DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly
Changing the Center of Gravity: Transforming Classical Studies Through
Cyberinfrastructure
2009
Volume 3 Number 1
2009
Volume 3 Number 1
Ross Scaife (1960-2008)
Abstract
This is a biographical sketch of Ross Scaife (1960-2008), who was Professor of Classics at the University of Kentucky and founding editor of the Stoa Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities.
Allen Ross Scaife, 47, Professor of Classics at the University of Kentucky and founding
editor of the Stoa Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities, died of
cancer on March 15, 2008 at his home in Lexington, Kentucky.
Ross was born in Fredericksburg, VA on March 31, 1960. He graduated from the Tilton
School in Tilton, New Hampshire in 1978 and from the College of William and Mary in 1982
with a major in Classics and Philosophy. He earned a PhD in 1990 in Classical Studies at
the University of Texas at Austin. In 1988 he participated in the summer program at the
American Academy in Rome, and in 1985 was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for a year of
study at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.
From 1991 to the time of his death, Ross was on the faculty at the University of
Kentucky in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literature, and Cultures
where he taught courses on women in the ancient world, Greek art, Aristophanes, and the
Greek historians, as well as Greek and Latin language courses.
A pioneer in using computer technology to advance scholarship in the humanities, Ross is
perhaps best known as the founding editor of the Stoa
Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities. The Stoa, established
in 1997, set the standard for Open Access publication of digital humanities work in the
classics, serving as an umbrella project for many diverse projects that provide
functionality, and have requirements, not supported by traditional (print) publishers.
In addition to providing Open Access publication for the work of other scholars, Ross
strived to make his own work (and the raw materials behind that work) available freely
to others. He was the co-creator of Diotima: Materials for the
Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World and of the Neo-Latin Colloquia collection, both of which are published on
The Stoa.
According to his principled belief in Open Access, Ross was always a stern critic of
models of scholarship that were needlessly exclusionary in their presentation or
implementation. He firmly believed in the potential afforded by technology to bring the
highest levels of scholarship to the widest possible audience, and in the obligation of
learned societies to make their work freely available to all interested readers.
Ross’s influence is most noticeable in his long-standing belief in the power of
collaborative work. With humor, generosity, and a keen editor’s discretion, he worked
throughout his career to build working relationships among an international circle of
collaborators, for his own projects, as well as for others. As a founding editor of the
Suda On Line, a web accessible database for work on Byzantine Greek lexicography, Ross
helped to build a framework that allowed a large number of people to work together on a
single edition. SOL was founded in 1998 at a time when such large-scale collaborative
editing was rare, if not unheard of. The influence of the SOL is still being felt as the
next generation of collaborative editing tools are being developed. Ross had long-term
associations with Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, the Perseus Project, and more
recently with the Digital Classicist. Those who knew him will remember him for his
generosity and willingness to offer advice, and for his ability to see connections and
build bridges between projects and people.
Most recently, Ross was instrumental in forging the collaboration that resulted in the
high resolution digital imaging of the Venetus A, a 10th century manuscript of the
Iliad located at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, and
was a co-Principal Investigator of project EDUCE, which aims to use non-invasive,
volumetric scanning technologies for virtually “unwrapping” and visualizing ancient
papyrus scrolls. Since July, 2005 Ross has been the director of the Collaboratory for
Research in Computing for Humanities, a research unit at the University of Kentucky
which provides technical assistance to faculty who wish to undertake humanities
computing projects, and to encourage and support interdisciplinary partnerships between
faculty at UKY and researchers around the world.
His many interests included sailing in the Northern Neck of Virginia, hunting, cooking,
woodworking, and photography.
Ross was the proud father of three sons, Lincoln (16), Adrian (13), and Russell (9). In
addition, Ross is survived by his wife, Cathy Edwards Scaife, his parents, William and
Sylvia Scaife, and three siblings, Bill Scaife, Susan Duerksen, and John Scaife, as well
as their spouses and children.
This biography was originally published at Stoa, http://www.stoa.org/?p=786. Comments in
memoriam may be added there.