The Brian Abel-Smith & Walter Holland Funds

Awarded each year to LSE students on the MSc International Health Policy, MSc International Health Policy (Health Economics) and the MSc Health Policy Planning and Financing programmes. Three prizes are awarded for best overall performance in each programme. A further prize is awarded to the student who writes the best dissertation in the MSc International Health Policy programme (achieving a Distinction grade).

The Fund also supports two prizes in memory of former colleague and public health pioneer Walter Holland: the Walter Holland Prize for Best Dissertation and the Walter Holland Prize for Best Overall Performance are awarded annually to MSc Global Health Policy students. View previous prize winners here.

Awarded every two years, the award recognises individuals who during their lifetime have made a significant intellectual contribution to the field of health policy and achieved notable policy impact, benefitting population health. In line with Abel-Smith’s own approach and achievements, award criteria place equal weight on research excellence and policy impact.

The achievements of Abel-Smith and his fellow social policy pioneers have been chronicled in an LSE biography series commissioned by the Fund – LSE Pioneers in Social Policy. Sally Sheard’s critically acclaimed biography of Abel-Smith, The Passionate Economist launched the series in 2014. John Stewart's biography of Richard Titmuss, A Commitment to Welfare, followed in June 2020. Additional volumes on Peter Townsend and David Donnison are in progress.

The position of Brian Abel-Smith Chair, is currently held by Elias Mossialos, Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy. The fund also supports Brian Abel-Smith Visiting Research Fellows.