Agiatis Benardou appointed Director for DARIAH-EU!

We have the pleasure to announce that our colleague, Agiatis Benardou, a Senior Research Associate at the Digital Curation Unit, Information Management Systems Institute, ATHENA R.C. and Postodoctoral Fellow at the Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business, has been appointed by the General Assembly as Director for DARIAH!

Earlier this month, the consortium’s General Assembly approved the nomination proposed by the DARIAH ERIC Board of Directors Selection Committee.

“DARIAH brings together what I feel most passionate about and dedicated to: the Humanities, the Arts, and the digital domain” said Benardou. “As Digital Humanities researchers and practitioners in Europe and beyond lie in the very heart of the Infrastructure, I am honoured and thrilled to be joining its Board of Directors and I am looking forward to working hard to take DARIAH forward across communities and to broaden its user base in the years to come.”

Her participation in DARIAH began in 2009. While the Infrastructure was still in its preparatory phase, Benardou worked towards the development of user requirements which provided the foundations for its future design. During the transitional and implementation phases of DARIAH, she initially worked as a member in the Digital Methods and Practices Observatory (DiMPO) and Course Registry WGs, and later chaired the Community Engagement WG. As of 2017, she has been co-chairing VCC2, Research and Education Liaison.

Benardou was also part of the team who co-designed and co-built the Greek node of DARIAH (DYAS and, later, APOLLONIS), in which she has been working since 2012. This year she was chief organiser of the DARIAH 2022 Annual Event which was held in Athens.

Benardou holds a PhD in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology from King’s College London, where she also completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies on Ancient History. Additionally, she holds a master’s degree on Cultural Management and Communication from Panteion University in Athens. She has been working in the field of the Digital Humanities for over 15 years, and has been involved in national and international DH initiatives as team member, work package leader and project co-ordinator. Her main areas of interest include history in the digital domain, digital storytelling and user requirements.

Agiatis Benardou will succeed Jennifer Edmond, who will be stepping down at the end of December 2022, after a 6-year term of office.

Warmest congratulations and best wishes for a creative and successful tenure!