​Prof Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University, is among 92 distinguished scholars that have been elected to the British Academy's Fellowship in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.

The British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.

The new Fellows of the British Academy represent a broad spectrum of expertise from the study of twentieth-century music and the structural causes of poverty to environmental law and the neuroscience of memory, language, and cognition.

In a statement released by the British Academy (Friday 18 July 2025), Prof Jansen said: “There is no greater honour for a scholar than to be elected to a prestigious fellowship because your peers believe that you have something to say. I am especially thrilled that in the process, curriculum theory from the global south would also enjoy such wonderful recognition."

Read the full statement by the British Academy below:

The British Academy welcomes 92 new Fellows in 2025

 92 distinguished scholars have today been elected to the British Academy's Fellowship, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.

Among this year's newly elected Fellows are pioneering academics Professor Lily Kong BBM, PPA, FBA, the first Singaporean woman to lead a university in Singapore, and Professor Jonathan Jansen FBA, who in 2009 was appointed as the first Black Vice Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State.

This year, 58 new Fellows have been elected from 25 universities across the United Kingdom, alongside 30 International Fellows from universities in the United States, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, China, Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Cyprus. Four Honorary Fellows have also been elected in recognition of their exceptional achievements in music, art, journalism and librarianship.

The new Fellows of the British Academy represent a broad spectrum of expertise from the study of twentieth-century music and the structural causes of poverty to environmental law and the neuroscience of memory, language, and cognition. This year's cohort sees an increased number of UK Fellows elected, due to new Fellowship places for candidates whose research spans more than one discipline. They join a community of over 1 800 scholars who share a commitment to advancing the humanities and social sciences.

Current British Academy Fellows include classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian and China expert Professor Rana Mitter and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O'Neill. The Academy also counts Professor David Olusoga, Baroness Brenda Hale, and Professor Gary Younge among its Honorary Fellows.

Professor Susan J. Smith PBA, new President of the British Academy, said: “One of my first acts as the incoming President of the British Academy is to welcome this year's newly elected Fellows. What a line-up! With specialisms ranging from the neuroscience of memory to the power of music and the structural causes of poverty, they represent the very best of the humanities and social sciences. They bring years of experience, evidence-based arguments and innovative thinking to the profound challenges of our age: managing the economy, enabling democracy, and securing the quality of human life.

“This year, we have increased the number of new Fellows by nearly ten percent to cover some spaces between disciplines. Champions of research excellence, every new Fellow enlarges our capacity to interpret the past, understand the present, and shape resilient, sustainable futures. It is a privilege to extend my warmest congratulations to them all."

Jonathan D Jansen FBA, Distinguished Professor of Education, Stellenbosch University, said: “There is no greater honour for a scholar than to be elected to a prestigious fellowship because your peers believe that you have something to say. I am especially thrilled that in the process, curriculum theory from the global south would also enjoy such wonderful recognition."

Professor Lily Kong BBM, PPA, FBA, President and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, said: “I had the great privilege of being mentored by wonderful advisers in Britain during the years I worked on my PhD. I have had the great pleasure of collaborating and co-publishing with other British scholars in the ensuing decades. This great honour of election to the British Academy is a tribute to all those who have been part of my intellectual journey from around the world, and especially from Britain, where it all began for me."

Richard Ovenden, OBE, Hon FBA, FSA, FRSA, FRHistS, FRSE, Bodley's Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of University Libraries, said: “I have always regarded the British Academy as the pinnacle of excellence in the humanities and social sciences. To receive the Honorary Fellowship means an immense amount, as it recognises the importance of libraries, archives, and the preservation of knowledge as a vital underpinning of scholarship. I hold this Fellowship for all librarians and archivists."

Professor Sarah Semple, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, said: “I am delighted to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy and truly honoured to join so many distinguished colleagues in representing and championing the vibrancy and strength of archaeology, the humanities and social sciences more broadly, and their relevance for tackling the challenges of today."

