Sir Ralph Waller KBE

Director of the Farmington Headteachers Institute

Sir Ralph Waller KBE is Director of the Farmington Headteachers Institute at Jesus College, Cambridge. He previously served as Principal of Harris Manchester College, Oxford (1988–2018) and as a Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford (2010–2018). He is also a British Methodist Minister.

Ralph Waller was born in Lincolnshire and educated at the University of London (BD) and the University of Nottingham (MTh). He later completed a PhD at King’s College London.

In 1994, he received the UK Templeton Prize for progress in religion. Over the years, universities in the United States, Europe, and Great Britain have awarded him honorary doctorates, including a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Wales, a Doctor of Theology from Uppsala University, and a Doctor of Education from Liverpool Hope University.

He currently holds the MacWilliams Fellowship in Divinity at the University of Wales, Trinity St David. In addition, he serves as a trustee of several charitable trusts, including the Thrombosis Research Institute and MGC Futures. He also chairs the Westminster College Trust and acts as Vice-Chair of the governors of Harris Westminster Sixth Form Academy. Furthermore, he serves as an ecumenical canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and of Ely Cathedral.

He was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2018 for services to education.