Message from the Principal

What happens in this College is exceptional. Every year, the magic unfolds. New ideas, shared experiences, and revitalising bonds are formed by the changing academic and student body in extraordinary ways.

Yet within that constant change is our continuity. And in that sense, 2023 has been both another remarkable, and another ordinary Mansfield year.

The steady stream of success has continued: there has been widespread recognition through awards for our academics; we have welcomed new professors and a new Professorship; our Women’s First Eight have won bumps; and actor Samuel West held a masterclass on how to make historic language sound new.

All this is part of Mansfield’s enduring life: a community of hard work and high aspiration. Central to our ethos is reaching out to a wider constituency, to find brilliant people who might not otherwise find us. Where we lead on widening participation, the rest of Oxford enviously follows; we are consistently in the top third of the Norrington Table; and we nurture not only academic achievement but whole people, to live fulfilling, valuable lives.

This is our ordinary, but remarkable, ‘business as usual’.

But 2023 has also been an extraordinary year for College, in which – thanks to a transformative gift – we have made a historic commitment to Mansfield’s future.

This spring, we are launching an ambitious Campaign to secure the three pillars upon which Mansfield stands: our people, our place, and our culture. That is no less than this great College deserves. And no more than the world needs from us now.

We have named our Campaign For Mansfield. Forever.

The Campaign will be supported by the generosity of many hands, but thanks to an exceptional act of philanthropy, the foundation stones are in place. Chris Foster (Maths, 1997) has made the largest single donation in the College’s history, to support all three pillars of our Campaign. You can discover more in our interview with Chris on page 6.

Chris is backed by a strong cohort of benefactors, whose philanthropy, pledges and faith in Mansfield are having great impact: Anthony Dewell (Maths & Statistics, 2002); Jan Fischer (VSP, 1989); Guy Hands (PPE, 1978) and Julia Hands; William Jackson (Geography, 1983); Jason Klein (VSP, 1988); Alastair McBain (Oriental Studies, 1974); Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin; Sir Paul Ruddock (Jurisprudence, 1977); and Joshua Weisenbeck (VSP, 2002), among many others.

Securing the future is not a ‘job done’, but the task is firmly underway. The vision of our Fellowship and the generosity of our community – through single gifts, multi-year pledges and legacies – will allow us to bolster our academic research and teaching; transform our built environment; and establish vital scholarships, experiences, and our sector-leading outreach activity.

My mission, for my time at Mansfield, is to work with Fellows, supporters and alumni, to leave the College secure in the knowledge that everyone passing through our community is truly empowered and supported to achieve, and in their own myriad ways, contribute to the world.

I hope you will join us.

Helen Mountfield KC