David Webb MBE elected a Prideaux Fellow
Exeter College alumnus David Webb MBE (1983, Mathematics) has been elected a Prideaux Fellow in recognition of his outstanding generosity and support for Exeter College.
In 2008, David established the Exeter College Incentive Scheme, through which he has contributed hundreds of thousands of pounds in unrestricted support to the College in recognition of student attainment in Finals. In 2023 he established the David M. Webb Prize for Academic Excellence, which is awarded to undergraduates achieving Firsts or Distinctions in their first-year exams. Most recently he has permanently endowed the College’s first Tutorial Fellowship in Computer Science.
The recently established Prideaux Fellowships, named after Exeter alumnus and former Rector John Prideaux, are designed to celebrate individuals who have provided exceptional philanthropic support to the College.
John Prideaux was Rector of Exeter from 1612 to 1642, a period in which the College flourished and became one of the most distinguished colleges in the University. Exeter College Emeritus Fellow in History, Dr John Maddicott, authored Between Scholarship and Church Politics: The Lives of John Prideaux, 1578-1650 in which Dr Maddicott describes him as a ‘fascinating character’. Prideaux ‘[came] up to Oxford from a small farm in Devon, he paid his way as an undergraduate by working in the College kitchen before becoming a fellow, tutor, rector, five times vice-chancellor of the University, and then Regius Professor of Divinity: a living example of social mobility.’ In light of Prideaux’s remarkable dedication to the advancement of Exeter, the Fellowship was named in his memory.
A former investment banker turned activist shareholder, David has spent nearly three decades campaigning for transparency and accountability in Hong Kong’s financial markets through his independent platform, Webb-site.com. Earlier this year, he was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours, appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to raising standards of corporate and economic governance, particularly in Hong Kong.
We thank David for the profound contribution he has made to scholarship at Exeter College.
David was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours
