Deborah Janet Howard, (born 1946) is a British

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and academic. Her principal research interests are the art and architecture of Venice and the Veneto; the relationship between Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean, and music and architecture in the Renaissance. She is

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of Architectural History in the Faculty of Architecture and History of Art,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Early life and education

From 1964 to 1968, Howard studied for the architecture and fine arts

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, graduating with a

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree. As per tradition, her BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1972. From 1968 to 1972, she studied at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She graduated with a

(MA) degree with distinction and then completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1973. Whilst at the

Courtauld Courtauld is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Courtauld Butler or Adam Butler (British politician), DL (1931–2008), British Conservative Party politician and MP *Augustine Courtauld (1904–1959), often called August Cou ...

, Howard contributed photographs to the Conway Library that are currently being digitised by the

as part of the Courtauld Connects project. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters (LittD) by the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 2014.

Professional life

University teaching and research posts

Professor Howard has spent the majority of her academic life at the

where she started her career becoming the Leverhulme Fellow in the History of Art, at

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It was est ...

, in 1972/3. She then taught and undertook research at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and the

.'HOWARD, Prof. Deborah Janet', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 24 July 2017
/ref> In 1992, she returned to the Faculty of Architecture and History of Art at Cambridge when she became a Fellow of St John’s College. From 2001 to 2013, she was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Architectural History The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

at the

and Head of Department of History of Art from 2002 to 2009. She has also held visiting appointments at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

(Summer Term program in London),

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

( Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture and the

Villa I Tatti Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies is a center for advanced research in the humanities located in Florence, Italy, and belongs to Harvard University. It houses a collection of Italian primitives, and of Chinese and ...

in Florence), the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC,

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, and the Universities of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Research projects

With Dr Mary Laven and

Abigail Brundin Abigail Brundin is professor of Italian and the first female Director of the British School at Rome. She is an expert on the literature and culture of Italy in the renaissance and early modern periods. Prior to her appointment at the BSR, she wa ...

she was one of the principal investigators of a major interdisciplinary project, funded by a Synergy Grant from the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

, 2013-2017, ''Domestic Devotions The Place of Piety in the Italian Renaissance Home, 1400-1600'' which has resulted in a number of publications. Her most recent project ''Technological Invention & Architecture in the Veneto in the Early Modern Period'' was under the 2017-19 Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship.

Expertise

Howard's book ''Venice & the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture'' demonstrated how fourteenth- and fifteenth-century trade with Muslim states (including Cairo, Damascus, Acre, Aleppo, Baghdad and Amman) were key to shaping the design of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

: with Islamic patterns and shapes incorporated "symbolically" into architecture, city planning following demarcations of business and leisure seen in North African states, and new technologies for building domed roofs brought back alongside traded goods. The book is illustrated with Howard's own photographs.

Awards and honours

Howard was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

FBA in 2010. She has worked as a Council Member, on working groups, committees and is currently a peer reviewer for grant and fellowship applications in History of Art and Architecture. In 2021, she was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. A

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

''Architecture, Art and Identity in Venice and Its Territories, 1450–1750: Essays in Honour of Deborah Howard'' was published in 2013.

Community work

During her long career, Professor Howard has acted on numerous external academic committees as well as in more community based posts. For example, Professor Howard is a Trustee of the Venice in Peril Fund. More locally she is School Governor of St John’s College School Cambridge having previously been a governor of St Margaret’s School in Edinburgh and the

Perse School for Girls The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of private schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of: - 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5. - 2 Junior S ...

(now the

Stephen Perse Foundation The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of private schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of: - 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5. - 2 Junior S ...

) in Cambridge.

Personal life

Deborah Howard was born in Westminster, London, on 26 February 1946. She is married to the physicist

Malcolm Longair Malcolm Sim Longair (born 18 May 1941)Anon (2017) is a British physicist. From 1991 to 2008 he was the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Since 2016 he has been Editor-in-Ch ...

and they have two now-grown children.

Selected publications

* ''The Sacred Home in Renaissance Italy'', (with Abigail Brundin & Mary Leven), Oxford University Press, 2018, * ''Venice Disputed: Marc'Antonio Barbaro and Venetian Architecture,1550-1600'', New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 2011, * ''Sound and Space in Renaissance Venice: Architecture, Music, Acoustics'', with Laura Moretti, New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press, 2009, * ''The Architectural History of Venice'' (revised edition with new photographs by Sarah Quill and Deborah Howard), New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 2002, * ''Venice & the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture 1100-1500'', New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press, 2000, , * ''Scottish Architecture: Reformation to the Restoration, 1560-1660'', Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 1995, *''Jacopo Sansovino; Architecture and Patronage in Renaissance Venice'', New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1975,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Deborah 1946 births Living people British art historians British women art historians Architecture academics Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Academics of University College London Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the Courtauld Institute of Art Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge British architectural historians Members of the American Philosophical Society Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge