Frances Wheare appointed as Director of Development

31 January 2020

Hertford is delighted to announce that Frances Wheare will be the new Director of Development at Hertford, starting on 24 February. Frances takes up the reins from Julia Thaxton, who will be leaving Hertford to embark on a Masters in Fine Art at Oxford Brookes University.

Frances has been in Oxford for nearly six years. During this time she has held senior fundraising roles at the Department of Computer Science, where she worked with Hertford Fellow Mike Wooldridge; the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology; and most recently the Voltaire Foundation. Before Oxford, Frances worked at London’s Southbank Centre and at the Guardian. She has a BA in History of Art from University College London and an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Frances said “Hertford was one of the first colleges I encountered when I came to Oxford in 2014, and I remember being struck by the college’s open and welcoming atmosphere. Nearly six years later I’m delighted to be joining the team here as Director of Development. I’m greatly looking forward to working with Will Hutton during his final months as Principal, and to welcoming our new Principal Tom Fletcher when he joins later this year – and, of course, to meeting our fantastic alumni and supporters.”

The Principal commented “I’m delighted that Frances will be joining Hertford. She has an impressive track record, and is well-equipped to take on the challenge of lifting our development efforts up a gear to support our ambitious  estates strategy. I would also like to take this opportunity warmly to thank Julia for all she has done. On every metric, Hertford’s development operation is vastly better than the one she inherited, and it offers Frances, the new Principal and the team the platform on which to build even more in the years ahead. I know you will join me in wishing her the very best in the future.”

Julia added “It has been a real honour to work with the Hertford team over the past six years, and the college will always have a special place in my heart. I’m enormously grateful to the alumni who have supported us during my time at the college, and I’m sure Frances will receive a warm welcome from you all. For me, Hertford has always represented the very best that Oxford has to offer, and I have no doubt that Frances and Tom will continue to grow and develop the college’s footprint in Oxford and beyond.”