Geography Fellowship Endowed

Caption

Thanks to the incredible generosity of George (1978 Geography) and Tonya Evans, we are pleased to announce that Professor Beth Greenhough’s Geography teaching post at Keble has been secured in perpetuity.

George Evans writes: “As a Keble Geographer, I am thrilled to support Geography at Keble in such a meaningful way. Knowing that current and future Geography students will, forevermore, continue to benefit from outstanding tutorial guidance and be enriched by their time at the best of colleges, as I was, is a source of great joy.”

In recognition of this, Professor Greenhough’s Associate Professor-Tutorial Fellowship is now named the George R Evans Tutorial Fellow in Geography; she is the first in what will become a long line of post-holders stretching into the future. George and Tonya’s transformative £1.1m gift secures teaching for a post in one of our strongest and most popular subjects with significant real-world applications, it strengthens our provision for undergraduate and graduate students and ensures we are equipped to provide the very best teaching and research environment for our students.

Oxford University has been ranked #1 in the world for Geography in the QS World University Rankings for each of the last sixteen years. It is a thriving subject at Keble, and Keble is one of the top undergraduate destinations for the subject across Oxford. Our teaching staff are particularly proud of the record of scholarly achievement of our students and the mark they have gone on to make in timely and consequential contributions to our planet and society.

Professor Beth Greenhough comments: “As the world struggles to deal with the impacts of rapid environmental change, geopolitical uncertainty and social inequality, the expertise and skills of Geographers are more necessary than ever. My colleagues and I are deeply grateful for the support of George R Evans in securing the future of Geography and Geographers at Keble.”  

The funding gap between student costs and student income at Keble is currently circa £6m. Substantially increasing Keble’s academic teaching endowment fund by 2030 is a top priority for College. By endowing key teaching posts, Keble aims to secure its core teaching provision in perpetuity, and reduce the funding gap incrementally to strengthen its financial footing and its ability to withstand external financial pressures. To date, and with thanks largely to transformational philanthropic support, College has recently strengthened its position by endowing posts in Law, English, Engineering, History, Chemistry and Theology. It is a real cause for celebration to add Geography to the list. 

We will seek to secure funding to endow Professor Richard Washington’s Physical Geography post to further strengthen teaching and research in Geography. For details please contact: camilla.matterson@keble.ox.ac.uk