-22, The Times 2022–
- Michael Kinsley (Magdalen) The New Republic 1979–81 & 1985–89, Slate 1996–2002, sometime of Harper's Magazine
- Andrew Knight (Balliol) The Economist 1974–86
- Richard Lambert (Balliol) Financial Times 1991–2001, Director General Confederation of British Industry 2006–
- Dominic Lawson (Christ Church) The Spectator 1990–95, The Sunday Telegraph 1995–2005
- John Micklethwait (Magdalen) The Economist 2006–
- Ferdinand Mount (Christ Church) Times Literary Supplement 1991–2003
- Rowan Pelling (St Hugh's) Erotic Review 1997–
- Peter Preston (St John's) The Guardian 1975–95
- William Rees-Mogg (Balliol) The Times 1967–81, Chairman Arts Council 1982–89
- C. P. Scott (Corpus Christi) The Manchester Guardian 1872–1929
- Edward Taylor Scott The Manchester Guardian 1929–32
- Paul Spike (St Catherine's) Punch 1997
- Richard Stengel (Christ Church) Managing Editor Time 2006–
- Peter Stothard (Trinity) The Times 1992–2002, Times Literary Supplement 2002–
- Andrew Sullivan (Magdalen) The New Republic 1991–96
- Hilary Wainwright Red Pepper
- John Walter (Trinity) The Times 1803–09
- Norman Webster (St John's) sometime editor-in-chief The Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette
- Jacob Weisberg (New College) sometime of Slate
- Andreas Whittam Smith (Keble) The Independent 1986–93, Pres Brit Bd of Film Classification 1997-2002, First Church Estates Commr 2002–
- Peregrine Worsthorne (Magdalen) The Sunday Telegraph 1986–89
Writers
- David Aaronovitch (Balliol)
- Tariq Ali (Exeter)
- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Linacre)
- Lynn Barber
- Katharine Lee Bates
- Nora Beloff (Lady Margaret Hall)
- Catherine Bennett (Hertford)
- Stephen Bernard (Christ Church, Brasenose College, University College)
- Adrian Berry, 4th Viscount Camrose (Christ Church)
- Michael Billington (St Catherine's)[2]
- Grace Blakeley (St Peter's and St Antony's)
- Anna Blundy
- Emma Brockes (St Edmund Hall)
- James Buchan (Magdalen)
- David Caute (Wadham, St Antony's, and All Souls) Literary Editor New Statesman 1979–80
- Hugh Chisholm (Christ Church) Editor of Encyclopædia Britannica (11th & 12th edns)
- Alexander Cockburn (Keble)
- Andrew Cockburn (Worcester)
- Claud Cockburn
- Patrick Cockburn (Trinity)
- Peter Conradi (Brasenose)
- Robert Crampton
- George Dangerfield (Hertford) Literary Editor Vanity Fair 1933–35
- Nick Denton (University)
- E. J. Dionne
- Cordelia Fine
- Jonathan Freedland (Wadham)
- Thomas Friedman – American journalist, author and a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize
- Barton Gellman
- Alan Gibson (Queen's)
- Maurizio Giuliano (University)
- Richard Gott
- Tom Gross (Wadham)
- John Harris (The Queen's)
- Julia Hartley-Brewer (Magdalen)
- Mehdi Hasan (Christ Church)
- Christopher Hitchens (Balliol)
- Anthony Holden
- Austen Ivereigh (St Antony's) Director of Public Affairs Archbishop of Westminster 2004–06
- Rachel Johnson (New College)
- Owen Jones (University)[3]
- Tobias Jones (Jesus)
- John F. Jungclaussen (St Cross College)
- Oliver Kamm (New College)
- John Keay (Magdalen)
- Robert Kee (Magdalen)
- Lucy Kellaway (Lady Margaret Hall)
- Ludovic Kennedy (Christ Church)
- Martin Kettle (Balliol)
- Miles Kington (Trinity)
- Charles Krauthammer
- Nicholas D. Kristof (Magdalen)
- Christina Lamb (University)
- Osbert Lancaster (Lincoln)
- Nathaniel Lande Creative Director of Time, Director of Time World News Service & Time-Life
- Paul Levy (Nuffield)
- James McDonald (University)
- Derek Malcolm (Merton)[4]
- Peter Millar (Magdalen)
- Seumas Milne (Balliol)[5]
- Baisali Mohanty (Wolfson)
- Sheridan Morley (Merton)
- Harry Mount
- Eustace Clare Grenville Murray (Hertford) diplomat 1851–68, founder Queen's Messenger 1869, co-founder World 1874
- James Owen (University)
- Melanie Phillips (St Anne's)
- Adam Raphael (Oriel)
- Kate Rew
- W. Andrew Robinson (University) Literary Editor Times Higher Education Supplement
- Miranda Sawyer (Pembroke)
- William Shawcross (University)
- Sonia Sodha (St Hilda's)
- Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (Magdalen)
- Guy Spier (Brasenose)
- George Steer (Christ Church)
- Jonny Steinberg
- Heather Stewart (Magdalen)
- Frances Stonor Saunders (St Anne's)
- David Stubbs
- Matthew Sweet
- Polly Toynbee (St Anne's)
- Kenneth Tynan (Magdalen)
- Sharon Waxman (St Antony's)
- Michael Wharton (Lincoln)[6]
- Geoffrey Wheatcroft (New College)[7]
- Christine Whelan (Worcester) author of Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women
- George Will (Magdalen)
- Tom Wintringham (Balliol) founder Daily Worker (1930) and Left Review (1934)
- John Woodcock (Trinity)
- Adrian Wooldridge (Balliol and All Souls)
- Hugo Young (Balliol)
- Toby Young (Brasenose)
Administration
- Jana Bennett Head of Science BBC 1994–2002, Director of Television 2002–06, Director of Vision 2006–
- Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose (Christ Church) MP 1941–45, Dep Chmn Telegraph 1939–87, Vice Chmn Amalgamated Press 1942–59
- Michael Berry, Baron Hartwell (disclaimed 3rd Viscount Camrose) (Christ Church) Chmn & Ed-in-Chief Daily & Sunday Telegraph until 1986
- John Birt, Baron Birt (St Catherine's) BBC Director-General 1992 to 2000
- Michael Checkland (Wadham) BBC Director-General 1987 to 1992
- Calvin Cheng (Hertford) founder Looque International (2004)
- Arthur fforde (Trinity) Headmaster of Rugby 1948–57, Chairman of the BBC 1957–64
- Maurice Gorham (Balliol) Controller BBC Television Service 1946–47, Director Radio Éireann 1953–59
- Hugh Greene (Merton) BBC Director-General 1960 to 1969
- Tony Hall (Keble) BBC Director-General 2013 to 2020
- George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe (Balliol) Chairman of the BBC 1980–83
- Jeremy Isaacs (Merton) Channel 4 Chief Executive 1981–87
- Walter Isaacson (Pembroke) Chairman & CEO of CNN 2001–3, President & CEO of Aspen Institute 2003–
- Roly Keating (Balliol) Controller of BBC Four 2002–04, Controller of BBC Two 2004–
- Alasdair Milne (New College) BBC Director-General 1982 to 1987
- Rupert Murdoch (Worcester) founder, Chairman, and CEO News Corporation 1980–
- Frederick Ogilvie (Jesus) BBC Director-General 1938 to 1942
- Cathy Rogers Creative Director RDF Media (Los Angeles) 2001–
- Howard Stringer (Merton) Chairman and CEO Sony Corporation 2005–
- Mark Thompson (Merton) BBC Director-General 2004 to 2012