Toby Wilkinson


Toby Alexander Howard Wilkinson, is an English Egyptologist and academic. After studying Egyptology at the University of Cambridge, he was Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge and then a research fellow at the University of Durham. He became a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge in 2003. He was Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln from 2017 to 2021, and then Vice Chancellor of Fiji National University from January 2021 to December 2021. Since 2022, he has been Fellow for Development at Clare College, Cambridge.
Wilkinson was awarded the 2011 Hessell-Tiltman Prize for his book The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: the History of a Civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra.

Early life

Wilkinson was born in 1969. He read Egyptology at Downing College, Cambridge. He graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree, and was awarded the Thomas Mulvey Egyptology Prize. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree at Christ's College, Cambridge in 1993, with a doctoral thesis titled "Egypt in transition: predynastic-early dynastic chronology and the effects of state formation".

Academic career

Wilkinson's first academic position, from 1993 to 1997, was as Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge. From 1997 to 1999, he was Leverhulme Special Research Fellow at the University of Durham. After this he decided to change direction from academia.
Wilkinson returned to Cambridge and became a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge in 2003. He set up the college's development office, focusing on communications, fundraising and external relations, and served as director of development from 2003 to 2010. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Egyptian History. He is an honorary research fellow in the Department of Archaeology, University of Durham. In July 2011, he became head of the International Strategy Office at the University of Cambridge. In this position, he developed the university's international strategy and helped facilitate international collaborations.
In 2017, he became Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln. In January 2021, he moved to the South Pacific to become Vice Chancellor of Fiji National University. However, in August 2021, it was announced that he was to step down in December 2021 due to "personal family reasons", and he subsequently returned to the United Kingdom. In March 2022, it was announced that he would return to Clare College, Cambridge as Fellow for Development: he took up the appointment on 3 May 2022. He was appointed as the bursar of Clare college in February 2025.

Honours

In 2011, Wilkinson won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize, awarded to the best work of non-fiction of historical content, for his book The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: the History of a Civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra.
On 3 March 2017, Wilkinson was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Selected works

State Formation in Egypt: Chronology and Society, British Archaeological Reports InternationalEarly Dynastic Egypt, RoutledgeRoyal Annals of Ancient Egypt: the Palermo Stone and Its Associated Fragments, Kegan PaulGenesis of the Pharaohs: Dramatic New Discoveries That Rewrite the Origins of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, Thames & HudsonLives of the Ancient Egyptians: Pharaohs, Queens, Courtiers and Commoners The Egyptian World, Routledge'. Published by Bloomsbury on 2 August 2010 and by Random House on 15 March 2011