Tuesday 18 March 2008

In Memoriam - Ross Scaife: 1960-2008

Ross Scaife, Professor of Classics at the University of Kentucky, passed away at the weekend, too young.

There's a thorough overview of his contribution to classics, and in particular, digital classics, over at Stoa.

I didnt know Ross terribly well, but whenever I did meet with him, he was always kind, generous, and overall: interested. I first corresponded with him as a Masters student, doing my MA thesis in Greek Art, and here was this professor on email willing to spend some time engaging with a foreign, unknown student they had never met. As a young scholar, whenever I bumped into him from then on at various conferences and symposiums, he was always pleased to see me, always curious, always supportive. His contribution to classics has been great - but I cannot stress enough how much I respected this approachable, kind, scholar, and how much such support meant to a young scholar figuring out how the digital could fit in with the classical.

A great loss.

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