Phil Booth granted full professor title in 2026 Recognition of Distinction Awards

Phil Booth has been granted the title of Professor by the University of Oxford in its annual Recognition of Distinction awards.

Prof Booth is A.G. Leventis Professor of Eastern Christian Studies at the University of Oxford and Research Fellow in Theology and Religion and in History, and Stipendiary Lecturer in Theology, Religion and History at St Peter’s College. He is a specialist in Medieval Eastern Christianity, with a particular interest in the transition of Christian communities and ideas between the late Roman and Sasanian empires and the Islamic caliphate.

Across his career Prof Booth has cultivated a research and publication profile that sits at the intersection of several disciplines (including Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Ecclesiastical History, and Eastern Christian Studies) and several linguistic specialisms (in particular Greek, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Syriac), and which ranges across both the late Roman and the early Islamic worlds. He has a particular interest in the sixth and seventh centuries in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

His teaching profile is similarly interdisciplinary and wide-ranging, tutoring and lecturing undergraduates in the history and theology of the first millennium. He also works with students at the postgraduate level in both the Faculty of History and the Faculty of Theology and Religion.

To be conferred the title of full professor, candidates must demonstrate the following:

• An ongoing research record characterised by a significant influence on the field of study, of a high order of excellence and international standing, and the quality of which in terms of research distinction is at least equal to that expected of those appointed to full professorships at other leading international research universities.
• An ongoing record of involvement in University and/or college administration concomitant with the duties of the University post and the college fellowship (where one is held), demonstrable competence in such administration, and an ongoing record of effective teaching for the University and for colleges concomitant with the duties of the University post and the college fellowship (where one is held). 
• Good citizenship, which may include activities such as the holding of University and/or college offices, service on University and/or college committees, and leadership of equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, amongst others. Account may also be taken of editorship of journals, service on committees working in a national context, and other forms of public engagement, as well as activities connected to enterprise, links with industry and business.

St Peter's College is pleased to celebrate this milestone in Prof Booth’s career.