Balliol College, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
| Balliol College | |
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| Founded: | 1263 |
| Head of House: | Mr Andrew Graham, Master |
| Graduates: | 228 |
| Undergraduates: | 403 |
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Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include several former prime ministers. Balliol attracts more international students than the other undergraduate colleges.
During Benjamin Jowett's Mastership in the 19th Century, the College rose from its relative obscurity to occupy the first rank of colleges, and indeed continues to play a prominent role. Herbert Asquith once described Balliol men as possessing "the tranquil consciousness of an effortless superiority".
History
Notable Former Students
- Matthew Arnold
- Herbert Asquith
- Hilaire Belloc
- William Beveridge
- Roy Bhaskar
- Lionel Blue
- Baruch Blumberg
- E. J. Bowen
- James Bradley
- Sydney Bertram Carter
- Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
- Donald Creighton
- George Nathaniel Curzon
- Gavyn Davies
- Richard Dawkins
- John Douglas
- Francis Edgeworth
- Charles Harding Firth
- John Evelyn
- Dingle Foot
- Maurice Gorham
- Graham Greene
- Julian Grenfell
- Jo Grimond
- William Hamilton
- Harald V of Norway
- Denis Healey
- Edward Heath
- Christopher Hill
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
- Aldous Huxley
- Roy Jenkins
- Boris Johnson
- Andrew Lang
- Cosmo Lang
- Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
- John Lucas
- Crawford Murray MacLehose
- Harold Macmillan
- Howard Marks
- Raymond Massey
- Harold James Ruthven Murray
- Stafford Northcote
- King Olav V of Norway
- Chris Patten
- Walter Rostow
- John Schlesinger
- Nevil Shute
- Adam Smith
- Peter Snow
- Robert Southey
- William Spottiswoode
- George Steiner
- Eric Stenbock
- Patrick Shaw-Stewart
- George Stephanopoulos
- Algernon Swinburne
- John Addington Symonds
- Archibald Campbell Tait
- Dick Taverne
- Frederick Temple
- William Temple
- John Templeton
- Arnold J. Toynbee
- Adam von Trott zu Solz
- T H Tylor
- John Wycliffe
- Hugo Young
(Dorothy L. Sayers attributes a Balliol undergraduateship to her fictional character, Lord Peter Wimsey)
Academics/Teachers
Notable applicants who were not matriculated (public domain information)