Vice-Chancellor's Office
The Chancellor
In the UK university system, the office of Chancellor is held by a distinguished individual, from academia or public life, who is not usually resident and does not hold any other University office. The Chancellor of the University of Cambridge is Lord Sainsbury of Turville, who was elected in a ballot of the Senate in October 2011. The Chancellor is responsible under the Statutes for adjudicating in certain disputes, and is Visitor of several of the Cambridge Colleges. The Chancellor also presides at major ceremonies - the best-known being the annual ceremony for the conferment of Honorary Degrees.
List of former Chancellors
| Date elected | Name |
|---|---|
| c.1246 | Hugh de Hottun |
| 1256 | Reginald de Gerninghall |
| 1259 | William de Ludham |
| 1260 | Richard de Gedney |
| 1261 | Richard Dryfield |
| 1267 | John de Asgarby |
| 1270-75 | John Hooke |
| 1276 | Roger de Fulbourn |
| 1283-84 | Andrew de Gisleham |
| 1286 | Thomas de Sheringham [Skeringham] |
| 1287 | Stephen de Hepworth |
| 1289 | Ralph de Leicester |
| 1290-92 | Geoffrey de Pakenham |
| 1293-94 | Henry de Bolton |
| 1295 | John de Bradenham |
| 1296 | Thomas de Sheringham [Skeringham] [again] |
| 1298 | Thomas de Sheringham [Skeringham] [again] |
| 1300-01 | Stephen de Haslingfield |
| 1303 | Stephen de Haslingfield [again] |
| 1306 | Stephen de Segrave |
| 1307 | Stephen de Segrave [again] |
| 1315 | Richard de Aston |
| 1320 | Roger de Northburgh |
| 1326 | Richard de Badew |
| 1329 | Thomas de Foxton |
| c.1330 | Robert de Wynwyk |
| 1331 | John de Langley |
| 1334 | Robert de Mildenhall |
| 1335-36 | Henry de Herewarden |
| 1337 | Richard de Harling |
| 1339 | Richard de Harling [again] |
| 1340 | Robert de Claydon |
| 1341 | Thomas de Northwood |
| 1344 | Thomas de Northwood [again] |
| 1345 | Richard de Harling [again] |
| 1346-48 | John de Crakhall |
| 1348 | Thomas de Grantchester |
| 1348 | William de Lymbergh |
| 1349 | Richard de Wetherset [Wetheringsett], alias de Cantabrigia |
| 1349 | Richard de Harling [again] |
| 1351 | Richard de Harling [again] |
| 1352 | Anthony de Grantchester |
| 1352-59 | William Tynkell |
| 1359 | Thomas de Sutton |
| 1360 | Richard de Wetherset [Wetheringsett] [again] |
| c.1361 | Michael de Haynton |
| 1361-63 | Michael de Cawston |
| 1366 | William de Gotham |
| 1369 | Thomas de Stewkley |
| 1371 | John de Dunwich |
| 1373 | Adam de Lakynheth |
| 1374 | John de Dunwich [again] |
| 1376 | William de Gotham [again] |
| 1378 | Richard Le Scrope |
| 1380 | Guy de la Zouch |
| 1381 | Sir John de Cavendish |
| 1382 | John de Bromyard [Dominican] |
| 1382 | Guy de la Zouch [again] |
| 1383 | John de Neketon |
| 1384 | John de Burgh |
| 1388 | William Colvile |
| 1390 | Richard de Dereham |
| 1390 | William Colvile |
| 1391 | William Colvile [again] |
| 1392 | John de Neketon [again] |
| 1394 | William Colvile [again] |
| 1396 | Guy de la Zouch [again] |
| 1400 | Richard de Billingford |
| 1402 | Richard de Billingford [again] |
| 1404 | Richard de Dereham [again] |
| 1408 | Richard de Dereham [again] |
| 1409 | Richard de Billingford [again] |
| 1412 | Thomas Ashwell [name surmised] |
| 1413 | Richard de Billingford [again] |
| 1414 | Stephen Le Scrope |
| 1415-21 | John de Rickingale |
| 1422 | Thomas de Cobham |
| 1424-25 | Robert Fitzhugh |
| 1426 | William Wymbell |
| 1427-28 | Marmaduke Lumley |
| 1429-30 | John de Holbroke [died 1430] |
| 1430 | John de Rickingale [again] |
| 1431 | William Lascells |
| 1432 | Richard de Billingford [again] |
| 1433-35 | Richard Cawdrey |
| 1436-43 | John de Langton |
| 1445 | Nicholas de Kenton |
| 1447 | John de Langton [again] |
| 1447-48 | Robert de Ascough |
| 1450 | Nicholas Close |
| 1451, 53, 55 | William Percy [son of the Earl of Northumberland] |
| 1456-58 | Laurence Booth |
| 1458 | William Wilflett |
| 1459-60 | Robert Woodlark |
| 1461 | Richard Scroope |
| 1462 | Robert Woodlark [again] |
| 1463 | John Booth |
| 1464 | William Wilflett [again] |
| 1465 | John, Herrison |
| 1466 | William Wilflett [again] |
| 1468 | Edward Story |
| 1469 | Thomas Rotherham |
| 1470 | Edward Story [again] |
| 1473, 75, 78 | Rotherham, Thomas [again] |
| 1479 | John Boynton |
| 1483 | Thomas Rotherham [again] |
| 1485 | Thomas Northwood |
| 1488 | Richard Badew |
| 1490 | Thomas Cosyn |
| 1494-95 | John Blythe |
| 1496 | John Fitzhugh [perhaps George, see 1502] |
| 1500 | Richard Fox |
| 1502 | George Fitzhugh |
| 1503 | Thomas Ruthall [Rowthall] |
| 1504 | John Fisher |
| 1514 | John Fisher |
| 1535 | Thomas Cromwell |
| 1539 | Stephen Gardiner |
| 1547 | Edward, Duke of Somerset Seymour |
| 1552 | John, Duke of Northumberland Dudley |
| 1553 | Stephen Gardiner [again] |
| 1556 | Cardinal Reginald Pole |
| 1559 | William Cecil, Lord Burghley |
| 1598 | Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex |
| 1601 | Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury |
| 1612 | Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton |
| 1613 | Thomas Howard [2], Earl of Suffolk |
| 1626 | George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham |
| 1627 | Henry Rich, Earl of Holland |
| 1648 | Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester |
| 1651 | Oliver St John |
| 1660 | Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester [restored] |
| 1671 | George Villiers [2], Duke of Buckingham |
| 1674 | James Scott, Duke of Monmouth |
| 1682 | Christopher Monck [Monk], Duke of Albemarle |
| 1689 | Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset |
| 1748 | Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of Newcastle |
| 1768 | Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton |
| 1811 | HRH Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh |
| 1834 | John Jeffreys Pratt, Marquis of Camden |
| 1840 | Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland |
| 1847 | HRH Prince Albert, The Prince Consort |
| 1861 | William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire |
| 1892 | Spencer Compton Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire |
| 1908 | John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh |
| 1919 | Arthur James Balfour, Earl Balfour |
| 1930 | Stanley Baldwin, Earl Baldwin of Bewdley |
| 1948-50 | Jan Christiaan Smuts, Field Marshal |
| 1951 | Arthur William Tedder, Lord Tedder |
| 1967 | Edgar Douglas Adrian, Lord Adrian |
| 1977 | HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh |
| 2011 | Lord Sainsbury of Turville |