Dr Nellie Phoca-Cosmetatou’s career has successfully spanned both the academic and professional–fundraising spheres.
After completing her PhD in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, she gained a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2001, leading to academic appointments at the University of Oxford (Wolfson and Keble colleges). During her time at Keble she was also an energetic member of its steering committee that devised the successful Vision for 2020 campaign; and volunteered at the Development Office at the Royal Opera House.
She has held research scholarships at the British School at Rome and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and has excavated and travelled extensively in the Mediterranean and surrounding countries (including Israel, Jordan and Turkey).
After a stint at the University of Arizona, she took up an Anthropology lectureship at the University of Cambridge (2010–2012); a tenure that saw the publication of her highly regarded book on the first colonisation of Mediterranean islands.
In 2013 she was drawn back into development work. An appointment at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), Cambridge, was followed by her current role as Development Manager at the University of London, where her role was to bridge academic and development agendas for the School of Advanced Study.
Among her recent achievements, she has been leading fundraising on the primary and follow-up phases of a landmark History of Arbitration project, and played a pivotal role in securing a transformative gift for a capital project.
She first worked closely and enthusiastically with CBRL’s then fundraising working group in a voluntary capacity since January 2019 and was elected as a trustee in December 2019. She currently serves as chair of CBRL’s development committee formed in 2021.