George Richards is the Director of Community Jameel, an independent, global organisation advancing science to help communities thrive in a rapidly changing world. Prior to becoming Director in 2020, George led strategy for the organisation from 2015, and was head of heritage programmes at Art Jameel, the arts and culture organisation, with responsibility for initiatives in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and beyond, sustaining traditional cultural practices, supporting architectural preservation, and digitally recording heritage.
An Arabist specialising in the archeoastronomy of pre-Islamic Arabia, George has undertaken field expeditions to document cultural heritage on behalf of the British Library and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, and has served as the special rapporteur for cultural heritage to the Kurdistan Regional Government; a specialist assessor to the British government's Cultural Protection Fund; and a senior fellow at the Iraqi government's cultural heritage commission, Iraq Heritage.
George took a First in Arabic and Persian from the University of Edinburgh in 2003. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a trustee of The Prince's Foundation.
