List of masters of Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, is governed by the Master and Fellows of the college. The Master, when elected, must be "the person who is, in their [the Fellows'] judgement, most fit for the government of the College as a place of religion, learning, and education".^[1] Although the rules in no way suggest a preference for an alumnus/alumna or Fellow of the college to be chosen, there have been few who were not: only one Master in the 20th century had no previous connection with the college (David Lindsay Keir 1946-1964) and the previous non-member to hold the post before that was Theophilus Leigh, elected in 1726. However, the current Master of Balliol, Helen Ghosh, studied at St Hugh's and Hertford colleges.

Benjamin Jowett

Edward Caird

James Leigh Strachan Davidson

Baruch Samuel Blumberg

List of masters of Balliol

Name	Date	Details
Walter de Fodringeye	1282
Hugh de Warkenby	1296
Stephen de Cornubia	1303
Richard de Chickwell	1309
Thomas de Waldeby	1321
Henry de Seton	1323
Nicholas de Luceby	1327
John Poclynton	1332
Hugh Corbrygge	1340
Robert de Derby	1356
John Wycliffe	1360
John Hugate	1366
Thomas Tyrwhit	1371
Hamond Haskman	1397
William Lambert	1406
Thomas Chase	1412
Robert Burley	1428
Richard Stapilton	1429
William Brandon	1429
Robert Twaytes	1450
William Lambton	1461
John Segden	1472
Robert Abdy	1477
William Bell	1496
Richard Barningham	1504
Thomas Cisson	1511
Richard Stubbys	1518
William White	1525
George Coote	1539
William Wright	1545
James Brooks	1547	Bishop of Gloucester (1554–1558)
William Wright	1555
Francis Babington	1559
Antony Garnet	1560
Robert Hooper	1563
John Piers	1570
Adam Squier	1571
Edmund Lilly	1580
Robert Abbots	1609	Later Bishop of Salisbury
John Parkhurst	1616
Thomas Laurence	1637
George Bradshaw	1646
Henry Savage	1650
Thomas Good	1672
John Venn	1678
Roger Mander	1687
John Baron	1704
Joseph Hunt	1721
Theophilus Leigh	1726	Longest incumbent in office
John Davey	1785
John Parsons	1798	Bishop of Peterborough from 1813
Richard Jenkyns	1819
Robert Scott	1854	Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at Oxford (1861 to 1870) Dean of Rochester (1870 to 1887)
Benjamin Jowett	1870
Edward Caird	1893–1907	Snell Exhibitioner 1860 Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow 1866 First lay Master.[2]
James Leigh Strachan Davidson	1907–16 [3]
Arthur Lionel Smith	1916–24[4]
Alexander Dunlop Lindsay	1924–49	Vice-Chancellor in 1935. Founder of the University of Keele[5]
David Lindsay Keir	1949–65	Fellow of University Coll. 1921 Vice-Chancellor, Queen's University Belfast 1939.[6]
Christopher Hill	1965–78
Sir Anthony Kenny	1978–89
Baruch Blumberg	1989–94	George Eastman Visiting Professor 1983 Co-recipient of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Colin Lucas	1994–2001	Vice-Chancellor (1997–2004)
Andrew Graham	1997–2001 (acting) 2001–2011[7][8]
Drummond Bone	2011–18	Byron Scholar, Snell Exhibitioner 1968 Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London (2000 to 2002) Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool (2002 to 2008)[9]
Helen Ghosh	From April 2018
Seamus Perry	From July 2026 (incoming)