Jane Grenville

Grenville was born 17 June 1958 to Henry William Grenville and Helen Caroline Grenville (née Westmacott).[1] Her father had escaped from Nazi Germany as a child via the Kindertransport.[2] She studied archaeology and anthropology at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1983: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree.[3] Having completed her undergraduate degree, she began a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the University of Cambridge but abandoned it a year later.[3] She completed a PhD by publication at the University of York in 2005.[4][3]

As a field archaeologist, Grenville has undertaken excavations in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Crete, Syria, and Libya.[4][5] From 1984 to 1987, she was a field worker on the Listed Buildings Resurvey for Yorkshire and Humberside.[1][4] Next, from 1987 to 1988, she was a researcher on the Chester Rows Research Project.[4] She was then an Historic Buildings Officer with the Council for British Archaeology between 1988 and 1991.[1]

In 1991, she joined the University of York as a lecturer in archaeology.[1] She was promoted to senior lecturer in 2000.[1] She was Head of its Department of Archaeology between 2001 and 2006.[6] She served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Students from 2007 to 2015 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor from 2012 to 2015: she was acting Vice-Chancellor, the university's most senior academic and chief executive, in 2013.[1][4] She retired from full-time academia in 2015, and was appointed an honorary research fellow by the university.[4][5]

Outside of academia, she has held a number of related appointments. From 2001 to 2008, she was a Commissioner of English Heritage.[1][3] She has been a trustee of the York Civic Trust since 2006, and was one of the York Museums Trust between 2008 and 2011.[1] From 2013 to 2016, she was the Chair of Trustees of the Council for British Archaeology.[1][7] Since 2016, she has been a member of the Fabric Advisory Committee of York Minster.[1]

On 4 July 2002, Grenville was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).[8] In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to higher education.[9][7]

• Grenville, Jane (1997). Medieval housing. London: Leicester University Press. ISBN 978-0718514785.
• Grenwille, Jane, ed. (1998). Managing the historic rural landscape. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415207904.