Wolfson MCR and Former Supernumerary Fellow Ken Burras Dies

It is with great sadness that the College has been informed of the death of Ken Burras, who died on Sunday at the age of 96. A Supernumerary Fellow (1976-97) and Member/Honorary Member of the Common Room (1967-2026), Ken was a founding and long-serving member of the Grounds Sub-Committee (1972-2021).

After training at Kew, Ken’s career was predominantly spent at the Oxford Botanic Garden where he was Superintendent for 26 years (1963-1988). While there he founded the (since closed) Genetic Garden in the University Parks and Harcourt Arboretum at Nuneham Courtney. Ken was also the first host of ‘Gardeners World’, the long-running television show.

Ken started advising Wolfson in 1966 as Honorary Garden Adviser and played an important role in reviewing trees when the College moved from 60 Banbury Road to its current site; a good proportion of those trees still survive today and have contributed significantly to how the college sits in the landscape, and how the garden was formed.