View source for Gresham College

{{Short description|Educational institution in London, England}}
{{about|the educational institution in London|the independent school in Norfolk|Gresham's School}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                 = Gresham College
 | image_name           = File:Gresham College Coat of Arms.svg
 | image_size           = 175px
 | caption              = [[Coat of arms]]
 | other_name           = 
 | motto                = For the Love of Learning since 1597
 | mottoeng             = 
 | established          = {{start date and age|1597}}{{efn|name=foundingyear}}
 | endowment            = £1,617,929 (2022) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_regId=1039962&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_subId=0|title=GRESHAM COLLEGE - Charity 1039962|website=register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk|access-date=24 December 2023|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180101/https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_regId=1039962&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_subId=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
 | budget               = 
 | chancellor           = 
 | head_label           = Chair of Council
 | head                 = [[Robert Allison (geographer)|Professor Robert Allison]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/organisation/governance|title=Governance &#124; Gresham College|website=www.gresham.ac.uk|access-date=10 February 2023|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604000252/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/organisation/governance|url-status=live}}</ref>
 | academic_staff       = 10 professorships
 | administrative_staff = 
 | students             = 
 | undergrad            = 
 | postgrad             = 
 | city                 = [[Holborn]], [[London]]
 | country              = [[United Kingdom]]
 | campus               = Urban
 | colours              = {{color box|#31D9A8}} <br />{{color box|#01013D}}
 | free_label           = [[Academic scarf|Scarf]]
 | free                 = 
 | website              = {{Official website}}
 | logo                 = Gresham College logo.svg
 | affiliations         = 
}}

'''Gresham College''' is an institution of higher learning located at [[Barnard's Inn]] Hall off [[Holborn]] in [[Central London]], England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597{{efn|name=foundingyear|1596 [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]] in the Julian calendar used at the time, 1597 in the [[Gregorian calendar]] currently used.}} under the [[Will (law)|will]] of Sir [[Thomas Gresham]], and hosts over 140 free public lectures every year. Since 2001, all lectures have been made available online. {{As of|2025}}, the Acting Provost is [[Sarah B. Hart|Professor Sarah Hart]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Governance|publisher=Gresham College|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/organisation/governance|access-date=2024-08-09|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604000252/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/organisation/governance|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
===First four centuries===
Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the [[Royal Exchange (London)|Royal Exchange]], left his estate jointly to the [[City of London Corporation]] and the [[Mercers' Company]], which today support the college through the Joint Grand Gresham Committee under the presidency of the [[Lord Mayor of London]]. Gresham's will provided for the setting up of the college – in Gresham's mansion in [[Bishopsgate]], on the site now occupied by [[Tower 42]], the former NatWest Tower – and endowed it with the rental income from shops sited around the Royal Exchange.

The early success of the college led to the incorporation of the [[Royal Society]] in 1660,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/Gresham-College-and-Arunde-House/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909124227/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/Gresham-College-and-Arunde-House/|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 September 2012|title=Gresham College and Arundel House|publisher=Royal Society}}</ref> which pursued its activities at the college in Bishopsgate before moving to its own premises in Crane Court in 1710. Gresham College was mentioned "particularly and academically" alongside the [[Inns of Court]] and other colleges in London as part of a figurative University of London in Sir [[George Buck]]'s tract, ''The Third Universitie of England: Or a Treatise of the Foundations of all the Colledges, Auncient Schooles of Priviledge, and of Houses of Learning, and Liberall Arts, within and about the Most Famous Cittie of London'', published in 1615 as an appendix to [[John Stow]]'s ''Annales''. The 17th century saw various proposals for a [[Third-oldest university in England debate|third university in England]], including one in London, taking in Gresham College.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Social History of Education in England|page=155|author1=John Lawson|author2=Harold Silver|publisher=Routledge|date=28 October 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZJFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA155|isbn=9781134531950}}</ref>

The college remained in Gresham's mansion in Bishopsgate until 1768, and moved about London thereafter until the construction in 1842 of its own buildings in Gresham Street EC2. Gresham College did not become part of the [[University of London]] on the founding of the university in the 19th century, although a close association between the college and the university persisted for many years. In 1892 the foundation of a 'Gresham University' in London was proposed in Parliament, intended to be a "Teaching University worthy of this Metropolis."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1892-03-10/debates/cf4a9631-0437-492b-b0a6-561b686ba366/GreshamUniversityCharter|title=Gresham University Charter - Hansard - UK Parliament|access-date=4 October 2023|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180109/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1892-03-10/debates/cf4a9631-0437-492b-b0a6-561b686ba366/GreshamUniversityCharter|url-status=live}}</ref> This was opposed by the [[Victoria University (United Kingdom)|Victoria University]] on the grounds that its medical faculty would dominate medical teaching in the country to the detriment of Manchester.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb133-fvu/fvu/4/17|title=Bundle: Albert/Gresham University petitions - Administrative documents - Victoria University Archive - Archives Hub|website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk|access-date=24 December 2023|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180114/https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/a1ab7d14-5640-3568-b434-01ab0fedb876?component=7c9a1858-4515-3112-bbb4-13a51f1a9916|url-status=live}}</ref> The proposed university may just have borrowed the name from the college.

===21st century===
Since 1991, the college has operated at [[Barnard's Inn|Barnard's Inn Hall]], [[Holborn]] EC1. Since 2000, the college regularly invites visiting speakers to deliver lectures on topics outside its usual range, and it also hosts occasional seminars and conferences.  The college provides over 140 lectures a year, all  open to the public free of charge.

Since 2001, the college has been recording its lectures and releasing them online in what is now an archive<ref>{{cite web| title=Watch Now| publisher=Gresham College| url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now| access-date=8 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Past Lectures|publisher=Gresham College | date=June 2014 | url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/past | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702004938/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/past | archive-date=2 July 2014 | url-status=dead}}</ref> of over 2,000 lectures. Since 2007, lectures have also been available through [[YouTube]], with 54 million views of 3,000 videos and 282,000 subscribers {{as of|2024|August|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1t6kKXoBvjdr8m9KJ2Fx7A|title=Gresham College|website=YouTube|access-date=9 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/greshamcollege|title=GreshamCollege#s YouTube Stats|access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref>

Annual lectures series of particular note hosted by the college include: the Gresham Special Lecture, the Annual Lord Mayor's Event, and the [[Gray's Inn]] Reading.

The college is a [[Charitable organization|registered charity]] under English law.<ref>{{EW charity|1039962}}</ref>

==Professors==
[[File:Gresham College, 1740.jpg|thumb|upright=1.9|Gresham College, engraving by [[George Vertue]], 1740|right]]

[[File:Barnard's Inn Hall (Gresham College).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Barnard's Inn]] Hall, the current home of Gresham College]]The seven original Gresham College professorships that date back to the origins of the college are:

* [[Gresham Professor of Astronomy|Astronomy]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Divinity|Divinity]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Geometry|Geometry]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Law|Law]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Music|Music]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Physic|Physic]]
* [[Gresham Professor of Rhetoric|Rhetoric]]

These original endowed chairs reflect the curriculum of the medieval [[university]] (the [[trivium (education)|trivium]] and [[quadrivium]]); but as a place for the public and frequent voicing of new ideas, the college played an important role in the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] and in the formation of the [[Royal Society]]. Early distinguished Gresham College professors included [[Christopher Wren]], who lectured on astronomy in the 17th century, and [[Robert Hooke]], who was Professor of Geometry from 1665 until 1704.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-professor-of-geometry|title=Gresham Professor of Geometry|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=20 June 2011|archive-date=26 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526130956/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-professor-of-geometry|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{blockquote|''The geometrician is to read as followeth, every Trinity term arithmetique, in [[Michaelmas term|Michaelmas]] and [[Hilary term]]s theoretical geometry, in Easter term practical geometry. The astronomy reader is to read in his solemn lectures, first the principles of the sphere, and the theory of the planets, and the use of the [[astrolabe]] and the [[Jacob's staff|staff]], and other common instruments for the capacity of mariners.''<ref name="Will">[http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=4&EventId=385 "Who invented the calculus? – and other 17th century topics"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928035913/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=4&EventId=385 |date=28 September 2007 }} Gresham lecture by Robin Wilson, 16 November 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2006.</ref>}} The professors received £50 a year, and the duties of their positions were specified tightly.

