Report of the General Board on the establishment of an A. G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The culture of the ancient Greeks is the fountainhead of western civilization. Their political thought, philosophy, scientific enquiry, historiography, and visual art have inspired Rome, Renaissance Humanism, the European enlightenment, and the Classical revival in art and architecture, as well as opera, ballet, poetry, and theatre from Shakespeare and Monteverdi, through Handel and Stravinsky to Harrison Birtwistle, Tony Harrison, and Balanchine. Advanced study of the cultural achievements of the Greeks in the period c. 1000 BC - c. AD 300, and of their rich cultural heritage, is therefore a core discipline in the field of Classics. Promotion of a wider awareness of the results of such research is a central objective.

2. The Faculty of Classics is a world leader in its field, and a pioneer in the development and promotion of the interdisciplinary study of Classical antiquity and its reception. A major desideratum at the present time is the provision of an established focus for work of this kind centred specifically on ancient Greece and the Greek contribution to western culture.

3. An opportunity to achieve this goal has now arisen as the Leventis Foundation wishes to endow a Professorship in the Faculty of Classics, to be called the A. G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture. It is proposed that the first holder of the Professorship should be Professor P. A. Cartledge who holds the Professorship of Greek History established for his tenure (by Grace 11 of 15 December 1999) and that for subsequent appointments election be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors. Subject to the approval of this Report the University Lectureship, held in abeyance during Professor Cartledge's tenure of the personal Professorship, will be suppressed.

4. The Leventis Foundation has generously agreed to donate to the University the sum of £2.361m towards the costs of endowing this Professorship. The Foundation, which supports educational, cultural, artistic, and philanthropic causes in Cyprus, Greece, and elsewhere, wishes to make a contribution to the development of the study of ancient Greek culture in its widest sense. Professor Cartledge's research interests include the history of Greek political thought and practice, especially democracy, the societies and economies of Classical Greece, especially Sparta, and the post-antique reception of ancient Greece and the Greeks, including their representation in film and other popular cultural media; he welcomes the change in title. The Council of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Faculty Board of Classics have formally recommended the establishment of this Professorship.

5. The General Board recommend:

I. That an A. G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture be established in the University, for Professor Paul Anthony Cartledge in the first instance, from 1 October 2008, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Faculty of Classics.

II. That regulations for the A. G. Leventis Fund for Greek Culture, as set out in the Schedule to this Report, be approved.

SCHEDULE

A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture. 2008. Classics

1. The sum of £2.361m received from the A. G. Leventis Foundation for the endowment of an A. G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture, concerned with the study of Greek Culture before the Byzantine era, shall constitute a fund to be called the A. G. Leventis Fund for Greek Culture.

2. The Managers of the Fund shall be the Chairman of the Faculty Board of Classics, the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, and one other Manager appointed by the Faculty Board of Classics for periods of five years, provided that, if two or more of these posts are held by the same person or if one or more of these posts is vacant or its tenure has expired, the Faculty Board of Classics shall appoint one or more additional Managers so as to ensure that there are three Managers.

3. The first charge on the income and expendable capital of the Fund shall be the payment of the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs of the A. G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture payable by the University.

4. After provision has been made in accordance with Regulation 3, the income of the Fund shall be applied for the support of teaching or research into periods of Greek culture before the Byzantine era in such a manner as shall be approved by the General Board on the recommendation of the Managers.

5. Any unexpended income in a financial year may, in any one or more subsequent years, be expended in accordance with Regulation 4.