A Vanderbilt professor has been appointed to a prestigious temporary post at the American Academy in Rome, one of the leading American overseas centers for independent study and advanced research in the fine arts and humanities.

Thomas McGinn, professor of classics, will serve a three-year term as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor-in-Charge of the School of Classical Studies at the academy. He begins July 1.

“He is an admired and experienced scholar,” said Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy in Rome. “He knows Rome well and will be a great teacher and mentor not only to the scholars of the classical school, but to all our fellows.”

The American Academy in Rome was established in 1894 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1905. It provides a unique opportunity for interaction between artists and scholars.

“I am delighted at this wonderful opportunity,” McGinn said. “and I am very grateful for the support I have received from my colleagues at Vanderbilt.”

McGinn has taught at Vanderbilt since 1986. He was a fellow at the American Academy in Rome in 1984-85, where he also held a Fulbright Scholarship. He has written numerous articles on Roman law and social history. His first book, Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in Ancient Rome, was published in 1998. His most recent book is The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History and the Brothel.