Anandh Owen Expand Anandh Owen is Chief Operating Officer of Delancey, a specialist real estate investment and advisory company. Prior to joining Delancey, Anandh spent nine years at Autodesk Inc, a NASDAQ-listed company, as European Director of Finance & Operations in both Media and Consumer software divisions and was involved in helping to manage revenue, operating margins and profitability on a quarterly basis with a view to achieving corporate targets. Since joining Delancey in September 2004, Anandh has conducted a full review of its operational capabilities and has embarked on a programme of improving the existing information technology infrastructure and aligning them to the needs to the business as a whole, thereby ensuring that Delancey operates more efficiently and effectively. He has also conducted a risk analysis review of the business and its allied finance and operating processes, with a view to developing a first class finance and business support regime, whereby finance materially improves its value to the business and provides a structured and streamlined process of providing accurate management and financial reporting. Anandh has also been responsible for defining a clear human resource strategy which allows Delancey to value, develop and optimise productivity through its employees. He has also been responsible for implementing all regulatory and compliance legislation for the past 10 years and manages assets approximating £4 billion. He has been passionate about the study of Egyptology for more than 15 years and has attended numerous courses over the years.
Dr Alexandra Villing Expand Dr Alexandra Villing is a curator at the British Museum’s Department of Ancient Greece and Rome, which she joined in 2001, after working in Germany and Greece. She is director of the Museum’s research project on Egyptian-Greek relations that focuses on the site of Naukratis in the Nile Delta, reassessing Flinders Petrie’s pioneering early work for the Egypt Exploration Fund as well as conducting new fieldwork at the site. Alexandra holds MPhil and DPhil degrees in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford, having begun her studies in Freiburg, Germany. She has long been involved in excavations in Turkey, at ancient Miletos and Knidos. Her research centres on interaction between Greece and neighbouring cultures and the roles played by material culture and religion in shaping identities, and she is particularly interested in collaborative approaches involving different disciplines, including sciences and history of research. For the British Museum she has curated an exhibition on ‘Fantastic Creatures’ in world cultures (shown in Korea and Hong Kong) and the Museum’s ‘Ancient Greece’ website. She has published widely on ancient Greek art and culture, including studies on pottery, religion, iconography, ancient Athens, relations between Greece, Persia, Anatolia and Egypt, as well as a children’s book on ancient Greece and four conference volumes, including one on Naukratis. For the Naukratis Project she currently co-ordinates a major online publication that combines over 17,000 objects in 60 museums worldwide with archival documents, many of which belong to the Society, and analytical studies, www.britishmuseum.org/naukratis.
Dr Anna Garnett Expand Dr Anna Garnett brings her expertise in Egyptian archaeology and a track record of academic and popular research and publication to the Board of Trustees. Anna has over a decade of experience in international fieldwork projects in Egypt and Sudan, including her EES grant-funded work at Amarna from 2015-17 as a ceramicist. Anna acquired her PhD from the University of Liverpool in 2018 focusing on sacred landscapes in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. Anna has been involved in Society education and training programmes since 2015 and was also instrumental in our first Egyptian Archaeology Skills School during which she educated students about ceramics and small finds recording and analysis. In 2017 Anna was appointed Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and would look forward to using her skills in engagement to benefit the Society’s archive and library collections and particularly in encouraging their use by researchers and students.
Dr Campbell Price Expand Dr Campbell Price holds a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Liverpool, where he is now an Honorary Research Fellow. Since 2011, he has been Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, one of the most significant collections of Egyptian objects in the UK. In this role Campbell confronts daily the public (mis)perception of Ancient Egypt, and aims to explain aspects of the culture and why it matters today. His field- and museum work in Egypt itself has fostered links that he continues to develop. Campbell believes the EES is a key vehicle for both the connection of specialists and engagement with broader audiences in the UK and Egypt. A key question must be: why do we study Ancient Egypt and why is it relevant today? Campbell’s work posing questions about Ancient Egypt – through publications, exhibitions, and on traditional and social media – has given him an insight into the needs and demands of variety of audiences. He would look to bring both strategic perspective to the future of the EES as an institution for British Egyptologists, and to develop its relevance and reputation beyond the Academy in Egypt and abroad.
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. Katharina joined the EES in 2007, but has not previously served as an EES Trustee.
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. “Born in Cairo in 1951, I graduated from Medical School in Cairo with Honours in 1974. I came to Britain with my wife and family in 1980 to further my surgical training. I became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a PhD (University of Dundee) in 1982. My 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 I moved to Portsmouth as Head of Renal Transplant, and built up the living donor programme while supervising several MD theses produced by my research fellows. I continued with major cancer surgery, and developed a major interest in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery, introducing new laparoscopic procedures to Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. I retired in 2014, but still work as a part time consultant in General Surgery, which frees my time for my special interests. These include Egyptology, the care of my marine coral reef tank, listening to music (I am a hi-fi enthusiast), and my greenhouse.
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.