The Governors of Ripon College Cuddesdon have announce that the Revd Dr Harriet Harris MBE will be the next Principal of the college. She will take up the post on 1st January 2026, following Bishop Humphrey’s retirement at the end of 2025.
Dr Harris is currently the University Chaplain and Head of Chaplaincy Services at the University of Edinburgh, a post she has held since 2010. There she has taken the Chaplaincy staffing from 3.5 to a team of 9 staff and over 40 Honorary Chaplains and Volunteer Listeners of diverse faiths and traditions, hereby creating the largest multi-faith and belief chaplaincy in the UK, serving a highly international campus of 65,000 staff, students and faculty. For this work she is sought internationally for consultancy, and was awarded an MBE, and also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Dr Harris has taught Theology at Oxford, Exeter and Edinburgh Universities. She has trained ordinands for the Scottish Episcopal Institute and for SWMTC, and Lay Readers for Oxford Diocese. She holds a DPhil in Theology from the University of Oxford, and has served two terms as Convenor of the Doctrine Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and two terms on the Faith and Order Advisory Board of the Church of England. She has strong experience in training and coaching leaders across the churches, in universities and other organisations, and is known internationally as a speaker and preacher.
Ordained in the Diocese of Oxford, where she served as Assistant Curate at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, and for ten years as Chaplain of Wadham College, Dr Harris’s appointment at Cuddesdon will mark a joyful return to her home diocese.
Bishop Michael Ipgrave, Chair of the Governors, commented “Harriet Harris brings to the role of Principal enormous gifts of leadership, a deep spirituality that undergirds everything she does, and a strong vision for sustainability and innovation in theological education. I am very much looking forward to welcoming her to Cuddesdon and to working with her as we build on the sure foundations left to the college through the work of Bishop Humphrey”.
Professor Jane Shaw, governor and chair of the appointment panel, said “We were impressed by Dr Harris’s deep and wide vision of Ripon College Cuddesdon as a place serving the whole Church, rooted in a theological imagining of the Christian faith as witness against the competitiveness and excessive emphasis on productivity that dominate our society. Her nimble and creative response to questions raised through the appointment process demonstrated that she is a priest and theologian well equipped to tackle the complex challenges of leading in theological education”.
Dr Harris said of her appointment “I am honoured to be appointed as the new Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, and to be following in Bishop Humphrey’s footsteps. With its rich history and nurturing environment, Cuddesdon is a place of holistic formation, a love for learning, and a deep desire for God. I’ve already experienced the warmth of its diverse ‘community of communities’, and eagerly look forward to collaborating with everyone to discern and pursue Cuddesdon’s ongoing mission to serve the Church and the world today”.