Greg Woolf Appointed as Next Director of NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World

We are delighted to share the NYU announcement welcoming Greg Woolf to the ISAW NYU community! 

NYU President Linda G. Mills and Provost Georgina Dopico today announced the appointment of Greg Woolf—currently the Ronald J. Mellor Distinguished Professor of Ancient History at UCLA and the former director of the Institute of Classical Studies (ICS) at the University of London—as the new Leon Levy Director of NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW). He will take up his new duties on January 1, 2025.

President Mills said, “The quality, impact, and prodigiousness of Greg Woolf’s scholarship; his commitment to fostering interdisciplinary research; his experience and qualities as an academic leader while at ICS; his reputation for hard work, warm collegiality, bringing people together to solve problems, and leading by example all make him an exceptional choice to lead the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. We are delighted by his appointment, and welcome him to NYU.”

Established through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation in 2006 with the aim of studying the connections—economic, religious, political, and cultural—between ancient civilizations, the Institute’s scholarly approach to antiquity has influenced a new generation of scholars.

A historian and an archaeologist, Greg Woolf’s work focuses on the culture of the Roman empire, including questions of literacy, ancient knowledge cultures and libraries, the Roman economy, ancient cities, and the emergence of religions. He has also published on the European Iron Age and on global history.  Woolf—who in addition to being named ISAW’s director will be a professor of ancient Mediterranean studies—is currently a member of the faculty of UCLA, where he is a chaired professor and holds appointments in the History Department and Classics Department and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. Prior to joining UCLA in 2021, he was a professor of classics and the director of the Institute of Classical Studies at the University of London and was a visiting professor of archaeology at University College, London. Earlier, he was a professor of ancient history at the University of St. Andrews.

He is widely published, with six single-authored books and 10 edited works. Beginning with his first book—Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul (Cambridge University Press)—his scholarly output has been highly regarded and broadly influential in his field. He has been recognized with numerous honors and awards: he is a fellow of the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and the Society of Antiquaries of London; and a member of the European Academy of Arts and Sciences. He held the Sather Professorship at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022, and he has held visiting positions in Campinas (Brazil), Erfurt (Germany), Madrid, Nijmegen (Netherlands), and Paris, among others. He is currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

As an undergraduate, Woolf took a first at the University of Oxford in classical moderations and ancient and modern history. He received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge. 

This significant appointment comes at a time when ISAW is poised to expand its influence in the field of ancient studies, and Woolf’s extensive background makes him an excellent fit for this role. We are excited to welcome Professor Woolf to the ISAW community in January 2025.