Dr Noris Ioannou is an Adelaide-based cultural historian, among Australia's foremost writers on Australian folk culture, heritage and the decorative arts. His first cultural history, Ceramics in South Australia 1836-1986, received the Australian Heritage Award. His other books include a landmark text on the Barossa Valley and its Germanic heritage, as well as cultural histories on Australian studio glass and other crafts. He is a contributing author for a number of major books including the Wakefield Companion to South Australian History. Dr Ioannou is a past president of the Professional Historians Association, and past member of the State Heritage Authority and Civic Trust. He was also a former executive director of Nexus, a multicultural arts organisation. He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Adelaide, and a Doctorate in Visual Arts and Archaeology from Flinders University. He is currently completing his next book Vernacular Visions: A history of Australian folk and outsider arts. Noris Ioannou is a 1996 Churchill Fellow.