Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Watson have joined LMH

They’re two of 11 new visiting fellows


In an announcement this morning, Alan Rusbridger, principal of Lady Margaret Hall, named Emma Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch visiting fellows of the college.

Other big names amongst the 11 new visiting fellows include Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant, children’s laureate Malorie Blackman, High Court Judge Rabinder Singh QC and Beeban Kidron, celebrated film director whose most recent project was Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

 

Rusbridger commented: “They are people drawn from a variety of backgrounds, callings and professions and we want them to form a bridge between our own academic community and the worlds they inhabit and represent. The appointments, which are all part-time and last for three years, are intended to spice up the cultural life of the college.

Mr Rusbridger, who took up his role as head of the college in September 2015, added: “At a minimum we’d like them to drop in occasionally at college, eat with us and meet informally with a variety of the LMH community.

“We’d like them to do one thing a bit more structured. It could be a conversation or debate, a performance, a lecture or seminar, a form of outreach – or something we haven’t thought of. We can imagine fascinating interactions or collaborations between them. They are welcome to come and stay in college if they’d like a place temporarily to think or work. And some have already suggested other ways in which they might engage with a body of 700 incredibly smart students and tutors in order to stimulate their own thinking or work in progress.”

Visiting fellowships are more commonly handed to scholars and academics, however positions such as the Cameron Mackintosh visiting professorship at St Catz have previously  been filled by luminaries such as the actors Stephen Fry, Diana Rigg and Patrick Stewart.

A list of possible visiting fellows was drawn up by the college’s governing body, and then narrowed down by a committee. Just one person approached by the college turned it down. The principal added: “Some of the names we announce today did not go to university. One left school at 16. We think we can learn much from them – and we hope they treasure their time with us.”