St John's College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas White, a wealthy London merchant. He was Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and established a number of educational foundations including the Merchant Taylors' schools. Today, St John's is home to approximately 390 undergraduates, 250 graduate students, 100 fellows and 25 College lecturers. Nearly every subject studied at the University of Oxford is represented at St John's.