The A.G. Leventis Research Professorship in Greek

A.G. Leventis was born in Cyprus in 1902. When he died in 1978, after a business career very much associated with West Africa, he had provided for the establishment of a Foundation to carry on the philanthropic work he had begun during his lifetime. The A.G. Leventis Foundation today encompasses a very broad range of activities, for example, the preservation of the natural environment; agricultural and technical education in West Africa; the granting of scholarships; and the promotion of the wealth of Hellenic culture, wherever it is. In the University of Edinburgh, the Leventis Foundation funds a biennial visiting research chair in Greek. While they are in residence for three or four months, the visiting professors give a public lecture, hold seminars and organize a conference within their own area of research, in collaboration with Edinburgh colleagues. Previous holders of the visiting chair have been Professors Brian Sparkes (University of Southampton), David Konstan (Brown University) and Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy (Mykenische Kommission, Vienna). The current holder is Professor Terry Penner (Madison, Wisconsin).