Alexandra Freeman elected Principal of Hertford College
12 November 2025
Hertford’s Governing Body is delighted to announce the appointment of Alexandra Freeman, Baroness Freeman of Steventon, as the College’s next Principal, succeeding Interim Principal Pat Roche at the end of Hilary term 2026.
Alexandra studied zoology at New College, followed by a DPhil at Linacre College before spending 17 years making natural history and science documentaries, mainly for the BBC. These included productions such as Walking with Beasts, Life in the Undergrowth and Trust Me, I’m a Doctor and awards including the Kavli Gold Award for Science Journalism.
She then returned to academia to become the Executive Director of the new Winton Centre for Risk & Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge. In 2024 she was made a crossbench peer in the House of Lords by the independent House of Lords Appointments Committee. She is also the creator of the not-for-profit publishing platform Octopus that aims to help improve the research culture by reforming scholarly publishing.
Speaking about her appointment, Alex said: ‘Hertford is a college that has always been friendly and forward-thinking, so I am greatly honoured and excited to be taking the post of Principal. Colleges provide vital supportive communities where scholars can strive to better understand the world, whilst training the next generation to think critically and challengingly. As the world continually changes, the importance of these fundamental principles remains solid. Hertford has a proud history of breaking moulds in Oxford, and I plan to continue to push for innovations to ensure that we continue to offer the most stimulating, supportive and open environment possible.’
Dr Steve New, Senior Fellow, commented: ‘We consider ourselves lucky to have had Professor Pat Roche as our Interim Principal; the College is grateful to him for stepping in at short notice and doing such a wonderful job over the last year. We are delighted with Alex’s appointment, and look forward to this exciting new era for Hertford.’
Image credit: Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons