Merton College names Professor Irene Tracey as next Warden

The college's governing body has declared its intention to elect Professor Tracey, who is currently Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Nuffield Chair of Anaesthetic Science at the University of Oxford. She will succeed Sir Martin Taylor FRS, who retires in September 2018 after eight years in post. Professor Tracey will be the 51st holder of the Wardenship, a position dating back to the college's foundation in 1264. She is a Merton alumna, having taken an honours degree in biochemistry in 1989 and been awarded her DPhil in 1993. She is the second woman to have been appointed to the role of Warden, the first being Dame Jessica Rawson, who served from 1994 to 2010. Commenting on Professor Tracey's election, Professor Judith Armitage, the college's Sub-warden, said: 'On behalf of Merton's governing body I would like to say that we are absolutely delighted that Professor Irene Tracey has agreed to take over as Warden from October 2019. She will continue Merton's longstanding tradition of having an active and very successful academic at its head, in this case one who was also an undergraduate and graduate student here.