Emma Dench

Professor Emma Dench
Born	York, Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Title	McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History
Spouse(s)	Jonathan Bowker
Children	1

Academic background
Alma mater	Wadham College, Oxford St Hugh's College, Oxford
Thesis title	Peoples of the central Appennines in Roman ideology to c.80 B.C. (1993)
Academic work
Discipline	Classics and Ancient History
Sub discipline	History of Rome Roman Empire Roman Imperialism Identity in classical antiquity
Institutions	Hobart and William Smith Colleges Birkbeck College, University of London Harvard University

Emma Dench is an English ancient historian, classicist, and academic. Since 2015, she has been McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University. She was previously Professor of Ancient History at Birkbeck College, University of London, and then Professor of Classics and of History at Harvard.

Dench was born in York, Yorkshire, England, and grew up near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Her father was Jeffery Dench, a Shakespearean actor, and her mother, Betty, was a speech therapist. Her aunt (her father's sister) is Judi Dench, an award winning film actress. Emma appeared in the 1968 film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream as Peaseblossom alongside her aunt, who played Titania.

Dench studied classics at Wadham College, Oxford: she achieved a first in Honour Moderations in 1984, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a double first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1987. As per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA (Oxon)) degree in 1989. She then undertook postgraduate research in ancient history at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She held the Craven Fellowship at Oxford from 1989 to 1991, and was Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome from 1991 to 1992. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1993; her thesis was titled Peoples of the central Appennines in Roman ideology to c.80 B.C..