Anne Lonsdale was the third President of New Hall from 1996 to 2008. She studied and taught classical Chinese literature at Oxford University (St Anne's College) before becoming a University administrator and, in 1990, Oxford's first Director of External Relations. She was active in European University networks from 1986 to 1993. From 1993 to 1996 she was Secretary-General of the Central European University, which had been founded by George Soros in 1991 and was based in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. Anne Lonsdale took over the Presidency of New Hall in February 1996. She also became Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Relations of the University of Cambridge in July 1998. She was also a member of the University's Council and a Trustee of the Cambridge Foundation, the Isaac Newton Trust, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, the Cambridge European Trust, the Cambridge Overseas Trust, the Fitzwilliam Museum Trust and the Advisory Council of the Hamilton Kerr Institute.