Manchester experts become Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences

04 Nov 2021

Diana Mitlin and Lucie Byrne-Davis recognised.

Two academics from The University of Manchester have been recognised as leading experts in their field, by being conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

New Fellows are named due to the excellence and impact of their work, which addresses matters of vital importance and contributes to the social sciences for the public good. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking and practice, they have helped to deepen the understanding of some of the toughest challenges facing our society and the world.

The Academy is made up of over 1400 Fellows, 46 societies and a number of affiliates. This extensive community of over 90,000 social scientists has helped establish the UK’s position as a global leader in the social sciences.

Joining them is Diana Mitlin, a Professor of Global Urbanism in the Global Development Institute at Manchester who is also Principal Researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development.

Diana has been recognised for more than 30 years of ground-breaking research into urban poverty and inequality, particularly in the Global South. She has been at The University of Manchester in some capacity since 2001, and has been a full time Professor since 2012. She is currently coordinating a new participatory planning research and learning network, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The second new Fellow from Manchester is Lucie Byrne-Davis, a Professor of Health Psychology who has been recognised for her expertise in using health psychology to support behaviour change, with a focus on health worker behaviour.

She holds a Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellowship of the European Health Psychology Society, where she is Chair of the UN committee. In response to Covid-19, she co-founded The Health Psychology Exchange, a collaborative of health psychology professionals volunteering and working to support public health and care during the pandemic. She has been at The University of Manchester since 2010.

They are two of the exceptionally talented social science practitioners and academics who have joined the Academy’s Fellowship this autumn. Collectively, their world-class thought-leadership, research and professional expertise demonstrate the importance of the social sciences to our political, social and economic lives.