Andy Orchard

Andrew Philip McDowell Orchard, (born 27 February 1964) is a British academic of Old English, Norse and Celtic literature. He is Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. He was previously Provost of Trinity College, Toronto, from 2007 to 2013. In 2021, claims of sexual harassment and assault by Orchard were publicised, which were alleged to have taken place at universities where he has worked, including the University of Cambridge and the University of Toronto.

Biography Orchard was born on 27 February 1964 in North London, England. He was educated at University College School, then an all-boys private school in London.

His undergraduate degree was undertaken at both Queens' College, Cambridge, where he read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from 1983, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read English from 1985. He graduated in 1987 Bachelor of Arts (BA), which was later promoted to Master of Arts (MA). He then undertook postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1990. His doctoral thesis was titled The Poetic Art of Aldhelm.

In 1991, Orchard married Clare Brind in Oxford.

Academic career In 1990, Orchard was a fellow of St John's College, Oxford. He then returned to the University of Cambridge upon completion of his postgraduate degree. In 1991, he became a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a lecturer in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. In 1999, he was appointed Reader and Head of the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic. According to the article, Orchard and his lawyers dispute I-Unit's findings.

Following up on Orchard's time at the University of Toronto from 2007 to 2013, the Toronto Star published their findings that the university had received at least two formal complaints against him regarding sexual advances and inappropriate touching during his time as Provost and Vice-Chancellor at Trinity College. Their report alleged that the victims faced repercussions whereas Orchard himself did not.

At Oxford, while reporting that none of the allegations reported by Al Jazeera pertained to Pembroke College students and that the college had received no complaints concerning Orchard's conduct, Pembroke College announced that Orchard had voluntarily withdrawn from the college's governing body and that "for the foreseeable future he will not attend College for social or academic functions". In January 2022, the Toronto Star reported that "in the next few weeks, [Oxford University] will meet students and faculties where concerns have been raised and 'explore areas where improvements can be made'." He was also removed from the editorial board of the journal Anglo-Saxon England by Cambridge University Press.

Honours Orchard was awarded the Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching from the University of Cambridge in 1998. On 16 July 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). In 2019 he delivered the British Academy's Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture.

Reception In 2004, Hugh Magennis described A Critical Companion to Beowulf as "something of a masterclass in the reading of Beowulf". Josephine Bloomfield thought that the book would "be important to Beowulf study for years to come, and a stimulus to healthy interchange and argument for even longer". In 2004 Elaine Treharne described the same work as "brilliant, comprehensive and inspiring". Reviewing the same work, Daniel Anlezark characterised Orchard as "one of the outstanding Beowulf scholars of the moment".

Works