Winifred Mary Beard, OBE, FBA, FSA (born 1 January 1955) is an English Classical scholar.She is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and Royal Academy of Arts professor of ancient literature. She is also the classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog, "A Don's Life", which appears in The Times as a regular column.