Robert Louis Herbert Fowler, FBA (born 19 May 1954) is a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and academic. He was Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

between 1996 and 2017.

Career

Born on 19 May 1954 at Palmerston,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Robert Louis Herbert Fowler attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, graduating with a

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 ...

degree in 1976 and

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 ...

degree the next year. He then completed his doctoral studies at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

; his DPhil was awarded in 1980 for his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

"Aspects of style in early Greek lyric poetry". He was appointed to a post-doctoral fellowship at the Calgary Institute for the Humanities in 1980, and then joined the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

as an assistant professor in 1981. He was promoted to associate professor five years later, and chaired the department from 1988 to 1996. He was appointed professor in 1994, before becoming Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek at the

in 1996. He was also Dean of Arts at Bristol from 2004 to 2009, and retired from his professorship in 2017, but remained on the faculty as an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who 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". In some c ...

professor."Professor Robert Fowler"
''British Academy''. Retrieved 30 June 2018. He is one of the trustees of the Herculaneum Society, and an editor, with Alessandro Barchiesi, Lucia Prauscello and Nigel Wilson, of the serie
Sozomena
which is published for the Society by Walter de Gruyter.The series can be found online a
De Gruyter's website

Awards and honours

In 2015, Fowler 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 ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences.

Selected publications

* ''The Nature of Early Greek Lyric'' (University of Toronto Press, 1987). * ''Early Greek Mythography'', 2 vols. (Oxford University Press, 2000, 2013). Vol. 1: , Vol. 2: * (Editor) ''The Cambridge Companion to Homer'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004). * ''Pindar and the Sublime. Greek Myth, Reception, and Lyric Experience'' (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Robert 1954 births Living people Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the Classical Association