Merton is one of the oldest colleges in Oxford and the model for all the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. It has kept most of its original buildings, including its medieval library. Its history touches the intellectual, social and economic life of the country from the thirteenth century to the present.

Dr. Highfield was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford and he has been a Fellow of Merton College Oxford since 1949. He was the Sub-Warden from 1959 to 1961 and in 1989 he was made an Emeritus Fellow.