The university's position of Savilian Professor of Geometry was established in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy) by Sir Henry Savile (pictured), a mathematician who was Warden of Merton College, reacting to what has been described as "the wretched state of mathematical studies in England" at that time. He appointed Henry Briggs as the first professor. There have been 19 geometry professors in all, with the most recent, Nigel Hitchin, appointed to the chair in 1997. Past professors include Edmond Halley, the astronomer, and Baden Powell, the father of the founder of the scout movement Robert Baden-Powell. Edward Titchmarsh (professor from 1931 to 1963) said when applying that he was not prepared to lecture on geometry, and the requirement was removed from the duties of the post to enable his appointment, although the title of the chair was not changed. The two Savilian chairs have been linked with professorial fellowships at New College since the late 19th century. Before then, for over 175 years until the middle of the 19th century, the geometry professors had an official residence adjoining the college in New College Lane. (Full article...)

Alec Douglas-Home (1903–1995) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister from October 1963 to October 1964. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford (where he obtained a third-class degree in Modern History and played cricket for the university), he entered Parliament in 1931. He lost his seat in the 1945 election, regained it in 1950, but became a member of the House of Lords on the death of his father in 1951. Under the premierships of Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan he was appointed to a series of increasingly senior posts, including Leader of the House of Lords and Foreign Secretary. Home was chosen to succeed Macmillan in 1963, and renounced his earldom to do so. Home's premiership was the second briefest of the twentieth century. After narrow defeat in the general election of 1964, Douglas-Home resigned as party leader. From 1970 to 1974 he served in the cabinet of Edward Heath as Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. After the defeat of the Heath government in 1974 he returned to the House of Lords as a life peer, and retired from front-line politics. (more...)

Linacre College is a college for graduate students on St Cross Road, near the University Parks to the north-east of the city centre, and close to the university's science area. It was founded in 1962, originally as a non-residential and non-collegiate body called "Linacre House" to provide a base for graduates in Oxford. It moved to its present site in 1977, became financially independent of the university in 1980 and acquired full college status in 1986. The college is named after Thomas Linacre (1460–1524), a distinguished humanist, medical scientist and classicist. There are about 300 students in a range of subjects; many are from overseas, with over fifty different countries represented. Linacre was the first Oxford college to admit men and women on an equal basis. The principal is the botanist Nick Brown, appointed in 2009. There are about 50 Fellows, with former Fellows including the Nobel Prize winner Paul Nurse and the biologist Chris Dobson. Former students include the journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, the literary critic Terry Eagleton and the Christian writer and academic Alister McGrath. (Full article...)