John David Thomas, FBA (born 1931), usually known as J. David Thomas, is a papyrologist and classical scholar. He was Professorial Fellow in Papyrology at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

between 1990 and 1992. He completed his undergraduate education at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, and then carried out

doctoral studies A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at the University of Wales. He lectured at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, from 1955 to 1966, when he was appointed to a lectureship in palaeography at Durham. He remained there and was promoted to a

readership Readership may refer to: * The group of readers of a particular publication or writer: their target audience * The total number of readers of a particular publication (newspaper, magazine, book), as proxy-measured by web/app views or print circulat ...

in papyrology in 1977, before his appointed to the professorial fellowship in 1990. Since retiring in 1992, he has been an

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor at Durham."Thomas, Prof. John David"
''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 16 September 2019.

Honours and awards

In 1989, Thomas was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences."Professor David Thomas FBA"
'' The British Academy''. Retrieved 16 September 2019. He was the subject of a Festschrift edited by Traianos Gagos and

Roger S. Bagnall Roger Shaler Bagnall (born August 19, 1947 in Seattle) is an American classical scholar. He was a professor of classics and history at Columbia University from 1974 until 2007, when he took up the position of first Director of the Institute for the ...

:
Essays and Texts in Honor of J. David Thomas
' (2001), published by the University of Michigan Press as the 42nd volume in its

American Studies in Papyrology American Studies in Papyrology is a book series established in 1966 by the American Society of Papyrologists. The series editors are James Keenan (editor-in-chief), Kathleen McNamee, and Arthur Verhoogt."Chancellor's Medals"
''

'', 21 April 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

Publications

* ''The Epistrategos in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt'', Papyrologica Coloniensia, no. 6 ( Westdeutscher Verlag, in two parts, 1975 and 1982). * (Co-authored with

Alan K. Bowman Alan Keir Bowman, FBA (born 23 May 1944) is a British classicist and academic. He was Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford from 2002 to 2010, and Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2015. Early lif ...

) ''Vindolanda: The Latin Writing Tablets'', Britannia Monograph Series, no. 4 ( Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1983). * (Co-authored with

) ''The Vindolanda Writing-Tablets (Tabulae Vindolandenses)'', vols. 2–3 ( British Museum Press, 1994 and 2003). Bowman, Thomas and

Roger Tomlin Roger Simon Ouin Tomlin (born 1943) is a British archaeologist specialising in the translation of Latin text and epigraphy. Tomlin is an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. Early life Tomlin first studied Honour Moderations (Mods) at Oxf ...

published critical editions of the remaining tablets in 2010 and 2011 in the journal '' Britannia''
vol. 41, pp. 187–224
an
vol. 42, pp. 113–144
. Thomas made contributions to several of the volumes of edited Oxyrhynchus Papyri published between 1971 and 2013, and was general editor for volumes 66 and 67. He also edited the third and final volume of ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the Collection of Wilfred Merton, F.S.A.'', which was published as
supplement to the 18th issue
of the ''

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'' of the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, J. David Living people 1931 births Papyrologists Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Wales Academics of Aberystwyth University Academics of Durham University Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys