New Chairman of Council
At its most recent meeting the BSA’s Council (its Board of Trustees) unanimously agreed to appoint Professor Roderick Beaton FBA as its new Chairman with effect from next February’s AGM. One of the world’s most distinguished modern Hellenists, Prof. Beaton is Emeritus Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King’s College London, where he directed the Centre for Hellenic Studies, and Commander of the Order of Honour of the Hellenic Republic. Widely respected in Greece, he is one of only three non-Greek members of the Greece 2021 Committee, appointed by the Greek state to promote the commemoration of the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution. His many books include works on modern Greek folk poetry, the authors Kazantzakis and Seferis, and Byron. His most recent book – Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation – appeared in 2019 and was recently announced as the winner of this year’s prestigious Runciman Award, the fourth time Prof. Beaton’s work has been recognised in this way. His next book – The Greeks: A Global History – will appear later this year to mark the 1821-2021 bicentenary.
Prof. Beaton has had a long association with the BSA and, from 2015 to 2020, chaired its Committee for Society, Arts and Letters on behalf of Council. Contributions by Prof. Beaton to the BSA’s academic programme can be found in our Video Archive.
We congratulate him on his appointment and look forward to working with him as he leads the BSA into the post-pandemic future.