Support Staff

Saphire oversees the provision of service and support to the College’s academic staff and graduate students.

She manages teaching support (college exams, TMS system, Tutor payments etc), provides support to the Senior Tutor in the recruitment of academic staff, and works closely with the Undergraduate Officer and others in the Academic Office on student administration.

Saphire is also responsible for all areas of the graduate admissions process and support for current graduates.

Jane is a social historian, writer and lifelong friend of Somerville College. Born in Edinburgh and raised on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, Jane has been an ardent bibliophile since the age of seven, when she was banned from the local library for using a jam-tart bookmark in their copy of Squirrel Nutkin.

Jane first came to Somerville as a student, where she took a degree in English Language and Literature before moving to London to work in the antiquarian book trade. It was during this time that Jane’s first book (Wayward Women) was commissioned. Today, Jane works as a full-time writer and lecturer, specialising in social history through women’s eyes. She is the author of over a dozen books, including social histories of women’s education and the fight for the Vote, as well biographies of pioneering figures such as Josephine Butler and Mary Seacole.

Today, Jane lives just outside Oxford  but can be found once a week in the Somerville archives, cataloguing our Special Collections.

Before taking up this post in May 2010, Matthew worked in both Keble and Queen’s College Libraries, and is responsible for shelving, book processing and general library tasks.

He can usually be found at the service desk in the loggia, and if you have any issues with finding books or understanding the layout, classification or Library systems, he will be more than happy to help.

Any queries can also be emailed to library.assistant@some.ox.ac.uk.

Dave Simpson manages all aspects of the College’s Catering and Conference activities.

Eren studied both his undergraduate degree and PhD in Chemistry at The University of Sheffield. He started in Oxford University Outreach in 2021 and joined Hannah Pack to make up half of the Somerville Access Team in 2022.

Amelia works within the Development Team as our Development Assistant. She assists with organising events, running our alumni database and mailings, liaising with alumni and other clerical duties.