Robert Hewison

Robert Alwyn Petrie Hewison (born 2 June 1943) is a British cultural historian.

He was educated at Bedford School, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated BA in 1965, MA in 1970, MLitt in 1972, and DLitt in 1989.

For most of his professional life he has made a living as a freelance writer and curator and he has written for The Sunday Times since 1981. Among his academic appointments he was visiting professor at De Montfort University from 1993 until 1995; he then held a number of appointments at the University of Lancaster as Professor in Literary and Cultural Studies (1995–2000), part-time professor in the Department of English (2001). He was Slade Professor of Fine Art in the University of Oxford 1999/2000, lecturing on the subject 'Ruskin To-day'. From 2005 to 2012 he was Professor of Cultural Policy and Leadership Studies at City University, London. Currently he is an honorary professor at the Ruskin Centre, Lancaster University. He is currently chair of Ruskin To-Day, the informal co-ordinating committee for the celebration of Ruskin’s bicentenary in 2019, Ruskin200.

In an interview, Michael Palin (his contemporary at Brasenose) credited Hewison with introducing him to the idea of earning a living by making people laugh, and for pushing him into performing, which, Palin said, he would never have done without encouragement as he was too shy.