P. E. Easterling

P. E. Easterling
Born	(1934-03-11) 11 March 1934 (age 82) Blackburn, Lancashire, England
Institutions	University of Manchester University College London University of Cambridge
Alma mater	Newnham College, Cambridge

Patricia Elizabeth Easterling, FBA (née Fairfax; born 11 March 1934) is an English classical scholar, recognised as a particular expert on the work of Sophocles. She was Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge from 1994 to 2001. She was the 36th person and the first woman to hold the prestigious post.

Born in Blackburn, Easterling attended Witton Park High School before graduating with first class honours and distinction in Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge in 1955. After an initial spell lecturing at the University of Manchester (1957–58), Easterling taught within the Cambridge Classics Faculty as a Fellow of Newnham College until 1987 when she took up the position of Professor of Greek at University College London.

In 1994 she returned to Cambridge and Newnham as the 36th Regius Professor of Greek, the first (and so far only) woman to hold that post since its endowment by Henry VIII. On retirement in 2001 she became an Honorary Fellow of Newnham College.