St Catherine's College, Oxford

Template:Oxbridge College Infobox St Catherine's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is familiarly known as "Catz" or "St Catz" and is one of the largest colleges in the university, with a roughly even split of arts and science students. The motto of the college is Nova et Vetera ("the new and the old").

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. The college is descended from the St Catherine's Society, an association of Oxford undergraduates who were otherwise unattached to a college.

After acquiring 8 acres from Merton College, Oxford on part of Holywell Great Meadow for £57,690, monies were sought form 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 even the original electrical sockets being of his own idiosyncratic design. The dining hall is Oxford's largest, 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.

College life

A view of the quad at night

St Catherine's is well known for having a much less formal and more relaxed atmosphere than many other colleges. Its situation and 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 and tennis courts, a punt house, and among the most spacious common rooms in Oxford. There are also additional purpose-built conference facilities with lecture theatres, meeting rooms and bar, and car parking.

St Catherine's has recently completed the construction of seven new accommodation staircases with en suite rooms, which means that most undergraduates are able live on the main College site for the duration of their course.

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.
• Sir John Cornforth — 1975 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
• Joseph Heller — American author; Catch-22.
• Peter Mandelson — architect of "New Labour", twice a U.K. Cabinet minister, Trade Commissioner in the Barroso Commission since 2004.
• Tom Phillips — artist and Royal Academician.
• Matthew Pinsent — Quadruple Olympic gold medallist in rowing.
• 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.

See also Former students of St Catherine's College.

See also

• St Catharine's College, Cambridge