Oxfordian of the Year
2024
Bonner Miller Cutting
Bonner Cutting is a risk-taking leader in the Shakespeare authorship field. Her scholarly research has yielded major new discoveries advancing the Oxfordian cause. Among her many publications is the book Necessary Mischief (2018), and she continues to actively write and lecture.
2022
Stephanie Hopkins Hughes & Richard Malim
Stephanie Hopkins Hughes (founding editor of The Oxfordian) and Richard Malim were honored for their decades of work on the authorship question, culminating in Hughes's landmark 2022 book Educating Shakespeare and several acclaimed books by Malim.
2021
Richard M. Waugaman
Richard M. Waugaman, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, and Training and Supervising Analyst Emeritus at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. He has published two ebooks and more than 100 articles on Shakespeare.
2020
James A. Warren
Retired diplomat James A. Warren is the editor of the centenary scholarly edition of J. Thomas Looney's historic book “Shakespeare” Identified (1920). Warren has written and edited many additional articles and books exploring the Oxfordian theory launched by that book.
2019
Cheryl Eagan-Donovan
Filmmaker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan has written and lectured widely on the authorship question. She worked for years on her acclaimed 2018 documentary, Nothing Is Truer Than Truth, which explores the 1575–76 travels to Italy of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
2018
Ramon Jiménez and Joan Leon
In 2018, for the first time, the SOF presented joint Oxfordian of the Year awards to husband and wife Ramon Jiménez and Joan Leon. Leon served many years on the Board of Trustees. Jiménez (also a former Trustee) has published many acclaimed works of Oxfordian research.
2017
Hank Whittemore
New York actor, author, film documentarian, and researcher Hank Whittemore was honored for his overall work on the Shakespeare authorship question, and especially his 2016 book, 100 Reasons Shake-speare Was the Earl of Oxford.
2016
Tom Regnier
The late Tom Regnier was a greatly admired attorney, scholar, and lecturer on Shakespeare, law, and the authorship question. He played a crucial role in unifying the American Oxfordian movement in 2013 and served four transformative years (2014–18) as SOF President.
2015
Alexander Waugh
The late Alexander Waugh, an acclaimed author in several fields, was a powerful advocate of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. Among countless contributions, he debated the issue on Fleet Street and cast new light on the phrase "Sweet Swan of Avon" in the First Folio.
2014
Alex McNeil
Alex McNeil, a retired attorney and court administrator, edited the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter for many years and played a key role in the 2013 unification of the Shakespeare Oxford Society and Shakespeare Fellowship to form the SOF.Earlier Honorees
The first nine recipients of the Oxfordian of the Year award, from 2005 to 2013, were honored jointly by the former Shakespeare Oxford Society (1957–2013) and the former Shakespeare Fellowship (2001–2013), prior to their 2013 unification which created the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship.
2013
Roger Stritmatter
Professor Roger Stritmatter is the first person to earn, as an open Oxfordian, an English or related Ph.D. and a university faculty position in the field. He has published several books and more than 100 articles, exploring many historic breakthroughs in Shakespearean studies.
2012
John M. Shahan
John M. Shahan is a longtime leader on the authorship question. He founded the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, promulgated its historic “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt,” and organized a major 2011 response (published in 2013) to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
2011
Kevin Gilvary
Kevin Gilvary edited Dating Shakespeare’s Plays (2010) (reissued in print and online), has served as a leader in the U.K.’s De Vere Society, and later wrote The Fictional Lives of Shakespeare (2018), based on his Ph.D. dissertation.
2010
Richard Paul Roe
The late Richard Paul Roe, a World War II veteran, successful attorney, and longtime Oxfordian, was honored for his research on Shakespeare’s connections to Italy, published posthumously by Harper Perennial as The Shakespeare Guide to Italy (2011).
2009
John Paul Stevens
The late Honorable John Paul Stevens was one of the most admired and long-serving justices in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. An avowed Oxfordian, he explored the authorship question in several speeches and articles.
2008
Daniel L. Wright
The late Daniel L. Wright, a dedicated teacher and scholar, served for many years as Professor of English on the faculty of the former Concordia University branch in Portland, Oregon. He was also Director of the former Shakespeare Authorship Research Center (SARC).
2007
Richard F. Whalen
The late Richad F. Whalen was one of the most respected and prolific scholars in the history of the Oxfordian movement. He earned degrees from Fordham, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and worked as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press and as an executive for IBM.
2006
Lynne Kositsky
Lynne Kositsky is a writer, poet, and independent scholar of Shakespeare. Her honors include the E.J. Pratt Medal and Award for Poetry and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Youth. She is the author or co-author of several admired books.
2005
Mark Anderson
Anderson is a science and history author with a Master's degree in astrophysics. Known in 2005 as Mark Anderson, she came out in 2022 as a transgender woman, Margo Anderson. Her books include the leading biography of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
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