:''Not be confused with the Dean Burgon Society, concerned with the advocacy of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

'' The Burgon Society is a society and educational charity for the study and research of

academic dress Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academia, academic settings, mainly tertiary education, tertiary (and sometimes secondary schools, secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or simila ...

. The society was founded in 2000 and is named after

John William Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 1813 – 4 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defense of the historicity and Mosaic authorshi ...

(1813–1888) from whom the ''Burgon shape'' academic hood takes its name. Its current president is Graham Zellick, CBE, QC, former

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. His predecessors were James P. S. Thomson, former Master of London Charterhouse (2011–16) and the organist John Birch. In 2010, the society received

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

status from the

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

Activities

The society publishes ''Transactions of the Burgon Society'', an annual journal of peer-reviewed research into academic dress. It holds a spring conference each year and organises visits to robemakers, universities and other institutions. One of the society's founding fellows, Nicholas Groves, created the Groves classification system for academic dress, in which the most common shapes of British gowns, hoods and caps are coded for easy reference. He also designed the gowns of the

University of Malta The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association, ...

. His design, selected from entries submitted in an international competition, debuted in November 2011 at a degree ceremony in Valletta, Malta.

Membership

Membership is open to all who support the aims of the society.

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ship (FBS) is awarded to members on the successful submission of a piece of original work on a topic approved by the executive committee. Fellowship may also be awarded to any member who has demonstrated in some other way a significant contribution to the study of academic dress. Occasionally, the fellowship may be awarded ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

''.

Patrons

The patrons of the society are: *The Rt Revd and Rt Hon. The Lord Chartres, GCVO, former

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

*The Rt Revd Graeme Knowles, CVO, former

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also '' ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of th ...

The Central Institute London

A somewhat similar group, The Central Institute London, existed from 1989 through 2005. It sought to encourage the use of

and to encourage excellence in the execution of academic ceremonial. The Institute assigned academic dress to its own members. Membership was based on the academic degrees or professional qualifications held by members, and also included Honorary Life Member (HonCIL) and Companion (CompCIL) as honorary awards, Companion being the highest award and limited to a maximum of one new Companion per year. Due to falling membership numbers, the Institute's activities were permanently suspended in 2005 and its members were encouraged to join The Burgon Society. This group should not be confused with the Central Institution of the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has be ...

Footnotes

References

* * * * * Article describing the Society's tenth anniversary activities. * * * * *

External links

Official website
*
Transactions of the Burgon Society
' {{authority control Clubs and societies in the United Kingdom Academic dress Learned societies of the United Kingdom History organisations based in the United Kingdom 2000 establishments in the United Kingdom