Stephen Gosztony (1961 - 2022)

We are deeply grateful to the many friends and colleagues who have been in contact with the College since the tragic and untimely death of Stephen Gosztony, a Fellow, member of the College’s Governing Body and an alumnus. Stephen was a very close friend of all of us in College, a strong supporter of the University, the arts and a great deal more. We publish below some of the many recollections of his outstanding commitment to and support for the College and his enduring friendships.

Stephen arrived at Pembroke in 1981 to study Classics and later Modern Languages. He was born to Hungarian parents in Madrid and came to Oxford from Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, where he had already impressed teachers with his ‘ambitious personality’ and considerable ‘powers of analysis’.  After graduating in 1985, he worked for a short time in consultancy and then in 1993 joined Capital Group.  He spent the next 29 years at the firm, first as Director of Marketing, then Relationship Manager, and from 2015 as Managing Director of the company’s Institutional branch in Europe and Asia.

Some twenty years after leaving Pembroke, Stephen made contact with the Development Team, expressing a desire to support the College’s activities.  College Officers of the time recall his striking enthusiasm and the deep affection in which he clearly held the College.  His involvement grew steadily and just a year later in 2008 he was invited to join the Bridging Centuries Campaign Board.

Stephen’s lively participation on the Campaign Board bore witness to a strategic expertise that would prove invaluable to the College in the years to follow.  He sowed ideas that grew to be fundamental to future campaigns, and he went on to play an instrumental role at numerous Strategy Planning weekends over more than a decade.

In 2011 Stephen’s generosity was recognised with membership of the Senior Common Room, and in 2013, the year the Campaign was concluded and the College’s new Rokos Quad completed, his contributions were acknowledged with his admission to both the Master’s Circle and the Vice Chancellor’s Circle.  His engagement at Pembroke continued to grow, seeing him chair the Alumni Advisory Board from 2013 to 2015 before becoming Chairman of the Pembroke Campaign Board in 2016, a position he held until his death.  With his signature humility and quiet assurance, Stephen confidently steered the committee in its plans for the 400th anniversary campaign.  He was highly respected in the role, described as ‘an exemplary Chairman’ with ‘an infectious enthusiasm for the College’s activities, life and future projects’ and ‘a steely eye for the objective in everything.’

A year after becoming Chairman, Stephen’s valued expertise and long-term commitment to the College saw him appointed a Governing Body Advisory Fellow.  In 2021, he was elected to a Foundation Fellowship, a mark of his extraordinary and unparalleled generosity to the College over many years.  Alongside his support for the College’s campaigns and long-term plans, Stephen had given generously to the JCR Art Fund, a cause close to his heart, and was named a Patron of the Art Fund.

His tremendous support for the College’s core needs, together with the time, energy and wisdom he contributed through the Governing Body and Campaign Board were, and continue to be, hugely significant.

Evidence of Stephen’s generosity and expertise is also found elsewhere: he was a Fellow of the Ashmolean Museum and member of the Elias Ashmole Group; a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust and Chair of their Investment sub-Committee; a Trustee of Sir John Soane’s Museum; and sat on the development board of Build it International.

He is remembered by colleagues and friends at Pembroke as a man who was supportive; calm; generous with his time and with his ‘robust good sense’; and full of kindness, wisdom and good humour. Stephen will be sorely missed as a generous supporter, a wise counsellor, and as a friend.  Many of his close friends and colleagues recollect with great affection wonderful evenings at the opera with Stephen and his wife, Sue, their hospitality, infectious good humour and Stephen’s famous home-made blinis.  The College shares with Sue and his closest family and friends a profound sense of grief and the fondest memories of a great man.

An obituary published by The Times is available here.