Greg Woolf

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| name = Greg Woolf

| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA|FSAs|FBA|size=100%}}

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| birth_name = Gregory Duncan Woolf

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|3 December 1961}}

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| nationality = British

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| title = Ronald J Mellor Professor of Ancient History

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| discipline = Ancient history
Archaeology

| sub_discipline = {{hlist|History of the Roman Empire|Classical archaeology|Iron Age Europe}}

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| alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford
Trinity College, Cambridge

| thesis_title = Cultural change in central France under Roman rule

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| thesis_year = 1991

| doctoral_advisor = Peter Garnsey{{cite web| url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/theses-1970-2014/ancient-history|title=History Theses 1970-2014: Historical research for higher degrees in the universities of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: Ancient History|website=British History Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019084153/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/theses-1970-2014/ancient-history|archive-date=2022-10-19|year=2014}}

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| workplaces = University of Leicester
Christ's College, Cambridge
Magdalen College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford
University of St Andrews
University of London
Institute of Classical Studies
University of California, Los Angeles

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Gregory Duncan Woolf, {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|FSA|FSAs|FBA}} (born 3 December 1961) is a British ancient historian, archaeologist, and academic. He specialises in the late Iron Age and the Roman Empire. Since July 2021, he has been Ronald J. Mellor Chair of Ancient History at University of California, Los Angeles. He previously taught at the University of Leicester and the University of Oxford, and was then Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews from 1998 to 2014. From 2015 to 2021, he was the Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, and Professor of Classics at the University of London. From January 2025 he assumed the role of Director at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) at New York University.{{cite web | url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/july/greg-woolf-named-as-director--of-nyu-s-institute-for-the-study-o.html | title=Greg Woolf Named as Director of NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World }}

Early life and education

Woolf was born on 3 December 1961 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England.{{cite web |title=Woolf, Prof. Gregory Duncan |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-289687 |website=Who's Who 2019 |access-date=27 September 2019 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U289687 |date=1 December 2018|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }} He was educated at Bexhill Grammar School, a grammar school in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. From 1981 to 1985, he studied ancient and modern history at Christ Church, Oxford.{{cite web|title=Curriculum Vitae – Greg Woolf|url=https://sas.academia.edu/GregWoolf/CurriculumVitae|website=academia.edu|access-date=11 November 2015|date=8 April 2015}} He graduated from the University of Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1985; as per tradition, this was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA (Oxon)) degree. From 1985 to 1990, he undertook postgraduate research in classics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1990. His doctoral supervisors were Peter Garnsey, Keith Hopkins, Ian Hodder, and Sander van der Leeuw. His doctoral thesis was titled "Cultural change in central France under Roman rule".{{cite thesis|last1=Woolf|first1=G. D.|title=Cultural change in central France under Roman rule|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.385506|website=E-Theses Online Service|publisher=The British Library|access-date=18 November 2015|year=1991|type=Ph.D}}

Academic career

Woolf began his academic career while still studying for his doctorate; he was a part-time lecturer at the University of Leicester and a research fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1990, after completing his doctorate, he moved to the University of Oxford to teach ancient history and archaeology.{{cite web|title=Visita científica do professor Greg Woolf ao Brasil|url=http://www.historiaehistoria.com.br/materia.cfm?tb=curtas&id=95|website=História e-História|access-date=11 November 2015|date=1 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194706/http://www.historiaehistoria.com.br/materia.cfm?tb=curtas&id=95|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} From 1990 to 1993, he was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Then, from 1993 to 1998, he was a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford and a lecturer in the Faculty of Classics.{{cite web|title=Greg Woolf|url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/greg-woolf-abb00a29|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=11 November 2015}}

In 1998, Woolf moved to the University of St Andrews to become Professor of Ancient History.{{cite web|title=Authority on Roman Empire to head Institute of Classical Studies|url=http://www.sas.ac.uk/about-us/news/authority-roman-empire-head-institute-classical-studies|website=School of Advanced Study|publisher=University of London|access-date=10 November 2015|date=21 May 2014}} He was Head of the School of Classics between 2004 and 2009.{{cite web|title=Greg Woolf to head up Institute of Classical Studies|url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/news/2014/#244316|website=School of Classics|publisher=University of St Andrews|access-date=11 November 2015|date=5 June 2014}} During the 2009 to 2010 academic year, he was visiting fellow at the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt. On 1 January 2015, he joined the University of London as Professor of Classics and Director of the Institute of Classical Studies.

