Professor Thomas Wynn appointed as next Director of the Voltaire Foundation

The Voltaire Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Thomas Wynn as Director, from 1 October 2026.

Professor Wynn is currently Professor of French in the School of Modern Languages and Culture in Durham University. He took his undergraduate degree at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, and his D.Phil. at St John’s College, Oxford. He is a distinguished scholar of the Enlightenment, and has both contributed to and collaborated with the Voltaire Foundation over many years.

Miles Young, Chair of the VF Board of Management, states “Professor Wynn will be a very worthy successor indeed to Nicholas Cronk, and I am sure you will join me in welcoming him most warmly to the Foundation, and to his leadership in the next stage of our exciting and inspiring journey.”

Professor Nicholas Cronk, Director of the VF, writes “I am delighted that Thomas Wynn will succeed me as Director in the autumn. A long-standing collaborator with the research team at the VF, and an internationally recognized scholar of the eighteenth century, Tom will provide outstanding leadership in the years to come.”

Professor Wynn states “I’m very honoured to be the next Director of the Voltaire Foundation, which under Professor Nicholas Cronk’s leadership has become the beacon for Enlightenment Studies. I look forward to working with colleagues in Oxford and beyond in researching global Enlightenments and their legacies.”

The staff of the Voltaire Foundation are delighted to welcome Professor Wynn in the autumn.