ENDS

The full list of this year's new British Academy UK, International and Honorary Fellows is:

UK Fellows:

• Professor Jeremy Adelman FBA, Professor and Director of the Global History Lab, University of Cambridge
• Professor Ian    Apperly FBA,    Professor of Cognition and Development, University of Birmingham
• Professor Chrisanthi     Avgerou, FBA   Professor of Information Systems, London School of Economics
• Professor Matthew Baerman FBA, Professorial Research Fellow, Surrey Morphology Group, University of Surrey
• Professor Anthony Bale FBA, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English (1954), University of Cambridge; Professorial Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge
• Professor Rosalind Ballaster FBA, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies and Professorial Fellow in English, Mansfield College, University of Oxford
• Reverend Professor John Behr FBA, Regius Chair of Humanity, University of Aberdeen
• Professor Alexander Betts FBA, Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, University of Oxford; Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford; Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement
• Professor Annabel Brett FBA, Professor of Political Thought and History, University of Cambridge
• Professor Julie Brown FBA, Professor Emerita of Music, Royal Holloway, University of London
• Professor Callum Brown FBA, FRSE, Professor Emeritus in History, University of Glasgow
• Professor Erica Carter FBA, Professor of German and Film, King's College London
• Professor Hasok Chang FBA     , Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
• Professor Nick Couldry FBA, Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory Emeritus, and Professorial Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Professor Tim Cresswell FBA, Ogilvie Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Max Deeg FBA, Chair in Buddhist Studies, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
• Professor Stefan DerconFBA, CMG, Professor of Economic Policy, Blavatnik School of Government and Economics Department, University of Oxford
• Professor Timothy Devinney FBA, Professor and Chair of International Business, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
• Professor Stephen Edwards FBA, Manton Professor of British Art and Director of the Manton Centre for British Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
• Professor Thalia Eley FBA, Professor of Developmental Behavioural Genetics and Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Head of Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London
• Professor Haidy Geismar FBA, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the UCL School for the Creative and Cultural Industries, University College London
• Professor Ian Gough     FBA, FAcSS, Visiting Professor, CASE (Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy), London School of Economics
• Professor Daniel Grimley, FBA, Head of Humanities and Professor of Music, University of Oxford; Professorial Fellow, Merton College, Oxford
• Professor Margaret Hillenbrand FBA, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Visual Culture, University of Oxford
• Professor Jacqueline Hodgson FBA, Professor of Law, University of Warwick
• Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville FBA, Diageo Professor of Organisation Studies, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
• Professor Caroline Humfress FBA, FRHS, FSLS, Professor of Medieval History, University of St Andrews
• Professor Elizabeth  Jefferies FBA, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of York
• Professor Mark Knights FBA, Professor of History, University of Warwick
• Professor Roger Koenker FBA, Honorary Professor of Economics, University College London
• Professor Barak Kushner FBA, Professor of East Asian History, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge
• Professor Claire Langhamer FBA, FRHistS, Director, Institute of Historical Research and Professor of Modern History, University of London
• Professor Tomila Lankina FBA, Professor, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Professor George Lau FBA, Professor of Art and Archaeology of the Americas, Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania & the Americas, University of East Anglia
• Professor Maria Lee FBA, Professor of Law, University College London
• Professor Gilat Levy FBA, Professor, Department of Economics, London School of Economics
• Professor Dr Ulman E R Lindenberger FBA, Director, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
• Professor David A Lines FBA, Head of Italian Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick
• Professor Marta Mirazón Lahr FBA,       Professor in Human Evolutionary Biology and Prehistory, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
• Professor Irini Moustaki FBA, Professor in Social Statistics, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Professor Yael Navaro FBA, Professor of Social, Political and Psychological Anthropology, University of Cambridge; Professorial Fellow, Newnham College
• Professor Joanna Page FBA, Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge
• Professor David Papineau FBA, Professor of Philosophy, King's College London
• Professor Clare Pettitt FBA,      Grace 2 Professor of English, University of Cambridge
• Professor Christopher Philo      FBA, FAcSS, Professor of Geography, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow
• Professor Diane Reay FBA, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Cambridge
• Professor John Robb     FBA, Professor of European Prehistory, University of Cambridge; Fellow, Peterhouse, Cambridge
• Professor Jeremy Robbins FBA, Emeritus Forbes Professor of Hispanic Studies, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Alison Salvesen FBA, Professor of Early Judaism and Christianity, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
• Professor Sarah Semple FBA, Professor of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Durham University
• Professor Jennifer Smith FBA, Professor of Sociolinguistics, University of Glasgow
• Professor Lionel Smith FBA,      Professor of Comparative Law, University of Oxford; Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford
• Professor Joanna Story FBA,     Professor of Early Medieval History, University of Leicester
• Professor Peter Thonemann     FBA, Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford; Forrest-Derow Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History, Wadham College, Oxford
• Professor Leon Tikly      FBA, FAcSS, Professor in Education, University of Bristol
• Professor Haridimos Tsoukas FBA, Professor of Strategic Management, University of Cyprus; Professor of Organizational Behaviour, University of Warwick
• Professor Satnam Virdee FBA, FRSE, Professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow
• Professor Richard Whatmore FBA, Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews
• Professor Susan R Rose Wolf FBA, Distinguished Professor, Emerita, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

