Our Impact

When Gresham College was set up in 1597, it was the first institute of higher learning in London, and the Universities in Oxford and Cambridge still taught all their students in Latin. Not only was Gresham accessible to people with no or minimal knowledge of Latin - and therefore to a much wider range of backgrounds - it also focused on subjects that many universities did not teach then, like astronomy and geometry - disciplines which had more explicit practical applications for navigation and trade.

One of the most far-reaching impacts it had was founding the Royal Society, which was set up by a group of 12 men after one of Sir Christopher Wren’s lectures in 1660. The Royal Society is known as probably the most prestigious scientific societies in the world.

Our eminent lecturers include luminaries like Sir Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, composer Iannis Xenakis, mathematicians John Barrow and Roger Penrose, astronomers Lord Martin Rees, Heather Couper, Chris Whitty and Carolin Crawford. Find out more about our history. 

Gresham College 2023-24

Across the last academic year we delivered 102 public lectures and two panel discussions. Over 7.5 million audience members, from more than 150 countries,  viewed our videos online – one lecture has been viewed more than 1.2 million times. Also:

• Attendance at our lectures increased by nearly 15%;
• Our social media followers grew by 11% and YouTube subscribers increased by 25%;
• A new school’s outreach offer was introduced with a dedicated staff member as a first point of contact for schools*;
• In the 2024 autumn term we delivered five in-school lectures to nearly 600 in-person attendees from 12 schools, and a further 71 schools from across the UK watched live online; 
• The School's Oracy Competition was held for a second year, attracting over 400 entries, emphasising Gresham College's dedication to promoting oracy skills and the importance of effective public speaking among young learners. The quality of the entrants’ work was outstanding.

*Gresham College lectures are an excellent way of providing educational enrichment, helping students with their research projects and ‘stretch and challenge’ activities. We are now working directly with more schools than ever before via our Oracy Competition for state schools and dedicated, schools-only lectures. Find out more

Upgrades to our lecture space are continuing to enhance the experience for visitors to Barnard's Inn Hall, while our AV Team are also experimenting with new ways to enhancing select lectures during the editing process to help them appeal to an even wider audience, such as those accustomed to watching television documentaries.

Read more about the current Professors and their lecture series'.