Professor Christopher Smith is Executive Chair of the AHRC. He has been Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews since 2002, and he was also Dean of Arts (2002-2006), Dean of Graduate Studies (2006 -2009), and Vice Principal (2007- 2009), before being seconded as Director of the British School at Rome, from 2009 to 2017.

Christopher was a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellow (2017-2020,) with a project on The Roman Kings: A Study in Power. He held visiting positions in Erfurt, Princeton, Otago, Pavia, Milan, Siena, Aarhus and Paris Panthéon Sorbonne. Professor Smith’s research explores constitutionalism and state formation with a particular emphasis on the development of Rome as a political and social community. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Society of Arts and a Member of the Academia Europaea.