Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee was set up in 1985 at the initiative of Professor Denis van Berchem in order to offer advice to the Board regarding the worthiness of projects, to assist in developing research programmes and in examining applications to the Foundation. Today, the Committee consists of the following :

  • President, Prof. Bruce Fudge, Université de Genève,
  • Prof. Frédéric Bauden, Université de Liège,
  • Prof. François Déroche, Collège de France, Paris,
  • Dr. Denis Genequand, Director of the Roman site and museum of Avenches,
  • Prof. Roberta Giunta, Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples,
  • Prof. Anne-Marie Eddé, Université de Paris 1-Panthéon/Sorbonne,
  • Prof. Scott Redford, School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

Former members :

  • Prof. Denis van Berchem, Université de Genève, former president from 1985 to 1992,
  • Prof. C. Edmund Bosworth, University of Manchester, member from 1986 until 2002,
  • Prof. Giovanni Curatola, Università degli Studi di Udine, member from 1998 until 2021,
  • Mr. Alain Dufour, Geneva-based publisher, member from 1985 until 2006,
  • Prof. Nikita Elisséeff, Université Lyon II, member from 1985 until 1997,
  • Prof. Mikel de Epalza, Universitad d’Alacant, from 1998 until 2000,
  • Prof. Heinz Gaube, Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen, member from 1998 until 2015,
  • Prof. Charles Genequand, professor emeritus, Université de Genève, regular member from 1985 to 1992 and president from 1992 to 2021,
  • Prof. Oleg Grabar, Harvard University and Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, member from 1985 until 2000,
  • Prof. Renata Holod, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, member from 2001 until 2017,
  • Prof. Ludvik Kalus, professor emeritus, Université de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV), member from 1985 until 2020,
  • Prof. Hugh N. Kennedy, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, member from 2002 to 2022,
  • Mrs. Louise Martin-van Berchem, member of the Board, Geneva, member from 1998 to 2023,
  • Prof. Michael Meinecke, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Damascus, and Director of the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, member from 1985 until 1995,
  • Prof. Giovanni Oman, Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples, member from 1986 until 1999,
  • Dr. Basil Robinson, former conservator of the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, member from 1985 until 1997,
  • Prof. Michael Rogers, School of Oriental and African Studies and curator of the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, member from 1995 until 2012,
  • Prof. Gregor Schoeler, Université de Bâle, member from 1995 until 2020,
  • Prof. Michel Terrasse, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, IVe Section, Paris, member from 1985 until 2000,
  • Prof. Alan Walmsley, University of Copenhagen, member from 2014 until 2017.

In 1985, Prof. Denis van Berchem was appointed president of the Committee by the Board, and Alain Dufour and Charles Genequand were asked to report to the Board on the discussions of the Committee. Since 1986, the Committee meets once a year usually at the end of June.

In 1992, Professor Charles Genequand took over from Professor Denis van Berchem who retired from the presidency of the Scientific Committee but continued to sit at the Board until his death in 1994. Professor Charles Genequand was President from 1992 to 2021 and since 2022 he has been succeeded by Professor Bruce Fudge.