Kenneth W. Harl

Who is Kenneth W. Harl?

Kenneth W. Harl is an American scholar, author, classicist and numismatist. He received an undergraduate degree from Trinity College, a PhD from Yale University, and has been Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University in New Orleans since 1978.

Although he has a number of publications, Harl is most known for being a teacher. He earned Tulane’s annual Student Award for Excellence in Teaching eight times and was a 2001 recipient of Baylor University’s nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers. Alumni have commented on his enthusiasm for classroom teaching as well as his extraordinary facility for language and skill in mathematics.

Harl is both a Fellow and a Trustee of the American Numismatic Society.

Harl often likes to joke amongst his seminar students that when asked to give his occupation on his census questionnaire, he answers "Germanic Warchieftan, Status: Unemployed but ready to raid."