Emma Dench Emma Dench Emma Dench is an English ancient historian, classicist, and academic. She has been McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University since 2014, and Dean of its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences since 2018. She was previously Professor of Ancient History at Birkbeck College, University of London, and then Professor of Classics and of History at Harvard. Dench was born in York, Yorkshire, England, and grew up near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Her father was Jeffery Dench, a Shakespearean actor, and her mother, Betty, was a speech therapist. Her paternal aunt is Judi Dench, an award-winning film
Judi Dench Dench established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She received critical praise in television during this period, in the series "A Fine Romance" from 1981 until 1984, and from 1992 to 2005 with a starring role in the romantic comedy series "As Time Goes By". Her film appearances were infrequent, and included supporting roles in major films, such as "A Room with a View" (1986), before she rose to international fame as M in "GoldenEye" (1995), a role she continued to play in James Bond