Today three further professorships have been added:

* [[Gresham Professor of Commerce|Commerce]], established in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mercers.co.uk/gresham-college|title=Gresham College|work=mercers.co.uk|access-date=27 July 2015|archive-date=8 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908035253/http://www.mercers.co.uk/gresham-college|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Gresham Professor of the Environment|Environment]], established in 2014.<ref>[http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-college-press-release-25062014 "Gresham Professor of the Environment: Carolyn Roberts appointed to only the second new Professorship in 400 years"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925093246/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-college-press-release-25062014 |date=25 September 2015 }}, Gresham College press release, 25 June 2014 (accessed 27/07/15)</ref>
* [[IT Livery Company Professor of Information Technology|Information Technology]], established in 2015.<ref>[http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-college-press-release-260615 "Elizabethan "University" Appoints Professor of IT"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925090025/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/gresham-college-press-release-260615 |date=25 September 2015 }}, Gresham College press release, 26 June 2015 (accessed 27/07/15)</ref>

The professors generally hold their positions for three years,<ref>{{cite web | title=Profile of Gresham College | website=uk-universities.net |year=2019| url=http://www.uk-universities.net/Universities/Gresham-College.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004104416/http://www.uk-universities.net/Universities/Gresham-College.html | archive-date=4 October 2023 | url-status=dead }}</ref> extendable for a fourth year, and give six lectures a year.  There are also regular [[Visiting Gresham Professor|visiting professors appointed]] to give series of lectures at the College, and many single-lecture speakers.

