Charles Melville, MA, PhD, was elected President in 2018. He is Emeritus Professor of Persian History, Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College and Founding Director since 1999 of the Shahnama Project. He is also President of the Islamic Manuscripts Association and Vice Chair of the Academic Council of the Iran Heritage Foundation. He has travelled widely in Iran and Central Asia. His main research interests are in the history and historiography of Iran in the Mongol to Safavid periods and Persian manuscript culture. His current research project is on the illustration of history in Persian manuscripts.