William Osler connection
Now home to the Osler-McGovern Centre, 13 Norham Gardens was one of the finest houses in Oxford when Sir William Osler acquired it in 1907, two years after his appointment to the Regius Professorship of Medicine. It thus became the home in Oxford of one of the greatest physicians in the history of medicine. After Osler's time, it was also occupied by two other Regius Professors – first Sir George Pickering and then Sir Richard Doll, the last Regius Professor to live there.
During the fourteen years of Sir William Osler's Regius Professorship he made 13 Norham Gardens a meeting place and source of inspiration for medical students, physicians, scientists and academic visitors from all over the world. It soon became known as 'The Open Arms' for the warm welcome it offered. The Oslers' home became the Atlantic bridge for medical scientists and practitioners.
Today, the Centre promotes the integration of the art and science of medicine by uniting a community of scholars through programmes involving lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences, visiting scholars and post-doctoral Fellows.
13 Norham Gardens is also home to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.