Breadcrumbs

A full College of the University

The challenges of leading Somerville through the post-war years fell to its new Principal, Dr (later Dame) Janet Vaughan, medical officer in charge of the North-West London blood supply depot for the Medical Research Council. She was the first scientist and the first married woman to be Principal of Somerville. She had graduated in natural sciences from Somerville in 1921, going on to become a leading haematologist, and in 1945 was one of the first scientists to enter Belsen. She remained a practising scientist throughout her time as Principal, publishing 48 papers in her 22 years  in post.  

Dame Janet was a prominent figure in the university during this period, which finally saw the admission of the five women’s colleges to full colleges of the university (and saw the revision of Somerville’s charter and statutes in 1959 to reflect this).  It was rare for a scientist to occupy the role of Head of House (at one stage Janet Vaughan was the only scientist Head of House), and she did much to raise the status and profile of science at Somerville.

Within the university, she fought for the right of foreign students to bring wives and families to Oxford, campaigned for the provision of psychiatric care for students, and positioned Somerville at the outset of initiatives to establish a student health service.

Another feature of her Principalship was the growth of the Middle Common Room. Numbers of graduate students coming to Somerville, many from overseas, rose steadily through the 1950s and 1960s. Margery Fry House was the first house for graduates to be planned in Oxford, and 14 nations were represented amongst its original 24 occupants.

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