University of Oxford

University of Oxford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 51.7611°N 1.2534°W

University of Oxford
Coat of arms
Latin: Universitas Oxoniensis
Motto	Dominus Illuminatio Mea (Latin)
Motto in English	"The Lord is my Light"
Established	c. 1096^[1]
Endowment	£5.069 billion (inc. colleges) (as of 31 July 2016)^[4]
Budget	£1.253 billion (2015-16)^[3]
Chancellor	Chris Patten
Vice-Chancellor	Louise Richardson^[5][6]
Academic staff	1,791^[7]
Students	23,195 (2016)^[8]
Undergraduates	11,728 (2016)^[8]
Postgraduates	10,941 (2016)^[8]
Other students	500^[9]
Location	Oxford, England, UK
Campus	College town
Colours	Oxford blue^[10]
Athletics	The Sporting Blue
Affiliations	IARU Russell Group Europaeum EUA Golden Triangle G5 LERU SES
Website	ox.ac.uk

The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University or simply Oxford) is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It has no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096,^[1] making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation.^[1][11] It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.^[1] After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge.^[12] The two "ancient universities" are frequently jointly referred to as "Oxbridge".
The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions.^[13] All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities.^[14] Being a city university, it does not have a main campus and instead its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the colleges and halls, supported by classes, lectures and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments.
The university operates the world's oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world^[15] and the largest academic library system in Britain.^[16] Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates, 27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world.^[17] Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious international scholarships, which has brought graduate students to study at the university for more than a century.^[18]
Contents

• 
  1 History
  
  • 
    1.1 Founding
    
  • 
    1.2 Renaissance period
    
  • 
    1.3 Modern period
    
    • 
      1.3.1 Students
      
    • 
      1.3.2 Reforms
      
  • 
    1.4 Women's education
    
• 
  2 Buildings and sites
  
  • 
    2.1 Main sites
    
  • 
    2.2 Parks
    
• 
  3 Organisation
  
  • 
    3.1 Central governance
    
  • 
    3.2 Colleges
    
  • 
    3.3 Finances
    
  • 
    3.4 Affiliations
    
• 
  4 Academic profile
  
  • 
    4.1 Admission
    
  • 
    4.2 Teaching and degrees
    
  • 
    4.3 Scholarships and financial support
    
  • 
    4.4 Libraries
    
  • 
    4.5 Museums
    
  • 
    4.6 Publishing
    
  • 
    4.7 Rankings and reputation
    
• 
  5 Student life
  
  • 
    5.1 Traditions
    
  • 
    5.2 Clubs and societies
    
  • 
    5.3 OUSU and common rooms
    
• 
  6 Notable alumni
  
  • 
    6.1 Politics
    
  • 
    6.2 Law
    
  • 
    6.3 Mathematics and sciences
    
  • 
    6.4 Literature, music, and drama
    
  • 
    6.5 Religion
    
  • 
    6.6 Philosophy
    
  • 
    6.7 Sport
    
  • 
    6.8 Adventure and exploration
    
• 
  7 Oxford in literature and other media
  
• 
  8 See also
  
• 
  9 References
  
  • 
    9.1 Notes
    
  • 
    9.2 Bibliography
    
  • 
    9.3 Histories
    
  • 
    9.4 Popular studies and collections
    
  • 
    9.5 Guide books
    
• 
  10 External links
  

History
See also: Timeline of Oxford
Founding

Balliol College – one of the university's oldest constituent colleges
The University of Oxford has no known foundation date.^[19] Teaching at Oxford existed in some form as early as 1096, but it is unclear when a university came into being.^[1] It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris.^[1] The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, and the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation in 1231. The university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III.^[20]
After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, later forming the University of Cambridge.^[12][21]

Aerial view of Merton College's Mob Quad, the oldest quadrangle of the university, constructed in the years from 1288 to 1378
The students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two "nations", representing the North (northerners or Boreales, who included the English people from north of the River Trent and the Scots) and the South (southerners or Australes, who included English people from south of the Trent, the Irish and the Welsh).^[22][23] In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. In addition, members of many religious orders, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinians, settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence and maintained houses or halls for students.^[24] At about the same time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College,^[24] and John Balliol, father of a future King of Scots; Balliol College bears his name.^[22] Another founder, Walter de Merton, a Lord Chancellor of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester, devised a series of regulations for college life;^[25][26] Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford,^[27] as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses.^[24]
In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire, was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III.^[28] Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London; thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, which was unusual in western European countries.^[29][30]