Professor Kathy Willis elected as Teddy Hall Principal

Supernumerary Fellow Professor Kathy Willis has been elected as Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and will succeed Professor Keith Gull on 1 October 2018. Kathy is currently Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, having been seconded from her role as Tasso Leventis Professor in Biodiversity in the Department of Zoology at Oxford in November 2013.

Commenting on her appointment, Professor Willis said:

"I am delighted to have been elected to this exciting position. St Edmund Hall has always had a reputation as a friendly, forward-looking and high achieving community. I look forward enormously to working with everyone in the College on the next phase of its history."

Professor Stuart Ferguson, Vice-Principal of St Edmund Hall, says that Professor Willis, having previously been on the Governing Bodies of four Oxford and Cambridge colleges, most recently here at Merton, will bring a breadth of experience which will allow St Edmund Hall to build on the many changes and developments that have occurred under Keith Gull’s Principalship.

Sir Martin Taylor, the Warden of Merton College, commented:

"Prior to her departure to Kew, we all knew Kathy as an outstandingly committed and active member of our Governing Body. We are thrilled at the news of her election: we wish her every success – but we shall miss her greatly!"