R. R. R. Smith


Roland Ralph Redfern "Bert" Smith, is a British classicist, archaeologist, and academic, specialising in the art and visual cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. From 1995 to 2022, he was Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the University of Oxford; now retired, he is an emeritus professor.

Early life and education

Smith was born on 30 January 1954, and was educated at Fettes College, a Private schools in [the United Kingdom|private school] in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied Literae humaniores at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. Remaining at Pembroke, he studied for a Master of Philosophy degree in classical archaeology, which he completed in 1979. He then moved to Magdalen College, Oxford to continue his studies in classical archaeology, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1983. His doctoral thesis was titled "Sculptured portraits of Hellenistic kings c. 330-30 B.C".

Academic career

From 1981 to 1986, Smith was a Fellow by Examination in ancient history at Magdalen College, Oxford. He additionally held a Harkness Fellowship at Princeton University between 1983 and 1985. In 1986, he moved to the United States where he had been appointed an assistant professor in classical archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. He taught Hellenistic and Roman archaeology, and art history at the university. He was promoted to associate professor in 1990, and was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Institut für Klassische Archäologie in Munich, Germany for the 1991/92 academic year.
In 1995, Smith returned to the United Kingdom, having been appointed Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the University of Oxford and elected a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. He is a member of both the Faculty of Classics and of the School of Archaeology. He is additionally Curator of the Cast Gallery of the Ashmolean Museum. In 2022, he retired from full-time academia, and was made an emeritus professor.

Honours

In 2010, Smith was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.

Selected publications