Athol Williams (MPhil Political Theory, 2015)

Athol studied for an MPhil in Political Theory, focusing on the responsibilities that economic institutions have to promote social justice, especially in societies with the enduring effects of historical injustices. He has dedicated his life to fighting social and economic injustice, and has founded Read to Rise, a charity providing educational opportunities for children. Since finishing his Master’s degree, Athol has also gained a DPhil from Oxford. He is now a lecturer in Management at the Saïd Business School, as well as a Research Associate at the John Porter Diplomacy Centre at Hertford College.  In 2024, the college awarded Athol an Honorary Fellowship.

For the first 24 years of my life I lived in poverty under Apartheid in South Africa, a system of complete race-based oppression, enforced violently and supported by its beneficiaries. But I found freedom in books. I read whatever I could find, with encyclopaedias and dictionaries my favourite because of the range of topics they covered. And I dreamed that I would study at the best universities in the world, a wild fantasy considering that I was receiving an education designed for manual labourers and that my high school was shut for months at a time owing to political unrest.

I acted upon this dream and persevered relentlessly. When I got accepted to study at MIT in the US, I begged for money just to get a flight to the US. Knowing no-one, and without money, I lived homeless in Boston until I managed to convince the university to create a scholarship for me. In addition to MIT, I went on to earn masters degrees from Harvard, LSE, London Business School and Oxford. In my autobiography, Pushing Boulders: Oppressed to Inspired I describe how, knowing of my dream to study at Oxford, my younger brother bought me a university jacket. I vowed that I would only wear the jacket once I was an Oxford student, and I held onto that jacket for 17 years before I could finally wear it in 2015.  In every possible way, coming to Oxford and Hertford has been a life-long dream come true.

After a successful international business career, I retired from business at 40 to dedicate my remaining years to social justice and economic development in South Africa. Just as books and education had set me free I set out to offer disadvantaged children a similar opportunity. I founded Read to Rise which distributes new books to children and delivers a programme that seeks to inspire them to read. I believe that inspiration is a vital element of education because an inspired person can rise above their obstacles. I know this first-hand. To date we have worked with over 50,000 children.

While at Hertford my political theory studies have focused on the role that corporations ought to play in promoting social justice. This pursuit will form an important component of my teaching, advisory work and writing. I have published 8 books and use my writing to further my work towards an inspired, more harmonious world. During my time at Hertford I was awarded 4 poetry prizes, 3 in South Africa and 1 at Oxford.