Dr Jan Geisbusch Publications Manager Expand Jan takes care of the production of the Society’s magazine, Egyptian Archaeology, as well as monographs related to EES fieldwork and research.
Dr Katharina Zinn Expand Dr Katharina Zinn is Senior Lecturer in Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter Campus. Being at home at the School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, she is perfectly placed to teach and publish in her areas of interest (museums, heritage, material culture, identity, religion, Amarna, art, gender) using ancient Egypt as the civilisation which provides her case studies. She studied Egyptology (major), Communication- and Media-Sciences (minor), Economy (minor) at the University of Leipzig (Germany) where she also obtained her Dr.Phil. in Egyptology in 2008. Before moving to Wales and working both at Swansea University and UWTSD, Katharina was affiliated lecturer at the Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge. From her first steps in Egyptology onwards, she was involved in work in museums, be it as guide, research assistant or assistant curator. As part of the museum projects she has done a lot of outreach activities.
Dr Linda Steynor Vice-Chair Expand Dr Linda Steynor studied English and Spanish at Bristol University; her subsequent career in education at local and national level included the inspection of English and Modern Foreign Languages, and the strategic leadership and governance of schools. She continues her involvement in education as Chair of Governors of a large Norfolk High School. In retirement Linda was able to pursue her lifelong interest in the language and literature of ancient cultures. Her major research interest is in the literary nature of Egyptian texts, and in August 2012 she gained her PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London. Her thesis examines the functions of metaphor in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. She has been a guest lecturer at Birkbeck College, and has published and contributed to conferences and seminars. She is the English Editorial Assistant for Trabajos de Egiptología and has acted in that capacity for the Ministry of Antiquities Press, Cairo. Linda has been a member of the EES since 2002, during which times she has participated in its programme of activities and continues to enjoy the sense of an Egyptological community which the Society has created. She brings to the Society and its Board of Trustees a recent student perspective, a career-long understanding of organisational strategy, a high regard for the Society’s aims and a willingness to contribute to these to secure the Society’s future success.
Dr Luigi Prada Expand Dr Luigi Prada is the Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow in Egyptology at University College, University of Oxford, and—from 1 September 2017—Visiting Associate Professor in Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen. Luigi received a BA in Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from the University of Milan, where he also completed an MA in the same subjects, focusing on Greek Papyrology and Egyptology. He then moved to Oxford, where he received his MPhil and DPhil (doctorate) in Egyptology. Luigi’s main interests lie in ancient Egyptian textual studies—with special focus on literary texts from the later phases of ancient Egypt’s history in hieratic and, chiefly, demotic—as well as the study of Graeco-Egyptian bilingualism and ancient translations, in connection with the development of Coptic. One of his current projects is the study of ancient Egyptian divination practices, specifically dream interpretation. He regularly takes part in fieldwork, both in Egypt (at Elkab, as a member of the Oxford expedition directed by Vivian Davies) and in Sudan (at the rock-cut temple of Jebel Dosha and other sites in northern Sudan, also with field-director Vivian Davies). Luigi has lectured widely, including the teaching of language courses of hieratic and demotic at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Over the years, he has been a familiar guest at the EES, where he has offered various lectures and taught language classes. He has been a Trustee of the EES since the end of 2014.
Dr Margaret Mountford Chairman Expand Dr Margaret Mountford was elected to the Board in December 2010 and has served as Chair since October 2016. She practised as a solicitor in the City of London for 25 years, specialising in corporate finance and company law, then went back to university to complete a PhD in papyrology at UCL in 2012, working on papyri from Oxyrhynchus, which form part of the Society’s collections. Her roles in the education and charity sectors include being an honorary research fellow at UCL, Honorary Secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies and a governor of two Inner London schools. She has appeared in a number of television programmes including five series of The Apprentice and, more recently, presenting documentaries on Pompeii, Sappho, and the photography of Harry Burton during Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Dr Roberta Mazza Expand Dr Roberta Mazza is a papyrologist and ancient historian who obtained a PhD from the University of Bologna in 1997. After holding positions in Italy and the United States, Roberta has been a lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester since September 2009. Her research and teaching largely focus on the Greek and Latin papyri and other Egyptian antiquities of the University’s collections. She has been a research fellow of the John Rylands Research Institute since its creation in 2013 and is also academic honorary curator of the Graeco-Roman Egypt antiquities of the Manchester Museum. Roberta strongly believes in the public role of academics, and for this reason often takes part in public events and gives talks on Graeco-Roman Egypt. In recent years she has also taken an active role in the debate surrounding the Egyptian antiquities market, organizing and participating in conferences on the topic and writing about it in her blog, Faces&Voices.
