Ioanna Kakoulli, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed away on January 1. She was 57 years old.
Born and raised in Paphos, Cyprus, Dr. Kakoulli received a diploma in the conservation of painting from the Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro in Florence, Italy, and an advanced certificate in the conservation of mural painting from the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Rome. She later moved to the United Kingdom, where she earned a postgraduate diploma in the conservation of mural painting and a master’s degree in the microanalysis of paint materials from the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London. In 1999, she received her doctorate from the University of Oxford, specializing in the technology of ancient paints.
After completing her education, Dr. Kakoulli returned to the Courtauld Institute of Art as a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer. She then moved to the University of Malta to teach as a senior lecturer in conservation science for five years.
In 2005, Dr. Kakoulli joined the UCLA faculty as an assistant professor, ultimately earning the rank of full professor a decade later. She became a founding member of the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, which she chaired from 2011 to 2017. During that time, she established two endowments and created a Ph.D. program in the conservation of material culture. Dr. Kakoulli also served as co-director of the Molecular and Nano Archaeology Laboratory. In 2022-2023, she was acting director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture.
An international expert in her field, Dr. Kakoulli studied the science of archaeological materials and ancient technologies, forensic archaeology, the creation of new materials inspired by the mechanical and optical properties of ancient material culture, and the sustainability of biocultural heritage. She served as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a board member of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, and a scientific expert for the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency. She also lent her expertise to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding investigations involving the illicit importation of antiquities.