Christopher Kelly (historian)

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Christopher Kelly (born 1964) is a British-Australian (born in London raised in Sydney) classicist and historian, who specializes in the later Roman Empire and the classical tradition. [1] He has been Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, since 2018.

Contents

Biography

Kelly studied history and law at the University of Sydney as an undergraduate. [2] In 1984 he and David Celermeyer (individual winner of the public speaking competition) represented the University of Sydney as champions at the World Universities Debating Championship in Edinburgh. [3] [4]

He came to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1986, presided over the Cambridge Union in Easter term 1988 [5] and within 7 years had earned a doctorate. [6] His doctoral thesis was titled "Corruption and bureaucracy in the later Roman Empire", and was submitted in 1993. [7]

Kelly is Professor of Classics and Ancient History in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. [8] He is a previous chairman of the faculty. [9] From 2006 to 2008, he held a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship. [1] On 12 July 2017, he was elected Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. [9] His term as Master began in Michaelmas 2018. His appointment follows his tenure as senior tutor in the early 2000s, when he was strongly criticised by some members of the student body for his policies, [10] and the college JCR threatened to refuse to acknowledge his plans to assign rooms based on exam results. [11]

Kelly is married to Shawn Donnelley, an American philanthropist and great-great-granddaughter of R.R. Donnelley & Sons founder Richard Robert Donnelley. [12] They met in Corpus Christ College in 2000 and married in Chicago in 2008. [13] Donnelley founded and is President of Strategic Giving, a firm providing consultation on philanthropy; [14] she has numerous ties to Cambridge including being elected as Guild [of Benefactors] Fellow, reserved for Corpus Christi College's most generous supporters. [15] The couple continues to donate to the College. [16] [17]

Academic work

Kelly was editor of the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society and Cambridge Classical Journal from 2000 to 2006. [1] He is currently editor of the Journal of Roman Studies and President of the Cambridge Philological Society. [9]

Kelly's first major work was Ruling the Later Roman Empire (2006). In The End of Empire (2009), characterized as a "semi-popular work", [18] he took a revisionist view of Attila the Hun as a "thoughtful and effective political and military leader." [19]

Kelly contributed to The Cambridge Ancient History and to Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, edited by G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar. [20] He is an occasional reviewer for publications such as London Review of Books , [21] Literary Review , and History Today.

Selected works


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References

  1. 1 2 3 Corpus Christi College faculty bio Archived 2012-11-18 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Master". Corpus Christi College. University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  3. ↑ "About the World Universities Debating Championships" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "World Debating Champions and Finalists". World Debating News. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "List of presidents of the Cambridge Union" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  6. ↑ Random House author's biography
  7. ↑ Kelly, Christopher Mark (1993). "Corruption and bureaucracy in the later Roman Empire" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "Professor Christopher Kelly". Faculty of Classics. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 "Corpus Christi College elects a new Master". Corpus Christi College. University of Cambridge. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  10. ↑ Elizabeth Howcroft. "Old conflicts resurface as Corpus Christi appoints new Master". Varsity.
  11. ↑ Mark Inglefield. "Diary: Seeing red". The Times . Archived from the original on 2001-05-27.
  12. ↑ "Donnelley announces run for Congress" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "An overseas romance, from Chicago to Cambridge" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  14. ↑ "Shawn Donnelley, 39" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  15. ↑ "Corpus Christi College Guild Fellows" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  16. ↑ "Shawn Donnelley and Christopher Kelly donate new chalice and paten" . Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  17. ↑ "Corpus Christi College Donor List 2021-2022" (PDF). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  18. ↑ Edward Luttwak, "The Best and the Brightest," The New Republic (August 31, 2009), review
  19. ↑ Bryan Ward-Perkins, "The Decline and Fall Industry," Standpoint (September 2009) features
  20. ↑ Michael Kulikowski, review of Kelly's Ruling the Roman Empire, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (February 12, 2005)
  21. ↑ London Review of Books contributor's note
Academic offices
Preceded by Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
2018-present		Incumbent
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