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British archaeologist and academic From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Gordon Fulford, CBE, FBA, FSA (born October 1948) is a British archaeologist and academic, specialising in the British Iron Age, Roman Britain and landscape archaeology. He has been Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading since 1993.[1]
Fulford was born in October 1948 in Hampshire, England.[2] He was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, then an all-boys private boarding school.[3] He studied Archaeology and Latin at Southampton University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1970 and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1975.[3][4] His doctoral thesis was titled "New Forest Roman Pottery".[5]
Between 1971 and 1974, he was employed as the personal research assistant of Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe;[4] first at the University of Southampton, then at the University of Oxford.[3] He joined the University of Reading as a lecturer in archaeology in 1974, and promoted to reader in 1985.[3] He received a personal chair in 1988 and was made Professor of Archaeology in 1993.[4] He has also been Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (1998–2004).[4]
He served on both the Council and the Executive and Research Committees of the Society of Antiquaries of London.[6] He is currently the Honorary Treasurer of the British Academy.[7]
Between 1994 and 1998, he was editor for the academic journal Britannia. Fulford served as the President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies from 2005 to 2008, and as of 2021[update] is an honorary vice-president of the society.[8] For the period between 2003 and 2007, he was granted the Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship.[4] Fulford has served as chairman of the Roman Research Trust since 2009.[9]
Fulford has published widely on subjects relating to Romano-British and Roman archaeology, especially with regards to the dynamics of towns, landscape archaeology and the economy. He is probably best known for a series of digs conducted since 1974 at the site of the former Iron Age and Romano-British town of Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum), Hampshire.[4][6]
Fulford was appointed a Commissioner of English Heritage (now Historic England) in 2014.[10]
Fulford was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours.[11]
In 1977, Fulford was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). In 1994, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).[7]
In 2013, a supplement of the Journal of Roman Archaeology was published in Fulford's honour.[12] Fulford won the 2015 Archaeologist of the Year award at the Current Archaeology Awards, as voted for by the general public: the awards were announced on 27 February 2015 as part of the annual Current Archaeology Live! conference.[13]