Emma Dench

Emma Dench is the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History and Classics at Harvard University, and serves as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She holds joint appointments in the Departments of Classics and History. Her research focuses on Roman Republican and Imperial history, identity formation in antiquity, and Roman imperialism. Dench has held prestigious fellowships including the Craven Fellowship at Oxford, Rome Scholar at the British School of Rome, and Visiting Professorships at Harvard and the Harvard Business School.

Education: BA (Hons) Literae Humaniores from Wadham College, Oxford (1987); DPhil in Ancient History from St. Hugh's College, Oxford (1993). Prior to Harvard, she taught at Birkbeck College, University of London (1992–2006). She has authored three major monographs and is completing a new work on Roman imperialism for Cambridge University Press.

Her research explores how Romans constructed identities through conquest, cultural interaction, and historiography. Recent work includes studies on Roman political cultures and leadership lessons from antiquity, co-taught at Harvard Business School. Awards recognize her excellence in teaching and mentoring across undergraduate and graduate levels.

• Awards: Harvard College Professorship (2010–15), Marquand Award (2008), Everett Mendelsohn Award (2015)
• Current Projects: 'Imperialism and Culture in the Roman World' (Cambridge UP), retrospective historiography of Republican Rome