[9] Sir Christopher Wren was an undergraduate at Wadham before he became a fellow of All Souls and then succeeded Rooke as astronomy professor at Gresham College, London.
Wren had notable achievements in pure and applied mathematics, astronomy, physics and biology to his credit before he turned to architecture, in his thirties.
The Oxford group kept up close relations with their colleagues in London, and in 1660, at Gresham, the decision was taken to create the body which, in 1662, was to be formally incorporated as the Royal Society.
[13] Wadham College has a reputation as a supporter of gay rights partly because it plays host to "Queerfest", a celebration of the LGBTQ cause.
[14] In 2011, Wadham became the first Oxbridge college to fly the Rainbow Flag in support of equality, as part of its annual Queer Week.
Wadham's front quadrangle (quad), which served as almost the entire college until the mid-20th century, is also an early example of the "Jacobean Gothic" style that was adopted for many of the university's buildings.
The architect, William Arnold, was also responsible for Montacute House and Dunster Castle in Somerset, and was involved in the building of Cranborne Manor, Dorset for Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, James I's Lord Treasurer.
The style of the building is a fairly traditional Oxford Gothic, modified by classical decorative detail, most notably the 'frontispiece' framing statues of James I and the Founders immediately facing visitors as they enter the college.
The large portrait in the gallery is of John Lovelace, who held Oxford for William of Orange during the Revolution of 1688; the inscription records his role in freeing England 'from popery and slavery'.
The elegant young man reclining on his monument is Sir John Portman, baronet, who died in 1624 as a nineteen-year-old undergraduate.
[21] It is one of the few instruments by Henry Willis, the doyen of Victorian English organ builders, to survive without substantial modification of its tonal design.
[22] The windows on the north and south sides of the chapel depict various Old Testament prophets, such as Jonah, and apostles, such as St Andrew.
It possesses about 3,500 volumes, almost 800 manuscripts, about 200 lithographs in Arabic and Persian, and about 700 rare and early Armenian books, most of which were donated by Dr. Caro Minasian.
[28] It also included a bar, which has since been moved to the Dr Lee Shau Kee Building and William Doo Undergraduate Centre.
[30] The Dr Lee Shau Kee Building and William Doo Undergraduate Centre were designed by Amanda Levete Architects.
Originally a series of orchards and market-gardens carved out from the property of the previously existing Augustinian priory, their appearance and configuration have been significantly modified over the course of the last four hundred years to reflect their constantly changing functional and aesthetic purpose.
Gardens were first created under Warden Wilkins (1648–1659) as a series of formal rectangles laid out around a (then fashionable) mound which was, in turn, surmounted by a figure of Atlas.
These gardens were notable not least for their collection of mechanical contrivances (including a talking statue and a rainbow-maker), a number of obelisks and a Doric temple.
In practice the SU is more concerned with undergraduate interests and activities, whilst the separate MCR committee represents graduate students.
Since 2012 the MCR has had its own social area in the McCall MacBain Graduate Centre, with its kitchen, small bar, and media room.
Notable alumni include influential figures from the finance, tech and legal sectors, in particular BlackRock, Google and Hogan Lovells.
An annual dinner is an important part of student life and has brought the years together over a shared love of pool and darts.
Wadham hosts Queerfest (formally Queer Bop), and Wadstock (a twelve-hour live music festival named after Woodstock).
The governing body has authorized me to tell you that we look forward with confidence to what you call a 'confrontation,' and I may say, with anticipation.In common with many Oxford colleges, Wadham has produced a wide range of graduates in the fields of economics, history, law, physiology, medicine, management, humanities, mathematics, science, technology, media, philosophy, poetry, politics and religion who have contributed significantly to public life.
Notable members of the college in its early years include Robert Blake, Cromwell's admiral and founder of British sea-power in the Mediterranean, John Cook the first solicitor general of the English Commonwealth and prosecutor of King Charles I, the libertine poet and courtier John Wilmot 2nd Earl of Rochester, and Sir Christopher Wren.
Wren attended the meetings of scientifically inclined scholars which were held by Warden John Wilkins (Cromwell's brother-in-law) in the college in the 1650s.
John Wilkins invited Robert Boyle to Oxford in 1653, writing that "[I] shall be most ready to provide the best accommodations for you, that this place will afford".
[55] Boyle moved to Oxford in 1655, but preferred not to accept Wilkins's offer of accommodation, choosing instead to arrange his own rooms where he could carry out his scientific experiments.
Among recent members have been Dr Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Dyson, former justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and Master of the Rolls, author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, writer and journalist Jonathan Freedland, novelists Hari Kunzru and Monica Ali, and Wasim Sajjad, former Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan and twice President of Pakistan.
Andrew Hodges, the theoretical physicist and author of The Imitation Game, the biography of Alan Turing, is a Tutorial Fellow in mathematics at Wadham.