Eight Oxford academics named new Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences

The eight new Fellows come from across the Social Sciences division and include economics experts as well as researchers in Law, International Development, the Schools of Geography and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention.

Professor Timothy Power, Head of the Social Sciences Division, said, 'I am delighted to congratulate our Divisional colleagues on their appointment as Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences. This distinction is testimony not only to the rigour and excellence of their work, but also to their outstanding contributions to tackling some of the most pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting society.'

The New Fellows

Dr Sabina Alkire is the director of the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative, which aims to build and advance a more systematic methodological and economic framework for reducing multidimensional poverty, grounded in people’s experiences and values.

She said of the award, 'I am really grateful to the academy for their kind consideration. We live in troubled times, so I admire the Academy’s work to bend the minds of social scientists to what obstructs our common flourishing, and at the same time, to shape, test and share emerging research with those who can best use them.  I look forward to learning more from others’ work.'

Professor Patricia Daley is professor of the human geography of Africa. Her research interests include the political economy of population migration and settlement; the intersection of space, gender, militarism, sexual violence and peace and geographies of racialization and coloniality using Critical Race Theory and decolonizing methodologies.

She said of the award, ‘I am thrilled to join such an august group of scholars.’

Professor Xiaolan Fu is professor of technology and international development. Her research interests include innovation, technology and industrialisation; trade, foreign direct investment and economic development; emerging Asian economies; innovation and productivity in the UK/US.

She said, ‘I am deeply honoured by the appointment. This reflects the increasing important role that science, technology and innovation played in international development. I am lucky to have the opportunity to carry out research which can better people’s life. I am most grateful to the support from my university and my collaborators and funders in both the global South and North and in international organisations, without which my research would not have today’s progress and impact. To achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, we still need to work hard and act faster.’

Professor Frances Gardner is professor of child and family psychology. Her work focuses on the development and testing of parenting interventions for reducing child behaviour problems, and violence against children, in high, as well as low and middle income countries.

She said, ‘I was delighted to receive out of the blue an email in March from the committee suggesting nomination for this Fellowship – and even more delighted now to be appointed to the Academy of Social Sciences.  I feel enormous gratitude to all the amazingly talented DPhils, post docs and collaborators I have had the privilege to work with in Oxford- everything is a joint effort.’

Professor Antonia Layard is professor of law and associate of the centre of socio-legal studies. Her research interests are in law and geography where she explores how law, legality and maps construct space, place and ‘the local’.

She said, ‘I’m delighted to be appointed as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, working collaboratively and talking across disciplines, particularly from law, socio-legal studies and legal geography.’

Professor Tim Schwanen is director of the Transport Studies Unit. His research concentrates on the geographies of the everyday mobilities of people, goods and information. His work is international in outlook, interdisciplinary in scope, informed by the thinking in various sub-disciplines within Geography.

Professor Frances Stewart is emeritus professor of Development Economics. Her work focuses on poverty, inequality and conflict in developing countries. She has been an adviser to the UNDP’s Human Development Report since its inception and received the Mahub ul Haq award for lifetime contribution to Human Development.  She has been President of the Human Development and Capability Association; President of the British and Irish Development Studies Association; Chair of the United Nations Committee on Development Policy and Vice-Chair of the Board of the International Food Policy Research Institute.

She said, 'I am delighted to join the many distinguished fellows of the Social Science Academy.'

Professor Dariusz Wójcik is professor of economic geography. His research combines insights derived from geography, economics, political economy, sociology and anthropology and is based on both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

He said, ‘I am delighted to receive the award, and hope that the booming field of financial geography, in which I specialise, continues to contribute to cutting-edge social science and beyond.’