Hertford College announce new Principal

Tom is a former Ambassador and No 10 Foreign Policy Adviser to three Prime Ministers; a Visiting Professor at New York University; and chaired the International Board of the UK Creative Industries Federation.

Hertford College has today announced the election of Tom Fletcher as its next Principal. He will take up the principalship during the summer of 2020. Image credit: Jeremy Chivers

He is the author of ‘The Naked Diplomat: Power and Politics in the Digital Age’, and has led reviews on how technology will change the UN, statecraft, and the future of learning.

Hertford’s Senior Fellow, Professor Tony Wilson, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tom back to the college where he was an undergraduate (History), JCR President and is an honorary fellow. His distinguished career as a diplomat and recent involvement with NYU will be of great benefit to the college as will his empathy with the college’s core values. We believe he has the ability, energy and standing to take the college forward and to address the challenges which higher education will inevitably have to face in the years ahead.”

Tom Fletcher said, “I am thrilled to be coming back to Oxford. I was a beneficiary of Hertford College’s pioneering approach to opening up the greatest university education on the planet, and have experienced its friendly and inclusive community. This is a fragile moment for higher education, the UK and global politics. I will do all I can to support Hertford and Oxford as they defend reason, expand access to opportunity, and nurture the next advances in human ingenuity.”