Christopher Whitton to succeed Stephen Oakley as Kennedy Chair

Christopher Whitton, our Director of Studies in Classics, has just been appointed to succeed Stephen Oakley, another Fellow of Emmanuel, in the Kennedy Professorship of Latin, one of the world’s most prestigious posts in Classics. The Professorship was established with funds raised by the friends and admirers of Benjamin Hall Kennedy, the author of the primer. One of their predecessors as Kennedy Professor was the poet and famous classical scholar A. E. Housman.

Stephen Oakley writes: ‘I am delighted that Chris has been appointed as my successor. More recent Classics alumni will know him well as their super-efficient Director of Studies and dedicated teacher of Latin literature; they may not know of the international reputation that has come from his two brilliant books: Pliny the Younger: Epistles, Book II and The arts of imitation in Latin prose: Pliny’s “Epistles”/Quintilian in brief. It is very good news for the college that the professorship will continue to be associated with it.’