The Social Policy Association (SPA) is delighted to congratulate our members who have been recognised by the Academy of Social Sciences for their outstanding contribution.
Professor Tania Burchardt, Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has made a sustained and outstanding contribution to Social Policy analysis through her work on inequality, the application of the capability approach and analyses of social policy and disability, among other fields. In addition to being a previous SPA award winner, she has contributed to numerous national and international policy advisory groups and research committees.
Professor Sin Yi Cheung, Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University has made a major contribution to the study of contemporary social and economic inequality across a range of areas, particularly in relation to labour markets, the experiences of benefit recipients, and the disadvantages encountered by ethnic and religious populations. She is an editor of the Journal of Social Policy, has served on several other editorial and academic advisory boards, and is recognised internationally for her outstanding contribution to sociological and social policy research.
Professor Charlotte Pearson, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Glasgow is an award winning author and highly esteemed scholar who has made a significant contribution to understand of and policy relating to independent living and equality for disabled people, social care and education and employment policy. She was an adviser to the House of Lords Public Services Committee inquiry which examined young disabled peoples’ transition from education to employment and is an academic adviser to the Scottish Government’s Personal Assistants’ Programme Board.
SPA Chair, Professor Stephen Sinclair said:
“The Social Policy Association is delighted with this announcement and warmly congratulate our three new members of the Academy of Social Sciences. This is a thoroughly deserved acknowledgement of the valuable contribution each of our esteemed colleagues have made to the discipline. Academy Fellows are recognised for excellence in their field and for their substantial contributions to social science for public benefit. The three new Fellows nominated by the SPA have made an exceptional contribution to scholarship and to informing social policy.”
They are among 74 new Fellows elected to the Academy. Academy Fellows are conferred following an independent peer review process by the Academy’s Nominations Committee which recognises their excellence, impact, and wider contributions.
The Academy of Social Sciences’ statement and list of new Fellowship appointments is available at: https://acss.org.uk/news/the-academy-of-social-sciences-welcomes-outstanding-social-scientists-to-its-fellowship-in-autumn-2026/