Many congratulations to Professor Julia Black CBE who has been appointed President of the British Academy.
Responding to her election, which was confirmed at the Academy’s Annual General Meeting yesterday, Julia pledged to unlock the full potential of academics in the humanities and social sciences.
She said: “I hope that when my term ends, there will be more women and more people from ethnic minority backgrounds, in positions of influence in and around the Academy. We will build our community from the early-career researchers we fund through to our Fellows, and bake equality, diversity and inclusion into our strategy, goals, governance, and ways of working, developing an Academy that is accessible to people from all walks of life and at different stages in their career. In order to promote excellence, we need to ensure we are not missing out on pools of expertise that have been overlooked. This extends to diversity of subject areas, mindsets and views as well as backgrounds.”
“The Academy also has an important leadership role to play in addressing underrepresentation in our disciplines in the wider sector. By definition, we reflect the professoriate and so we have a vested interest in supporting talented researchers at all stages of their career.”
Read more about Professor Black's appointment here.