Alan John Bayard Wace was born in Cambridge on the 13th July 1879, the son of Frederick Charles Wace, a Fellow at St. John's College, Cambridge. After attending Shrewsbury School, Wace came up to Pembroke College, matriculating in 1898. He held a scholarship and took part I of the Classics tripos in 1901, gaining a first, before studying Classical Archaeology for part II, where he also gained a first with distinction (1902). Wace was subsequently awarded a Prendergast Studentship and admitted as a student to the British School at Athens for the 1902-1903 season. In 1904, Wace was elected a Fellow of Pembroke College. He held this position until 1913. In 1912, Wace was appointed as Lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of St. Andrew's, Scotland. However, in 1914 he was appointed Director of the British School in Athens. In 1924 he took the position of Deputy Keeper in the Department of Textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He married Helen Pence in 1925, having met her in Mycenae in 1922. He was elected to the Laurence Chair of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University in 1934 upon the retirement of Arthur B. Cook. He held this chair, alongside a Fellowship at Pembroke College, until his retirement in 1944. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College in 1951. He was awarded numerous Honorary Degrees and the Petrie Medal for distinguished work in Archaeology in 1953. He died in 1957 and is buried in the Protestant Section of the First Cemetery in Athens, Greece.