Boris Rankov

Who is Boris Rankov?

Boris Rankov is a professor of Roman history at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was born August 9, 1954.

Educated at Bradford Grammar School, then subsequently Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Rankov is best known for his participation in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, in which he led Oxford to victory six times between 1978 and 1983, three times in the 4 seat and three times in the 5 seat. This led to establishment of the so-called "Rankov Rule", which states that oarsmen will compete in the race no more than four times as an undergraduate and no more than four times as a graduate. Rankov umpired the race in 2003, 2005 and 2009.

Rankov's research interests include Roman history, especially Roman Britain, the Roman army, epigraphy and archaeology of the Roman empire, and ancient shipping. Rankov was rowing master for the Trireme Trust's reconstructed trireme Olympias. As of 2004, Rankov was chairman of the Trust.

Rankov has taught at the Classics Department at Royal Holloway University of London since 1990, and was Head of Department from 1999-2002.

He has two daughters, Helen and Lydia.