Grant Advisory Committee
Professor Thomas Harrison, Chair
Tom studied Ancient and Modern History at Oxford, where he later took his doctorate. He has taught at several universities, namely London, St Andrews and Liverpool, where he is now Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology. He specialises in Greek history and historiography.
Tom first became involved in work with schools at St Andrews, where he was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of children to participate in staged versions of Latin drama. He has developed outreach projects in Liverpool and has held several senior positions within the the teachers’ association, JACT. Most notably as Chair of Council (2007-10). He is firmly committed both to Classics for All’s mission of broadening access and to ensuring that Classics for All makes a permanent difference to the position of Classics in UK education.
Professor Catherine Steel, Professor of Latin, University of Glasgow
Catherine read Mods and Greats at Oxford, remaining there to take her doctorate. She now teaches at the University of Glasgow, where she specialises in Roman oratory and Republican history, which gives her an ideal opportunity to closely observe developments in Classics teaching across the university sector.
She has experience of outreach work in Glasgow through schools’ conferences and the University’s annual Greek and Latin Verse and Prose reading competition. She regularly teaches at the JACT Greek Summer School, currently chairs JACT’s Greek Committee and is on the councils of the Classical Assocation and the Roman Society.
Carolyn Foreman
Carolyn has held senior posts in education management in London and worked as an educational consultant. She has also been a trustee of grant-giving and fundraising charities and a governor of both state and independent schools.
David Tristram, Headteacher, The Kingswood School, Corby and former Chair of JACT Council
David studied Classics at the University of Hull in the early seventies and stayed to complete his PGCE, following his boyhood intention to become a Classics teacher. He has taught in the maintained sector throughout his career at several different schools, including a spell as an Advisory Teacher with Northamptonshire. After obtaining an MA in Educational Management, he went on to become headteacher at the Kingswood School in Corby – an 11-18 comprehensive school which still offers students the opportunity to study Latin. David is a former Chief Examiner for GCSE Latin with OCR, former Chair of JACT (2004-2007) and still teaches Latin both at school and on weekend courses at Madingley Hall in Cambridge. David has remained committed to the promotion of Classics in schools and is delighted to support CfA’s mission to continue that drive.
Nigel Spencer, Director of Learning and Development, Reed Smith
Nigel Spencer began studying Latin and Ancient History at Maidstone Grammar School, and went on to study Classics at King’s College London. Nigel lived at the British School at Athens for two years during his PhD research, which focused on the archaeology and history of the island of Lesvos (Mytilene) in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. As a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford his international, multi-disciplinary research project on the Aegean coast of Turkey studied the region’s cultural, social and environmental changes through time, and his publications discuss themes such as group dynamics, hierarchy, power and status in ancient society.
Nigel subsequently moved into the City where he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then at Simmons & Simmons. He is currently Director of Learning and Development at Reed Smith. Nigel is also a member of the Management Council of the British School at Athens and has also served as a Trustee of the British Institute in Ankara.
