Dr Robert (Bob) Bewley is the Co-founder and former Director of the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa project (from 2015-2020) at the University of Oxford. He is the Director of the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan project and in 2018 was able to set up the Aerial Archaeology in Oman project.
Formerly Director of Operations at the Heritage Lottery Fund, and Head of Survey and Aerial Survey at English Heritage (and before that the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), Bob has worked in Britain, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa on aerial and field surveys, excavations and aerial archaeology training workshops. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London and a Trustee for the International Association for the Study of Arabia and the Anglo-Jordanian Society. He is Vice-Chair of the Mary Rose Trust.
Bob received his PhD in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge and was an undergraduate at Manchester University studying Ancient History and Archaeology. He is the author of six books, including Prehistoric Settlements (1994 and 2003), Aerial Archaeology – Developing Future Practice (2002 with W. Raçzkowski) and Ancient Jordan from the Air (2004 with David Kennedy).
He was elected chair of the CBRL board of trustees in November 2020 and stepped down from the role in December 2023. In 2024, he continues as an Ordinary Trustee and is a member of the development sub-committee.