In November, we were delighted to welcome two Old Members back to Worcester to become Honorary Fellows.

In a ceremony conducted by the Provost and Dean of Degrees, Honorary Fellowships were conferred on Sir John Benger (1982, PGCE) and Sir Richard Moore (1982, PPE). Worcester’s Honorary Fellowships are awarded to individuals distinguished in their fields who have made a sustained impact in the world. Both of our new Honorary Fellows have dedicated their careers to public service.

Sir John Benger KCB studied for his PGCE and DPhil at Worcester, which explored Elizabethan puritan polemical and satirical writings. He went on to join the House of Commons Service in 1986 and was the 51st Clerk of the House of Commons from 2019 to 2023, serving as the chief adviser to the House on matters of parliamentary procedure, privilege and broader constitutional issues. In the 2023 New Year Honours list he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for services to Parliament and, in the same year, became Master of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. As ‘sister colleges’ in Oxford and Cambridge, Worcester and Catz have a long history and friendship, explored in more detail in a fascinating article on the St Catharine’s website.

Sir Richard Moore KCMG read PPE at Worcester and won a Kennedy Scholarship to Harvard for postgraduate study. He attended the Stanford Executive Programme in 2007. Richard held Foreign Office postings in Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia before becoming HM Ambassador to Turkey in 2014. From 2018 to 2020, he was Director General for Political Affairs at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Since 2020 he has been ‘C’ – Chief of MI6 and the only member of the Secret Intelligence Service whose identity is public knowledge. Richard was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to UK/Turkey relations and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to national security and British foreign policy.

We look forward to the continued contributions John and Richard will make to the Worcester community as Honorary Fellows.

See our other Honorary Fellows