St Catherine's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Familiarly known as "Catz", the college's modern architecture by Arne Jacobsen reflects the date of its foundation, and it is a Grade I listed building.

History

The college was founded in 1962 by Alan Bullock, out of the former St Catherine's Society for unattached undergraduates. In 1974, it became one of the first five co-educational colleges in the university.

St Catz is situated towards the East of Oxford, on the bank of the Cherwell river.

In 2001 the college announced its intention to build sufficient housing so that any student who wishes to live in college (rather than elsewhere in Oxford) will be able to do so for the entire duration of their course. This has resulted in 6 new staircases being constructed (in addition to the original 16 and a further 3 from an earlier expansion) during the course of 2004.

Notable former students

• John Birt - Former Director-General of the BBC.
• Sir John Cornforth - 1975 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
• Joseph Heller - American author; Catch-22.
• Peter Mandelson - Architect of "New Labour" and twice a UK Cabinet minister.
• Tom Phillips - Artist and Royal Academician.
• Matthew Pinsent - Quadruple Olympic gold medallist in rowing.
• Sir John Vane - 1992 Nobel Laureate in Medicine.
• John Walker - 1997 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
• Jeanette Winterson - British author; Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.

External link

• St Catherine's College
• Some pictures of College buildings
• Oxford University