The university was named after its first principal, John Henry Brookes, who played a major role in the development of the institution.

Oxford Brookes University planned to demolish its Wheatley campus and build houses on the site; the local council refused planning permission, but Oxford Brookes appealed, and won in 2020.

[6] As of November 2021[update] the Brookes web site said that the institution had 16,900 students, 2,800 staff and over 190,000 alumni in over 177 countries.

[12] In 2007, Graham Upton retired as vice-chancellor and his successor, Janet Beer, was inaugurated in September.

[13] In July 2008, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, replaced Jon Snow as chancellor.

[15] In May 2022, Brookes Union released a letter stating the student body had filed a no confidence motion against Fitt.

[16] Dame Katherine Grainger, a former British Olympic rower, replaced Shami Chakrabarti as chancellor.

[17] Grainger was Britain's most decorated female Olympic athlete and the first British woman to win medals at five successive games[18] (Rio 2016, London 2012, Beijing in 2008, Athens in 2004 and Sydney in 2000).

In June 2020 Katherine Grainger stood down as chancellor,[19] with Paterson Joseph appointed in October 2022.

A range of events and activities took place, including celebrations recognising John Henry Brookes, the university's modern founder.

Five years later the rest of the tower was shut after asbestos was found and the building was deemed unsafe to house students.

The campus was formerly the site of Westminster College, Oxford, an independent Methodist higher education institution which specialised in teacher training and theology.

Adult nursing, operating department practice (ODP) and a range of continuing professional development (CPD) courses are taught there.

The campus features a 185-seat lecture theatre, library and social learning spaces, teaching rooms and three clinical skills suites.

Oxford Brookes University partners with Swindon College as part of its Associate College Partnership to deliver foundation and degree courses, provides widening participation activity with local schools.

The Oxford Brookes Business School moved from the Wheatley campus to refurbished buildings at Headington campus in 2017 with plans for other departments to move to new buildings on the Headington Hill site in the future, many of which were postponed due to COVID-19 and issues with budgets.

Wheatley campus ceased operation in 2024 and the New Headington Hill Building (NHHB) opened in January 2025 to accommodate those subjects.

[51] The university has been successful in national and international mooting competitions, in 2016 winning both the ESU Essex Court National Competition and the Inner Temple Inter-Varsity Mooting Competition, meaning the national Magna Carta moot - to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta - as a consequence will be between two Oxford Brookes University teams.

The Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) in the School of the Built Environment was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize.

Singer and activist Annie Lennox is patron of the Master's Course in Humanitarian and Development Practice.

The centre was originally the Nutrition and Food Research Group at Oxford Brookes and was founded in 2004.

[61] The university has a teaching staff that includes Geoff Goddard, a former chief designer at Cosworth.

[62] The School of Technology at Oxford Brookes University is one of the three core universities in Faraday Advance,[63] a partnership in advanced materials for transportation that develops future materials and technology for low-pollution, high-efficiency, cost-effective transport.

[citation needed] The university has a partnership with the International Business School (Nemzetközi Üzleti Főiskola) based in Budapest (Hungary).

[66][67] In 2014, Oxford Bus introduced a fleet of 20 new buses with flywheel energy storage on the BrookesBus service.