Emma Smith Appointed as our New Professor of Rhetoric

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Emma Smith as our 51st Professor of Rhetoric.

Professor Smith is currently Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford, where she is also Fellow of Hertford College.

She has published widely on early modern drama; her 2019 book This Is Shakespeare was a Sunday Times bestseller and her 2022 book Portable Magic: A History of Books And Their Readers was shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize

Professor Jane Shaw, Provost of Gresham College, said: “I am thrilled by Emma Smith’s appointment. Professor Smith is a brilliant scholar of great distinction who knows how to convey her ideas in the most engaging ways to the broadest of audiences.”

Professor Smith has extensive experience in both print and broadcast media and is a frequent contributor to many BBC radio programmes, including In Our Time. 

An early academic adopter of podcasts, her lectures and webinars have international reach and a million downloads, and she frequently gives talks at schools, libraries and literary festivals.

She said: “Everything about this role – from the title which must be the best in the world, to the long history of distinguished professors including my Shakespearean hero Jan Kott in 1986, and most of all the opportunity to meet diverse audiences in person and online – is an honour, a privilege and an excitement.  

“I am grateful to the College for the opportunity and look forward to trying to maintain the intellectual excitement that Melissa Lane has generated as the 50th Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.” 

Gresham College audiences will be able to meet Professor Smith when she delivers a lecture next month. Shakespeare Now: Creativity and Controversy explores how Shakespeare is performed in contemporary theatre and film, and the sometimes heated questions it raises about representation, politics, and relevance.