Tom Fletcher CMG has been appointed Principal of Hertford College, Oxford.
Tom graduated with a degree in History from Hertford, where he was also JCR President and remains an honorary fellow. Following graduation, Tom embarked on a career with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), eventually becoming HM Ambassador to Lebanon in 2011. Upon completing his posting, Tom left the FCO to become Global Strategy Director for the Global Business Coalition for Education and took up a position as Visiting Professor of International Relations at New York University. Tom is also the best-selling author of “The Naked Diplomat: Power & Politics in the Digital Age”.
Hertford College, Oxford, with its central location near the Bodleian Library and housing the iconic Bridge of Sighs, is one of the best regarded of the Oxford Colleges. Distinguished alumni include Members of Parliament, a former Home Secretary and many of Britain’s best-known broadcasters, including Fiona Bruce, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Natasha Kaplinsky.
Tom said: “I am thrilled to be coming back to Oxford. I was a beneficiary of Hertford College’s pioneering approach to opening up the greatest university education on the planet, and have experienced its friendly and inclusive community. This is a fragile moment for higher education, the UK and global politics. I will do all I can to support Hertford and Oxford as they defend reason, expand access to opportunity, and nurture the next advances in human ingenuity.”
Tom begins his term in the summer of 2020, when he takes over from the current Principal, Will Hutton, who was previously placed by Moloney Search in 2011.