Staff
Professor John North, MA, DPhil (Director)
The Director of the Institute is responsible to the School and the University; he represents the Institute both at home and abroad, guiding its policies and development in consultation with colleagues to ensure that the Institute fulfills its role in promoting and facilitating research in Classics and related disciplines, nationally and internationally. The Director also serves as General Editor of the Institute's Publications.
John North is Acting Director for the current year. Previously he had taught for 40 years at UCL and was Head of the History Department there from 1992-97 and from 2000-02. His main research interests lie in the religious history of Rome, in particular in the place of ritual activity in traditional pagan life, in the development of pagan religions in contact with the alternative religions from the 2nd century BCE onwards, and, more recently, in the religious activities of Roman slaves. He is joint director of the AHRC-funded Festus Lexicon Project, which aims to produce a new text, translation and commentary on the preserved parts of Festus and on the résumé of Paul the Deacon.
Contact details
Professor John North
+44 (0)207 862 8702
Dr Olga Krzyszkowska, MA, FSA (Deputy Director and Administrator)
Olga Krzyszkowska has been associated with the Institute for many years. She is responsible for its day-to-day running, including its very full programme of Events and research training. She is the first port of call for visitors, Fellows and those working in the Library. She stands in when the Director is not available, and plays an active role in co-ordinating Institute Networks and collaborations. For the past 15 years she has been co-organizer of the Institute's Mycenaean Seminar Series with Cyprian Broodbank and, more recently, John Bennet. Since 2002 she has been responsible for two inter-related Archives held by the Institute: the Ventris Papers and the Mycenaean Seminar Archive.
Her main research is in the field of Aegean Archaeology, with special emphasis on Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece. She is an established expert in Aegean ivory carving, but for the past 15 years her research has focused on Aegean seals and sealing practices, and is currently involved in major international research project on the subject. Her publications include several monographs, numerous articles, conference papers and contributions to excavation reports. Since 2004 she has been Series Editor for British School at Athens Supplementary Volumes and Studies.
Contact details
Dr Olga Krzyszkowska
+44 (0)207 862 8700
Richard Simpson, MA, Dip. Arch., FSA (Director of Publications)
Richard Simpson, as the Institute's Director of Publications, is responsible for the management of the Institute’s research publication programme, a key element in the Institute’s role in facilitating research.
Richard works with authors on developing their proposals and texts for publication, oversees editing, designs our books, and is responsible for maintaining and developing our high production standards in printing and production. He also works closely with our publishing partner, Wiley-Blackwell, on our on-line publications.
Richard is an architectural historian currently completing a book on the range of textual sources on building, Classical and post-Classical, which were read in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and their relation both to contemporary archaeological inquiry and the practice of building. His publications include a history of the building of the University’s Senate House. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he is also actively engaged with local communities and architecture and planning, and is the London Borough of Camden’s Heritage and Design Champion.
Contact details
Richard Simpson
+ 44 (0)207 862 8703
Sarah Mayhew Hinder, BA(Hons), MA (Publications and Events Assistant)
As Publications and Events Assistant, Sarah Mayhew Hinder works directly under the Director of Publications and the Deputy Director helping in all aspects of the daily running of the Publications and Events Offices. Her main responsibilities are helping with the proofreading and copy-editing of manuscripts, being solely responsible for generating income from book sales, and organising our publications dispatch. She also assists in the organisation and booking of events held at the ICS. She is the go-to staff member if the Director of Publications and Deputy Director are unavailable for help with publications and events queries.
She studied at the University of Reading, reading Ancient History as an Undergraduate. She then progressed to a Master of Arts Degree in Classics entitled The City of Rome, studying both in Reading and in Rome at the British School at Rome (BSR). Her main field of study was Roman religion particularly investigating Syncretism and Interpretatio Romana, focusing on Aquae Sulis for her Undergraduate dissertation, and progressing to Mithras’ reception in Rome for her MA thesis.
Contact details
Sarah Mayhew Hinder
+44 (0)207 862 8705