==Gresham Special Lecture series==
[[File:Barnards inn.jpg|325px|thumb|Frontage of Barnard's Inn Buildings]]
The Gresham Special Lecture – now called The Sir Thomas Gresham Annual Lecture – originated in 1983 as a free public lecture delivered by a prominent speaker. It was devised as a focus-point among the many free public lectures offered every year.
* 2025: [[Chris Whitty|Professor Chris Whitty]] – 'The Future of Health'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Future of Health {{!}} Gresham College |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/future-health-25 |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=www.gresham.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>
* 2024: [[Bernardine Evaristo|Bernadine Evaristo]] – 'The Stories We Make Up & The Stories That Make Us'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Stories We Make Up & The Stories That Make Us {{!}} Gresham College |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/thomas-gresham-24 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=www.gresham.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>
* 2023: [[Rory Stewart]] – 'Populism, Aristotle and Hope'.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/thomas-gresham-23|title=Populism, Aristotle and Hope|work=gresham.ac.uk}}</ref>
* 2022: [[Sir Roger Penrose]] – 'The Journey from Black-Hole Singularities to a Cyclic Cosmology'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/thomas-gresham-22|title=The Journey from Black-Hole Singularities to a Cyclic Cosmology|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=28 June 2023|archive-date=17 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217085908/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/thomas-gresham-22|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2021: [[Nicholas Kenyon|Sir Nicholas Kenyon]] – 'The Barbican Centre at 40 – Past, Present and Future'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/thomas-gresham-21 |title=The Barbican Centre at 40 – Past, Present and Future |work=gresham.ac.uk |access-date=12 September 2022 |archive-date=9 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180548/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/thomas-gresham-21 |url-status=live }}</ref> 
* 2020: No lecture
* 2019: [[John Guy (historian)|Dr John Guy]] – 'Sir Thomas Gresham 1519–2019'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/thomas-gresham-1519-2019|title=Sir Thomas Gresham 1519–2019|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180550/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/thomas-gresham-1519-2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2018: [[Julia Slingo|Dame Julia Slingo FRS]] – 'Climate Change: A Defining Challenge for the 21st Century'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/climate-change-a-defining-challenge-for-the-21st-century|title=Climate Change: A Defining Challenge for the 21st Century|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420045131/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/climate-change-a-defining-challenge-for-the-21st-century|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2017: [[Alan Rusbridger]] – 'A World Without News?'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-world-without-news|title=A World Without News?|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=23 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423025756/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-world-without-news|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2016: [[Tessa Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone|The Rt Hon the Baroness Blackstone]] – 'Universities: Some Policy Dilemmas'<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/universities-some-policy-dilemmas|title=Universities: Some Policy Dilemmas|work=gresham.ac.uk}}</ref>
* 2015: [[Barbara Stocking|Dame Barbara Stocking DBE]] – 'Women's Careers: From Oxfam to a Cambridge College'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/womens-careers-from-oxfam-to-a-cambridge-college|title=Women's Careers: From Oxfam to a Cambridge College|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425025222/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/womens-careers-from-oxfam-to-a-cambridge-college|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2014: [[Stephen Hodder|Stephen Hodder MBE]] – 'Continuity and Development in Architecture'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/continuity-and-development-in-architecture|title=Continuity and Development in Architecture|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425030709/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/continuity-and-development-in-architecture|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2013: [[Richard Lambert|Sir Richard Peter Lambert]] – 'The UK and the New Face of Europe'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-uk-and-the-new-face-of-europe|title=The UK and the New Face of Europe|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425025618/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-uk-and-the-new-face-of-europe|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2012: [[John Bercow|The Rt Hon John Bercow]] – 'Parliament and the Public: Strangers or Friends?'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/parliament-and-the-public-strangers-or-friends|title=Parliament and the Public: Strangers or Friends?|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 June 2012|archive-date=15 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615204151/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/parliament-and-the-public-strangers-or-friends|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2011: [[Sir Adam Roberts]] – 'Reinventing the Wheel: The cost of neglecting international history'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-reinventing-the-wheel-the-cost-of-neglecting|title=Reinventing the Wheel: The cost of neglecting international history|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=1 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701012930/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-reinventing-the-wheel-the-cost-of-neglecting|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2010: [[Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers]] – 'The Challenges of the New Supreme Court'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-the-challenges-of-the-new-supreme-court|title=The Challenges of the New Supreme Court|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702153534/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-the-challenges-of-the-new-supreme-court|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2009: [[Niall Ferguson]] – 'The Ascent of money: An evolutionary approach to financial history'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-the-ascent-of-money-an-evolutionary-approach-to|title=The Ascent of Money: An evolutionary approach to financial history|work=gresham.ac.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702155133/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-gresham-special-lecture-the-ascent-of-money-an-evolutionary-approach-to|archive-date=2 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* 2008: [[Rowan Williams|The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams]] – 'Early Christianity & Today: Some shared questions' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/early-christianity-today-some-shared-questions|title=Early Christianity & Today: some shared questions|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702125421/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/early-christianity-today-some-shared-questions|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2007: [[Roy Strong|Sir Roy Strong]] – 'The Beauty of Holiness and its Perils (or what is to happen to 10,000 parish churches?)'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-beauty-of-holiness-and-its-perils-or-what-is-to-happen-to-10000-parish|title=The Beauty of Holiness and its Perils (or what is to happen to 10,000 parish churches?)|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806050327/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-beauty-of-holiness-and-its-perils-or-what-is-to-happen-to-10000-parish|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2006: [[Helena Kennedy|Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws]] – 'Walking the Line: Preserving liberty in times of insecurity'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/walking-the-line-preserving-liberty-in-times-of-insecurity|title=Walking the Line: Preserving liberty in times of insecurity|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702151911/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/walking-the-line-preserving-liberty-in-times-of-insecurity|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2005: [[Robert Winston|Lord Winston]] – 'Should we trust the scientists?'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/should-we-trust-the-scientists|title=Should We Trust The Scientists?|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806050254/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/should-we-trust-the-scientists|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2004: [[Martin Rees|Lord Rees of Ludlow]] – 'Science in a Complex World: Wonders, Prospects and Threats'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/science-in-a-complex-world-wonders-prospects-and-threats|title=Science in a Complex World: Wonders, Prospects and Threats|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=2 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702155203/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/science-in-a-complex-world-wonders-prospects-and-threats|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2003: [[Sir Harold Kroto]] – 'I think, therefore I am – a scientist'
