Email digest for the Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList) egroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. IN MEMORIAM – Professor Ioanna Kakoulli ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.From: Glenn Wharton Posted: Sunday January 4, 2026 9:50 PM Subject: IN MEMORIAM – Professor Ioanna Kakoulli Message: We are profoundly saddened by the untimely passing of our UCLA colleague, Professor Ioanna Kakoulli, on January 1, 2026. She had been battling cancer for some time. She died in Cyprus, her native country, where she had been living most recently. We send our deepest condolences to her husband, Giorgos Bayadas, and to her family and wide circles of friends and admirers in Cyprus and the United States. Professor Kakoulli will be remembered for her warmth, energy, infectious enthusiasm, and academic achievements, as well as her outstanding devotion to the conservation of cultural heritage. Professor Kakoulli was a founding faculty member of the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage and assisted in its inception from 2003 to 2005. Serving as Chair from 2011 to 2017, she was a key figure in building the Program into what it is today. Among her many contributions to the Program, she established the Lore and Gerald Cunard Chair endowment, the Kahn Foundation endowment, and, more recently, the PhD program in the Conservation of Material Culture. In addition to her position in the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program, she held a joint appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She also served as Co-Director of the Molecular and Nano Archaeology Laboratory, as founder of the archaeomaterials group, and as Acting Director of the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture (2023-24). Ioanna's interest in establishing the authentic origins of works of art led to her work with the Department of Homeland Security in investigating the illicit importation of antiquities into the U.S. When she arrived at UCLA, Ioanna brought with her extensive knowledge of spectral imaging, a DPhil from Oxford in Archaeological Materials Science, and a postgraduate diploma and MSc in the conservation of mural paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. This background informed her keen interest in Classical and Hellenistic painting materials, on which she authored seminal works. During her career, Ioanna contributed to books and published numerous papers in scientific journals such as Nature, Microscopy & Microanalysis, Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Archaeological Science, and many others, expanding the scope of her scholarly contributions. Ioanna was the first female professor to be hired in her home department of Materials Science and Engineering at UCLA, which marked an important and enduring collaboration between that department and the Conservation Program, for which she was a pivotal influence. Professor Kakoulli was passionate about scientific research in and the conservation of the cultural heritage of her homeland and the Eastern Mediterranean more broadly, though her research interests ranged widely, including to Asia and Central America. She was a long-time Trustee of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute. For several years, she analyzed important wall paintings at the Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Paphos, Cyprus. Ioanna was a mentor and friend to many students in the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Conservation Program, Materials Science and Engineering, and elsewhere around the globe. She will be greatly missed at UCLA and within the broader worldwide community devoted to the conservation, protection, and scientific research of cultural materials. David A. Scott Glenn Wharton ------------------------------ Glenn Wharton Chair/Professor, Art History Department UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage ------------------------------ You are subscribed to "Global Conservation Forum (ConsDistList)" as [email protected]. To change your subscriptions, go to http://community.culturalheritage.org/preferences?section=Subscriptions. To unsubscribe from this community discussion, go to https://community.culturalheritage.org/HigherLogic/eGroups/Unsubscribe.aspx?UserKey=d16eaa87-0f69-494b-9f2f-303dbc1222e1&sKey=fab9aa4f27a04c5d876e&GroupKey=757a8f16-505f-4323-8e74-e376757aa9f7.
