Notable alumni
Our Alumni
Everyone has a story
From politicians of all political stripes to professional football and cricket stars to high court justices to famous novelists to dissenting philosophers, Harris Manchester College -- and its predecessor institutions – has seen a remarkable group of students come through its doors and leave to distinguish themselves in many fields. Here are just a few examples:
Ingrid Betancourt (2017, Theology)
She is a French-Colombian politician (formerly a Colombian senator) and a campaigner against corruption. In 2008, Betancourt was released by FARC guerrillas after being held hostage by them for six and a half years.
She has received multiple international awards, including the French National Order of the Légion d’Honneur, The Prince of Asturias Prize of Concord, The Prize Grinzane Cavour, and was nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to democratic values, freedom and tolerance.
She is a Supernumerary Fellow at Harris Manchester College.
Satveer Chaudhary (1989, Junior Year Abroad)
He is an American lawyer, whose practice specialises in immigration and criminal law, and who is frequently called upon for commentary on U.S. immigration issues. He is also a politician and a former member of the Minnesota State Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives serving from 1996 to 2010. While in office, Chaudhary served as a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party, was the first Asian American legislator in Minnesota history. He was also the first South Asian senator in American history and for a time was the highest-ranking political official of South Asian descent, as well as one of the youngest senators in that state's history.
Upon graduation from high school in 1987, Chaudhary pursued his degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. As an undergraduate, Chaudhary was in the student senate, the multi-cultural student association, political awareness committee organizer and lobbied for the state student coalition. During his year in Oxford, he was a member of the Oxford Union, the Oxford Law Society, and Oxford Indian Students Association.
Nigel Cliff (1994, English)
He is a historian, biographer, and critic. He was educated at Oxford University, where he was awarded the Beddington Prize for English Literature. He is a former theatre and film critic for the London Times and a contributor to The Economist and other publications. His first book, The Shakespeare Riots, was a finalist for the National Award for Arts Writing and was selected as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Washington Post. He lives in London with his wife, the ballerina Viviana Durante, and their son.
Margaret Brackenbury Crook (1886–1972) (1914, Theology)
She was a British Unitarian minister, a women’s suffrage and peace activist, and a professor of religious studies in the United States. She was the first English woman to be fully trained for the Unitarian ministry at Manchester College in Oxford, as well as one of the first English women to be granted sole authority over a large church. She is best remembered for her path-breaking writings on feminist biblical analysis and theology, which she articulated in her book, Women and Religion (1964).
More info about Margaret Brackenbury Crook.
Tope Folarin (2004, African Studies and 2005, Comparative Social Policy), Rhodes Scholar
Nigerian-American writer based in Washington, DC. He serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He has garnered many awards for his writing, including the Caine Prize for African Writing the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Tope also serves as a board member of the Avalon Theater in Washington DC, the Vice President of the Board of the Pen/Faulkner Foundation, and as a member of the President’s Council of Pathfinder. He was also recently named to the Africa39 list of the most promising African writers under 40. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published in 2019.
Deborah Frances-White (2000, English Language & Literature)
London-based comedian, author and screenwriter who also delivers corporate seminars on subjects including charisma, diversity and inclusion. She hosts the podcasts Global Pillage and The Guilty Feminist. She uses the platform and network she has built through The Guilty Feminist to help multiple charities, especially relating to refugees and/or human rights.
https://deborahfrances-white.com/
Karen Harrison (16 November 1960 – May 2011) (2007, Jurisprudence)
First woman in Britain to be appointed as a train driver, during which time she was an active trade unionist and political campaigner. After graduation, Harrison had plans to work as a barrister specialising in labour law and human rights. She died May 2011 before completing her studies. Her funeral was held in the college chapel, with a eulogy given by her tutor Louise Gullifer.
She once described the effects of this mid-life transition, explaining, "I find studying hard, f***ing hard. But it's easier than driving trains for a living. It's hard to get too stressed about exams when you've experienced things like brake failure approaching a red signal, especially when you can see another train crossing the junction in front of you. I still miss the camaraderie of my mates in ASLEF. I miss them terribly. The folk at my college are the closest I've got to that old espirit de corps and they put up with an old bag like me with great stoicism."
More info about Karen Harrison here.
Joe Roff (2006, PPE)
Joe Roff is a retired Australian rugby union footballer and a product of the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club in Canberra, who played on the wing or at fullback for ACT Brumbies and Australia and played 5 tests as a centre in the early part of his Test career. He also had a spell at the French club Biarritz and in 2005–6 at Kubota Spears in Japan's Top League Of his 86 caps, 62 were won in consecutive games from 1996 to 2001 His final game saw him captain Oxford against Cambridge in the 2007 Varsity Match. Whilst in Oxford, he was also involved with the Oxford Union.
He is now CEO of the John James Foundation in Australia.
More alumni stories can be found here.
