Leslie Morphy OBE receives Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University

Oxford-born Leslie Morphy OBE has been presented with an Honorary Doctorate of the University to recognise her commitment to supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities, and for her contribution to Oxford Brookes.

After graduating from the London School of Economics in 1971 and then achieving an MSc in 1979 from Birkbeck College, London, she joined the BBC where she developed programmes and outreach services for people with low levels of literacy and numeracy.

During the 1990s, Leslie joined The Prince’s Trust as a Director and helped to deliver business start-up programmes, as well as programmes catered to young people who had been excluded or were finding school difficult.

In 2006 Leslie was appointed as Chief Executive to the national charity for homeless people, Crisis, and oversaw a significant expansion both of its services and of its income.

Leslie has held a number of non-executive posts including serving on boards of a housing association, an NHS mental health trust and several charities. She also held a non-executive directorship with Oxford Brookes and was a member of the Board of Governors from 2011, before becoming Chair in 2016 until 2020. She currently chairs Pathway, a charity focusing on homeless and inclusion health.

Both her parents are former Oxford Brookes University students, having attended in the days when it was known as Westminster College and Oxford Polytechnic.

Leslie was awarded with an OBE in 2010, in dedication to her commitment to helping homeless people. She has now joined seven other individuals in receiving an honorary award during this month’s graduation ceremonies at Oxford Brookes.

Following her ceremony, Leslie said: “I am extremely honoured to receive an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes particularly at a ceremony which marked the achievements of students from the Business School as I was lucky enough to be on the Board during the years when it was transformed and moved to take a central position on the Headington campus.”