Grey College, Durham

Grey College is a college of the University of Durham in England. Although it was originally planned for the college to be named Oliver Cromwell College, this proved too controversial and it was instead named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was prime minister at the time of the university's foundation.HistoryFounded in 1959, Grey was the first college of the university's post-war expansion, and the second college to open on Elvet Hill after St Mary's. It was also the last college founded before the separation of Durham and Newcastle in 1963. The college initially only admitted men, but has been mixed since 1984.In March 1959, just a few months before the opening of the college, the Elvet block (then the main block of the college) was devastated by fire. However, the college recovered to open as scheduled in October and adopted the phoenix as its unofficial badge. The college coat of arms features a scaling ladder (or gré—the badge of the Grey family) between two St Cuthbert's crosses (the symbol of Durham). A new grant of arms in 2004 confirmed these and added the phoenix as a crest.The head of the college is known as the "master". The first master was Sidney Holgate, who was head of the college from its foundation until 1980. He was followed by Eric Halladay who was master until 1988 when Victor Watts took over. Martyn Chamberlain was appointed in 2002 after the sudden death of Victor Watts. The current master is Tom Allen, who became the master in 2011. The college has a fellowship in mathematics (the Alan David Richards Fellowship) and a general fellowship scheme (the Sidney Holgate Fellowships), which includes funding for research fellows and an artist in residence.