Walter Scheidel is the Dickason Professor in the Humanities and a Professor of Classics and History at Stanford University. His research ranges from ancient social and economic history and premodern historical demography to the comparative and transdisciplinary world history of inequality, state formation, and human welfare. He has written or (co-)edited 21 books and published more than 260 papers and reviews. He has held positions at the Universities of Vienna, Cambridge and Chicago as well as visiting appointments in Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen and Zurich.