International Fellows

• Professor Dominique Barthélemy FBA, Emeritus Professor in Medieval History, Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV)
• Professor Gert Biesta FBA, Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy, The Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh; Professor of Public Education, The Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy, Maynooth University, Ireland
• Professor Ann M Blair FBA, Carl H Pforzheimer University Professor, Harvard University
• Professor Joanna Brück FBA, MRIA, FSA, MIAI, Full Professor of Archaeology, University College Dublin
• Professor Esteban Buch FBA, Professor of Music History, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)
• Professor Xingcan Chen FBA, Professor in Chinese Archaeology and Director, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
• Professor Linda Darling-Hammond FBA, Founding President and Chief Knowledge Officer, Learning Policy Institute; Charles E Ducommun Professor Emeritus, Stanford University
• Professor Margaret Davies FBA, Professor of Law, Flinders University
• Professor Mark Franko FBA, Laura H Carnell Professor of Dance, Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University
• Professor Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg FBA, William Nordhaus Professor of Economics and Global Affairs, Yale University
• Professor Claudia Dale Goldin FBA, Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Harvard University
• Professor Catherine Grant FBA, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, School of Arts and Communication Design, University of Reading; Honorary Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University
• Professor Sarah Francesca Green FBA, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Helsinki
• Professor Peter Hagoort FBA, Emeritus-director, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
• Professor Bonnie Honig FBA, Nancy Duke Lewis Professor, Political Science and Modern Culture and Media, Brown University
• Professor Jonathan David Jansen FBA, Distinguished Professor of Education, Stellenbosch University
• Professor Robert A Kaster FBA, Professor of Classics, Emeritus, and Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin, Emeritus, Princeton University
• Professor Lily    Kong BBM, PPA, FBA, President and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University
• Professor Dr Reinhart Gregor Kratz FBA,  Ordinary Professor, Theological Faculty, Department for Old Testament, Georg-August-University Göttingen
• Professor Marilyn Lee Lake AO, FAHA, FASSA, FBA, Honorary Professorial Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
• Professor Josephine McDonagh FBA, The Randy L and Melvin R Berlin Chair of the Development of the Novel in English, University of Chicago
• Professor Lynn Meskell FBA, Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor, Department of Anthropology, School of Arts & Sciences, Department of Historic Preservation, Weitzman School of Design, and Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania; AD White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University
• Professor Rajend Mesthrie FBA, Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Department of African Studies and Linguistics, University of Cape Town
• Professor Stephanie Newell FBA, George M Bodman Professor of English, Yale University
• Professor Fionnuala D Ní Aoláin FBA, KC (Hons), Regents Professor, Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society, University of Minnesota Law School; Professor of Law, School of Law, The Queens University, Belfast
• Professor Pierre Rosanvallon FBA, Emeritus Professor, Collège de France
• Professor Diana Taylor FBA, University Professor and Professor of Performance Studies and Spanish, New York University
• Professor Ayanna Thompson FBA, Regents Professor of English, Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Arizona State University
• Professor Camilla Townsend FBA, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, Rutgers University
• Professor Susan R Rose Wolf FBA, Distinguished Professor, Emerita, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Honorary Fellows

• Lindsey Hilsum HonFBA, International Editor, Channel 4 News
• Professor Lubaina Himid CBE, RA, HonFBA, Artist and curator; Professor of Contemporary Art, University of Central Lancashire
• Richard Ovenden OBE, FSA, FRSA, FRHistS, FRSE, HonFBA, Bodley's Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of University Libraries
• Dame Judith Weir DBE, HonFRSE, Previous Master of the King's Music; President of the Royal Society of Musicians

Notes to Editors

The British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. We invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.   

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk @BritishAcademy_  

Photo: Stefan Els

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