Four of Australia's leading social scientists, have been elected Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia – one of the highest honours for individual contributions to the social sciences awarded in Australia.
The recipients are:
• Professor Stephen Bell, Professor in Political Economy, former Head and now Deputy Head of the School of Political Science and International Studies. Professor Bell's main research interests focus on institutional analysis of the politics of economic policy. He is the author or editor of nine books and has published widely in national and leading international journals. His most recent books include Australia's Money Mandarins: the Reserve Bank and the Politics of Money, Cambridge University Press, and a co-authored book, Rethinking Governance, Cambridge University Press. He has recently completed a co-authored book on the rise of the People's Bank of China. He is also engaged in two major ARC-funded research projects, one dealing with financial and banking reform in China, and the other dealing with the politics and institutional dynamics of recent banking behavior amidst the global financial crisis, focusing on the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
• Professor Robert Lingard, Professorial Research Fellow, School of Education. Professor Lingard has an international research reputation in the areas of sociology of education and education policy and is the author or editor of 17 books and some 100 journal articles and book chapters. One of his current ARC-funded research projects examines how a national schooling system, including national curriculum and testing, is emerging in Australia under pressures from globalisation and the economisation of schooling policy.
• Professor Andrew McLennan, ARC Professorial Fellow and Professor of Economics, School of Economics. Professor McLennan's research includes mathematical economics and game theory. In recent years, he has been interested in computational issues arising out of the problem of getting a computer to find all Nash equilibria of a finite game, which has led him to learn about literature in algebraic geometry related to the solution of systems of polynomial equations. His work has been extensively published and he has been awarded a number of research grants over recent years.
• Professor Mark Western, Director, Institute for Social Science Research. Professor Western's research focuses on the impact of large-scale social change on social and economic inequality, politics and culture, and family and household formation in contemporary societies. He has a number of funded research projects in these areas and is also a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security. He will also Chair the Research Evaluation Committee for Education and Human Sciences for ERA 2012.
UQ Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu congratulated each recipient. "Each of these researchers has distinguished careers and election to the Academy recognises their standing in their field," Professor Lu said.
"Election of our staff to membership of learned academies such as the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia – like winning prestigious prizes and awards – enhances the esteem in which the University is held."
In 2011, 26 new fellows have been elected and will be installed at the Academy's Annual Symposium and General Meeting on November 7–9, 2011. The Fellowship of the Academy consists of 528 of Australia's leading experts in the social sciences.
Media: Professor Stephen Bell on (07) 3365 7013 or stephen.bell@uq.edu.au; Professor Robert Lingard on (07) 3365 7343 or r.lingard@uq.edu.au; Professor Andrew McLennan on (07) 3365 6784 or a.mclennan2@uq.edu.au; and Professor Mark Western on (07) 3346 7344 or m.western@uq.edu.au.
