 When the college was founded in 1571 , the first charter installed David Lewis as Principal and named eight others as the first Fellows of the college . The statutes of 1622 allowed for 16 Fellows . There is now no limit on the number of Fellowships that the Governing Body can create . The college statutes provide for various categories of Fellows . Professorial Fellows are those Professors and Readers of the University who are allocated to the college by the University . One of these professorships is the Jesus Professor of Celtic , which is the only chair in Celtic Studies at an English university . Celtic scholars such as Sir John Rhys and Ellis Evans have held the position since its creation in 1877 . The chair is currently vacant , having been held by Thomas Charles @-@ Edwards until his retirement in 2011 . The zoologists Charles Godfray and Paul Harvey are both Professorial Fellows . Official Fellows are those who hold tutorial or administrative appointments in the college . Past Official Fellows include the composer and musicologist John Caldwell , the historians Sir Goronwy Edwards and Niall Ferguson , the philosopher Galen Strawson and the political philosopher John Gray . There are also Senior and Junior Research Fellows . Principals and Fellows who retire can be elected as Emeritus Fellows . 