In July 2021, Woolf moved to the United States where he joined University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as Ronald J. Mellor Chair of Ancient History.{{cite web |title=Greg Woolf |url=https://classics.ucla.edu/person/greg-woolf/ |website=Department of Classics |publisher=University of California |access-date=5 June 2021 |date=2021}}{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae: Greg Woolf FBA |url=https://ucla.academia.edu/GregWoolf/CurriculumVitae |website=Academia.edu |date=July 2021 |access-date=4 November 2021}} In 2022, he became editor of the Journal of Roman Archaeology.{{cite web|year=2023|title=Editorial Board|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-archaeology/information/about-this-journal/editorial-board|access-date=2023-01-31|publisher=Cambridge University Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131194001/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-archaeology/information/about-this-journal/editorial-board|archive-date=2023-01-31}}{{cite web|title=Jennifer Trimble|website=Stanford University|url=https://classics.stanford.edu/people/jennifer-trimble|access-date=2023-01-31|year=2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029123401/https://classics.stanford.edu/people/jennifer-trimble|archive-date=2022-10-29}} Since January 2025, he has been Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies and director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University.{{cite web |last1=Elliott |first1=Tom |title=Greg Woolf |url=https://isaw.nyu.edu/people/faculty/isaw-faculty/greg-woolf |website=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |access-date=11 May 2025 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Greg Woolf Named as Director of NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/july/greg-woolf-named-as-director--of-nyu-s-institute-for-the-study-o.html |website=www.nyu.edu |publisher=New York University |access-date=11 May 2025 |language=en |date=25 July 2024}}

Woolf gave the Rhind Lectures for 2004/2005; the series was titled Men who turned towards the light: Cult and creativity in the Romans' world. The Rhind Lectures are a series of lectures on archaeology and they are hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In July 2012, he appeared on BBC Radio 4 as a guest on In Our Time to discuss Hadrian's Wall.{{cite web|title=Hadrian's Wall|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kkr42|website=In Our Time|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=12 July 2012|access-date=10 November 2015}} In December 2012, he appeared again on In Our Time, this time to discuss the Cult of Mithras.{{cite web|title=The Cult of Mithras|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pg5nt|website=In Our Time|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=10 November 2015|date=27 December 2012}}

Honours

In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA),{{cite web|title=Fellows Directory – Woolf|url=https://www.sal.org.uk/about-us/fellows-directory/?fs=Woolf|website=Society of Antiquaries of London|access-date=2 June 2016}} and a Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE).{{cite web |title=Greg Woolf |url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Woolf_Greg |website=Academy of Europe |access-date=27 September 2019 |date=15 January 2018}} In July 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.{{cite web|title=Elections to the British Academy celebrate the diversity of UK research|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/elections-british-academy-celebrate-diversity-uk-research|website=British Academy|access-date=29 July 2017|date=2 July 2017}} In 2021 he was elected a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.{{cite web |url=https://www.euro-acad.eu/ |title=Home |website=euro-acad.eu}}

Selected works

{{cite journal|last1=Woolf|first1=Greg|title=Becoming Roman, staying Greek: Culture, identity and the civilizing process in the Roman East|journal=Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society|date=January 1994|volume=40|pages=116–143|doi=10.1017/S0068673500001875|s2cid=170935906}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=Bowman|editor1-first=Alan K.|editor1-link=Alan Bowman (classicist)|editor2-last=Woolf|editor2-first=Greg|title=Literacy and power in the ancient world|date=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521433693}}
{{cite book|last1=Woolf|first1=Greg|title=Becoming Roman: the origins of provincial civilization in Gaul|date=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521414456}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=Woolf|editor1-first=Greg|title=The Cambridge illustrated history of the Roman world|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521827751|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeillustr0000unse}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=Edwards|editor1-first=Catharine|editor2-last=Woolf|editor2-first=Greg|editor1-link=Catharine Edwards (historian)|title=Rome the cosmopolis|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0521800051}}
{{cite book|last1=Woolf|first1=Greg|title=Et tu, Brute?: the murder of Caesar and political assassination|date=2006|publisher=Profile Books|location=London|isbn=978-1861977410}}
{{cite book|last1=Woolf|first1=Greg|title=Tales of the barbarians: ethnography and empire in the Roman West|date=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Chichester, West Sussex|isbn=978-1405160735}}
{{cite book|last1=Woolf|first1=Greg|title=Rome: an empire's story|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0199603084}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=Hemelrijk|editor1-first=Emily|editor2-last=Woolf|editor2-first=Greg|title=Women and the Roman City in the Latin West|date=2013|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004255944}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=König|editor1-first=Jason|editor2-last=Oikonomopoulou|editor2-first=Katerina|editor3-last=Woolf|editor3-first=Greg|title=Ancient libraries|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1107012561}}
{{cite book|editor1-last=König|editor1-first=Jason|editor2-last=Woolf|editor2-first=Greg|title=Encyclopaedism from antiquity to the Renaissance|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1107038233}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=König |editor1-first=Jason |editor2-last=Woolf |editor2-first=Greg |title=Authority and expertise in ancient scientific culture |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1107060067}}
{{cite book |last1=Woolf |first1=Greg |title=The life and death of ancient cities: a natural history |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0199664733}}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Rüpke |editor1-first=Jörg |editor2-last=Woolf |editor2-first=Greg |title=Religion in the Roman Empire |date=2021 |publisher=Kohlhammer Verlag |location=Stuttgart |isbn=9783170292260}}