* 2002: [[M. S. Swaminathan]] – 'Towards Freedom from Hunger: A Global Food for Sustainable Development Initiative'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/special-lecture-2002-towards-freedom-from-hunger|title=Towards Freedom from Hunger|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=18 July 2011|archive-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806050628/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/special-lecture-2002-towards-freedom-from-hunger|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2001: [[Charles Saumarez Smith|Dr Charles Saumarez Smith]] – 'Commerce and Culture in the Late Twentieth Century'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/commerce-and-culture-in-the-late-twentieth-century|title=Commerce and Culture in the Late Twentieth Century|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=1 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901224643/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/commerce-and-culture-in-the-late-twentieth-century|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2000: [[Hans Küng]] – 'A Global Ethics – A Challenge for the New Millennium'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-global-ethic-a-challenge-for-the-new-millennium|title=A Global Ethic – A Challenge for the New Millennium|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=1 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901225629/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-global-ethic-a-challenge-for-the-new-millennium|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1999: [[Shirley Williams|Baroness Williams of Crosby]] – 'Snakes and Ladders: A reflection on a post-war political life'
* 1998: [[Adrian Cadbury|Sir Adrian Cadbury]] – 'The Future for Governance: The rules of the game'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-future-for-governance-the-rules-of-the-game|title=The Future for Governance: The Rules of the Game|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925084902/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-future-for-governance-the-rules-of-the-game|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1997: [[Ian Archer|Dr Ian Archer]] – 'Thomas Gresham's London'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/sir-thomas-greshams-london|title=Sir Thomas Gresham's London|work=gresham.ac.uk}}</ref>
* 1996: [[Peter Middleton (banker)|Sir Peter Middleton]] – 'Banking Today'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/banking-today|title=Banking Today|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=3 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303061417/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/banking-today|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1995: [[Michael Howard (historian)|Sir Michael Howard]] – 'Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of VE Day'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ve-day-fifty-years-after|title=VE Day: Fifty Years After|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925091423/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ve-day-fifty-years-after|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1993: [[Howard Davies (economist)|Howard Davies]] – 'The City and Manufacturing Industry'
* 1992: [[Hermann von Richthofen|Baron Hermann von Richthofen]] – 'A United Germany in the New Europe'
* 1991: [[John Polkinghorne|Revd. Dr J. Polkinghorne]] – 'Science and Theology: Traffic across the frontier'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/science-and-theology-traffic-across-the-frontier|title=Science and Theology: Traffic Across the Frontier|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809180658/https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/science-and-theology-traffic-across-frontier|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1989: [[Ralf Dahrendorf|Sir Ralf Dahrendorf]] – 'The Decline of Socialism'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-decline-of-socialism|title=The Decline of Socialism|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=6 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406012238/http://gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-decline-of-socialism|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1988: [[Kirill I of Moscow|The Most Reverend Kirill Archbishop of Smolensk]] – 'Russian Orthodox Church Life Today: The Second Millennium'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/russian-orthodox-church-life-today-the-second-millennium|title=Russian Orthodox Church Life Today: The Second Millennium|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925090556/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/russian-orthodox-church-life-today-the-second-millennium|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1987: [[George Porter|Sir George Porter]] – 'Popular and Unpopular Science'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/popular-and-unpopular-science|title=Popular and Unpopular Science|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403062541/http://gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/popular-and-unpopular-science|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1985: [[David Young, Baron Young of Graffham|The Rt Hon The Lord Young of Graffham]] – 'The Rise and Fall of the Entrepreneur'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-entrepreneur|title=The Rise and Fall of the Entrepreneur|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=4 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804150155/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-entrepreneur|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1984: [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Lord Blake]] – 'Monarchy'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/monarchy|title=Monarchy|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403043738/http://gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/monarchy|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1983: [[Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman|Lord Scarman]] – 'Human Rights and the Democratic Process'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/human-rights-and-the-democratic-process|title=Human Rights and the Democratic Process|work=gresham.ac.uk|access-date=19 October 2012|archive-date=30 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130045211/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/human-rights-and-the-democratic-process|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Gresham College and the formation of the Royal Society]]
* [[Third-oldest university in England debate]]
*[[Gresham's School]]
*[https://ojs.uclouvain.be/index.php/RETE/article/view/60713/56943 Scholars and Literati at the Gresham College (1597–1800)], [https://ojs.uclouvain.be/index.php/RETE Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae – RETE]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gresham College}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{YouTube|channel=UC1t6kKXoBvjdr8m9KJ2Fx7A|Gresham College}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120612121813/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/greshamftp/historygreshm_bk2.pdf ''A Brief History of Gresham College 1497–1997''] from the Gresham College website

{{Gresham College}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|51.5175|-0.1098|type:edu_region:GB-LND|display=title}}

[[Category:Gresham College| ]]
[[Category:1597 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Education in the City of London]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in the 1590s]]
[[Category:Higher education colleges in London]]
[[Category:Lecture series]]
[[Category:Charities based in London]]
[[Category:Educational charities based in the United Kingdom]]