Paul Magdalino FBA (born 10 May 1948) is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews, Professor of Byzantine History at Koç University, Istanbul; and a Fellow of the British Academy.
His research interests include Byzantine history: the society, culture and economy of the Byzantine world from 6th to 13th centuries; the city of Constantinople; prophecy, scientific thought, the formation of Byzantine religious Orthodoxy. He is well known for his monograph on the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), which challenged Niketas Choniates' negative appraisal of the ruler. Magdalino received the 1993 Runciman Award for his work.
Magdalino was educated at the University of Oxford (1970 BA, 1976 D.Phil.). He has worked as a Lecturer and Reader in Mediaeval History in University of St Andrews (1977-1999), as a Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Byzantine History in the University of St Andrews (1999-2009), and as a Professor of History at Koç University, Istanbul (from 2005).
He is a fellow of: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in Early Christian Humanism, Catholic University of America; Alexander-von-Humboldt Stipendium at Frankfurt and Munich; Humanities Research Centre at Australian National University. He is Directeur d'études invité, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Directeur d’études invité, École pratique des Hautes Études, section des sciences religieuses.