Honorary graduates 2019

Professor Dame Mary Beard DBE FSA FBA (DLitt)

Saturday 14 December 2019 10:00am

Mary Beard is one of Britain's best-known Classicists – a distinguished Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Newnham College. She has written numerous books on the Ancient World, including the 2008 Wolfson Prize-winner, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. In addition, Mary has presented highly-acclaimed TV series, Meet the Romans and Rome – Empire without Limit, as well as documentaries on Pompeii, Caligula and Julius Caesar, and is a regular broadcaster and media commentator. Mary is also Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement and writes a thought-provoking blog, A Don's Life. In 2015 Mary published the critically-acclaimed SPQR – A History of Ancient Rome and more recently Women & Power examining the silencing of women across the millennia. Her books are translated into many languages and she has a significant following all over the world. She was a presenter for the landmark BBC TV Civilisations series and has published a book based on her episodes. In addition Mary hosts the BBC's TV arts show, Front Row Late and has recently been awarded the J Paul Getty medal for her contribution to the arts.

Mary is a Fellow of the British Academy and was made an OBE in the New Year's Honours List 2013 for services to Classical scholarship and was awarded the further honour of Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2018.