New intake of Honorary and Visiting Fellows announced

8 November 2024

Hertford College’s Governing Body has elected a new intake of Honorary and Visiting Fellows. We are delighted to welcome them!

Honorary Fellows

Marian Bell CBE, PPE 1977

Marian is a British consultant economist, and served as a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee from June 2002 to June 2005. She was a former senior economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, and in 2005 was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to macroeconomics.

Laline Paull, English 1983

Laline is a best-selling author, playwright and screenwriter. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Bees, was nominated for the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, and her novel Pod was shortlisted for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction. In the same year, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Pip Wilson, Maths 1993

Pip is part of a rare group of female entrepreneurs who have successfully co-founded and grown two businesses: SAP services provider Bluefin Solutions and, more recently, as CEO of Amicable, an award-winning company offering an alternative to solicitors and traditional law firms during divorce proceedings. She has also served as an advisor and board member to multiple businesses and charities, including as Trustee and Deputy Chair of the RSA.

Visiting Fellows

Elif Shafak

Elif is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and storyteller. She has published 21 books, 13 of which are novels and her books have been translated into 58 languages. Elif is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen among BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women.

Lucy Smith

Lucy has been announced as the new Heywood Fellow, a joint initiative between Hertford College and the Blavatnik School of Government. Lucy is a senior civil servant, whose career has been rooted in the leadership of strategy in government and expertise in governance and political systems.

Kate McGrath

Kate is the Artistic Director and CEO of Fuel, an award-winning theatre production company based in London. Kate’s Visiting Fellowship has been awarded in collaboration with the Cultural Programme, which brings together local, university and global cultural communities in a physical and digital cultural offer, inspired by the University of Oxford’s research.

 

Principal Tom Fletcher said: “Hertford is thrilled to welcome three new Honorary and three new Visiting Fellows. The election by Governing Body of Laline, Pip, Marian, Elif, Kate and Lucy is in recognition of their work across literature, economics, business and government, and in anticipation of the many ways that they will enrich our academic community. In the year in which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of female students at Hertford we are also delighted that we are honouring alumnae from each of the first three decades of that story, among the many women who have done so much to transform the college and the world beyond.”