History of Green Templeton

Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, was established in its current form in October 2008 through the merger of Green and Templeton Colleges.

From its foundation, its dynamism has come from being a meeting point of the practitioner, professional and academic worlds. It is above all an active and engaged intellectual approach rather than a purely reflective one.

Green College, founded in 1979 on the current college site with support from Dr Cecil Green of Texas Instruments, pioneered the work of medical and applied social science postgraduate students. The first Warden of Green College was Sir Richard Doll (1912–2005) who, in 1950, published the scientific paper demonstrating the clear link between smoking and cancer.

Templeton College’s origins go back to 1965 with the foundation of the Oxford Centre for Management Studies based on the edge of the city. Templeton College was inaugurated in 1984 following support from Sir John Templeton (1912–2008). It established business and management education at Oxford and since its advent has brought together global leaders from diverse fields.

The eighteenth-century Radcliffe Observatory dominates the three-acre college site. The building functioned as an observatory from 1773 until 1934.

The college premises include 13 Norham Gardens which started as a meeting place and source of inspiration for medical students, physicians, scientists and academic visitors from all over the world. Under Sir William Osler’s stewardship it became known as ‘The Open Arms’.