Dr Sami Sadek Expand Dr Sami Sadek was born in Cairo in 1951 and graduated from Medical School in Cairo with Honours in 1974. He came to Britain with his wife and family in 1980 to further his surgical training, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a PhD (University of Dundee) in 1982. Sami’s first consultant appointment was Senior Lecturer in the University of Leeds (1990) specialising in Liver and Kidney Transplantation as well as General Surgery. In 1995 he moved to Portsmouth as Head of Renal Transplant and built up the living donor programme while supervising several MD theses produced by his research fellows. Sami continued with major cancer surgery and developed a major interest in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery, introducing new laparoscopic procedures to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. He retired in 2014, but still works as a part time consultant in General Surgery, which frees up time for special interests, including Egyptology.
Dr Val Billingham Expand Dr Val Billingham has a BA in Ancient History and Archaeology (1982) and a PhD in Egyptology (1987), both from the University of Birmingham. She has delivered several extramural courses on ancient Egypt for the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick and, more recently, has lectured on eastern Mediterranean voyages for Thomson cruises. Val entered the Department of Health fast stream as a civil servant in 1988 and spent twelve years there, working on a wide range of NHS and public health policies and strategies. She was awarded a Harkness Fellowship in 1995 and spent a year in the USA researching successful ageing. Val spent ten years at the British Heart Foundation from 2005-2015. She currently works for Age Cymru on the implementation of new legislation on advocacy in Wales, and is a property investor. Val took a career break between jobs in 2000 to write Egyptological fiction. Her first novel, Die Reise des Sonnengottes, about the harem conspiracy against Ramesses III, was published by Bastei Verlag in 2002. She continues to write, publish and self-publish Egyptological and other fiction in her spare time, under the pen name Susan Llewellyn. Val’s alter ego Susan is a keen experimenter with social networking who hosts a Wordpress blog about hieroglyphs, a Facebook page and a LinkedIn group, Ancient Egypt, and has over 700 followers on Twitter.
Dr Violaine Chauvet Expand Dr Violaine Chauvet developed her field of specialisation in Egyptian architecture with a postgraduate degree in Architecture-Archaeology (School of Architecture Paris-Strasbourg) before joining Dieter Arnold at the MMA to work on the architectural study of the mastaba of Perneb and other Old Kingdom monuments in the collection. Violaine came to Liverpool in 2007 after completing her PhD at John Hopkins University and teaches on a broad range of topics in Egyptian material culture (such as art, archaeology and heritage), language and society. Violaine has excavated in Egypt for more than 20 years, and is now co-director of the Mut Temple Precinct project, with Prof Betsy Bryan (Johns Hopkins University), investigating the urban development of Thebes in the New Kingdom. Violaine became a member of the EES in 2007, and served on the editorial team of the JEA with her colleagues at the University of Liverpool until 2012. As a Trustee of the Society, Violaine looks forward to helping shape events, lectures and workshops involving academic and museum colleagues from the UK and abroad, to disseminate current research and practices in the field of Egyptology within the EES community at large. She is also committed to the EES core strategy in developing professional training and fieldwork, as well as museum opportunities, for students in Egyptology, and to foster collaboration with our Egyptian colleagues aimed at preserving and promoting Egypt’s cultural heritage.
Essam Nagy Fieldwork and Engagement Manager Expand Essam liaises with the Ministry of Antiquities and other Egyptian institutions on behalf of the Society in order to facilitate our archaeological missions. He also organises the Society’s educational and training events for students and researchers in Egypt and manages the day-to-day running of our Cairo office.
Jan Morton Expand Jan Morton is a chartered accountant, Finance Director and business partner who works in the Film and TV industry. After reading mathematics at King’s College, London, Jan qualified as an accountant in 1993. She then worked in the charitable, not-for-profit sector for a Housing Association before moving into the world of Entertainment. Since then Jan has worked for some of the most iconic companies in the world such as Paramount Pictures, NBC Universal and the BBC. As a business partner, Jan works with the CEO and key internal stakeholders to create budgets and business plans and provides commercial and financial advice to support business decisions. She has a proven track record in delivering results; leading cost reduction programmes and driving through operational changes to create efficiencies and improve profitability. Jan has improved financial reporting, processes and procedures in all her roles and has built first-class teams along the way. At Paramount Pictures, she was also responsible for HR, IT and Facilities departments as well as a subsidiary in Dublin. Jan brings a wealth of financial experience to the Board of Trustees, in particular: a good understanding of financial management and reporting, organisational development, strategic business planning and governance. Jan has been passionate about Egyptology since she was a child and has attended numerous courses over the years. More recently she studied for a Diploma in Egyptology, then a post-Diploma course on Deir el-Medina at Birkbeck College, University of London, graduating in 2010.
Managing the Cairo library Mohamed Ibrahim, Maha Mohammed, Mostafa Y Tolba, Mostafa Ezz Alarab (2015-ongoing) Expand As the Cairo library is now regularly used by members wanting to research the history of Egypt and the Society, a team of volunteers regularly manage the library collections ensuring that books are easy to find and that users know which books are most useful for their work.