Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England. [1]
The will of Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) created scholarships that became known as Rhodes Scholarships, administered by the Rhodes Trust. [2]
Construction of Rhodes House began in 1926 after the Rhodes Trust purchased the two-acre plot from Wadham College the previous year. The mansion was designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker and modelled on the Cape Dutch farmhouse design and traditional English Country mansions. [3] This is reflected in the large beams, trans-domed windows and its Tetra-style portico. The square rubble walls were designed to be consistent with the Western European 17th century architecture of the Oxford University campus. Other features include the open-well staircase constructed from oak, featuring shaped balusters and carved eagle finials. [3] [1] Construction was completed in 1928 and the building and its library were handed over to Oxford University. [4] [1]
Rhodes House was commissioned by the Rhodes Trust as a memorial to Cecil Rhodes, to act as a centre for research for the "British Empire and Commonwealth, of African and the United States of America", and to be the headquarters of the Rhodes Scholarship system and Rhodes Trust.
Sir Herbert Baker, described as "Cecil Rhodes' own architect", [5] was the sole-architect of Rhodes House. Architectural sculpture was provided by Charles Wheeler, who also worked on other inter-war colonial buildings including: India House, South Africa House and the Neuve Chapelle Indian Memorial. [6] Rhodes House features a series of public rooms included a library, reading room, lecture hall and seminar rooms, a hall in which the Rhodes Scholars hold their annual dinner and the residence for the Rhodes Trust Oxford Secretary or Warden.
During 1931, Albert Einstein delivered a series of three lectures at Rhodes House. [7] Edmund Bowen, a chemistry don at the university, saved the blackboard used in the second lecture (on 16 May). Einstein's Blackboard, now an iconic object, can still be seen at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, [8] formally presented by Sir Francis Wylie, the Warden of Rhodes House at the time.
When Rhodes House was completed all the material relating to the British Empire and U.S. were transferred from the Bodleian Library. [5] Also known as the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth & African Studies at Rhodes House. In 1990 the library held more 330,000 books and the archives relating to US and other former colonies and dominions of the British Empire. The Library was a key research centre in the UK. [9]
In 2014 the Library moved to the Weston Library. [10] The Library is now known as the Commonwealth and African Studies Collections.
Rhodes House houses a significant collection of paintings and photographic portraits and busts, including of:
The Rhodes Trust is based at Rhodes House. The Rhodes Trust, established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of Cecil Rhodes, and by subsequent Acts of Parliament, is an educational charity [21] whose principal activity is to support scholars selected from the citizens of 14 specified geographic constituencies to study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes Scholarships for up to three years have been awarded annually since 1903. [22] The goals of Cecil Rhodes in creating the Scholarships were to promote civic-minded leadership among young people with (in the words of his 1899 Will) "moral force of character and instincts to lead", and (in the words of a 1901 codicil to his Will) to help "render war impossible" through promoting understanding between the great powers. [23]
In 2002, in partnership with Nelson Mandela, the Rhodes Trust established the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship. [24] The Rhodes Trust provides the Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with the Second Century Founders, John McCall MacBain O.C., the Atlantic Philanthropies, and other benefactors. In 2016 the Trust announced a partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies to create an Atlantic Institute, which has offices at Rhodes House. Funding for this project allowed the Trust to expand the total number of Rhodes Scholars and to offer scholarships to students from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, China, and West Africa. [25]
In 2017, the Schmidt Science Fellows programme was launched as a partnership between Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust. [26] The programme was established to facilitate cross-discipline research that could lead to scientific breakthroughs. [27] [28]
The Rhodes Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees, [29] and the Warden of Rhodes House acts as Secretary to the Trust. [30]
The following are trustees: [29]
Balliol College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world.
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Sir Zelman Cowen, was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982.
Edmund ("Ted") John Bowen FRS was a British physical chemist.
Sir Colin Renshaw Lucas, is a British historian and university administrator. From 1997 to 2004, he was the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. In May 2006, he was appointed Chair of the Board of the British Library for a four-year term ending 2010.
Sir John Clifford Valentine Behan, the first Rhodes Scholar from the state of Victoria, was an Australian educationalist and lawyer, the second warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, and "beyond the college life [at Trinity,] he was a sound and far-seeing secretary in Australia of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust for 30 years from 1922 to 1952".
Andrew Graham is a British political economist. He is currently Executive Chair of the Europaeum and Chair of the Academic Council of the Europaeum, Senior Fellow of the Oxford Internet Institute, Trustee of Reprieve, and an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
John H. McCall MacBain is a Swiss-based, Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is the founder of the McCall MacBain Foundation and Pamoja Capital SA, its investment arm. Prior to establishing the McCall MacBain Foundation, in the late 1980s he bought Auto Hebdo magazine in Montréal, Canada and bought and consolidated several other existing Auto Traders and Buy and Sell classified papers to form Trader Classified Media with operations in 23 countries.
The South African College Schools is a public English medium primary and high education institution situated in Newlands - part of the Southern Suburbs region of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Founded in 1829, it is the oldest continously run school in South Africa.
Elizabeth Kiss is an American philosopher and academic administrator, specialising in moral and political philosophy. Since 2018, she has been the Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford University, and CEO of the Rhodes Trust. She is responsible for administering the Rhodes Scholarship, providing pastoral support to existing Rhodes Scholars and coordinating the Rhodes Trust. She is the first woman to hold this role. Previously she served as president of Agnes Scott College.
Sir Francis James Wylie was a British university academic and administrator. He was the first Warden of Rhodes House at the University of Oxford, England.
Sir Carleton Kemp Allen was an Australian-born professor and Warden of Rhodes House, University of Oxford. Entry by his successor as Warden of Rhodes House, E.T. Williams, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Sir Kenneth Clinton Wheare, CMG was an Australian academic, who spent most of his career at Oxford University in England. He was an expert on the constitutions of the British Commonwealth. He advised constitutional assemblies in former British colonies.
Donald John Markwell is an Australian social scientist, who has been described as a "renowned Australian educational reformer". He was appointed Head of St Mark's College, Adelaide, from November 2019. He was Senior Adviser to the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate from October 2015 to December 2017, and was previously Senior Adviser on Higher Education to the Australian Minister for Education.
Charles R. Conn is a Canadian and American CEO, conservationist and author. In 2021 he co-founded and is partner of Monograph, a life sciences venture firm. In 2019 he was the CEO of Oxford Sciences Innovation. Previously, he was the warden and global CEO of Rhodes House and the Rhodes Trust, the organization responsible for administering the Rhodes Scholarship from 2013 to 2018.
Dr John Rowett OBE is a British historian and academic administrator. He has served as Fellow and Tutor in History at Brasenose College, Oxford; as Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford (1999–2004); and as Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (2004–07).)
Bob Tulloch is a British portrait painter whose portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery in London, several colleges of the University of Oxford, and elsewhere. He was educated in London, at Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford, and at the Royal Academy Schools, London.
Elliot Francis Gerson is an American nonprofit executive, formerly a lawyer, business executive and state and federal government official. He is executive vice president of The Aspen Institute, and the American Secretary of The Rhodes Trust.
Robert Warden Lee, FBA was a British lawyer, Rhodes Professor of Roman-Dutch law, and fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
Books and articles by former Wardens of Rhodes House, Oxford:
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