Van Mildert Professor of Divinity Divinity is Simon Oliver, who took up the appointment in 2015. Van Mildert Professor of Divinity The Van Mildert Professor of Divinity is one of the oldest chairs at Durham University. The chair is named in honour of Bishop William Van Mildert, one of the founders of the university. The holder of the Van Mildert chair, which is jointly funded by the university and Durham Cathedral, is also a residentiary canon at the cathedral and member of its Chapter, thus one of the requirements of post holder is to be an Anglican priest or a minister in another church in
History of the University of St Andrews University of St Andrews owed its origin to a society formed in 1410 by Laurence of Lindores, abbot of Scone, Richard de Cornell, archdeacon of Lothian, and the later bishop of Dunblane, William Stephenson, among others. In 1411 the Bishop of St Andrews, Henry Wardlaw, issued a charter which attracted the most learned men in Scotland as professors. In 1413 Avignon Pope Benedict XIII issued six bulls confirming the charter and constituting the society a university. Lectures took place in various parts of the town until 1430, when Wardlaw allowed the lecturers the use of a building called the "Paedagogium",