Honorary Professor elected as Academy of Social Sciences Fellow
Published: 2 April 2025
2 April 2025: Centre for Public Policy Honorary Professor Ken Thomson has been elected as a Fellow of the prestigious Academy of Social Sciences.
Ken Thomson is one of five University of Glasgow social scientists elected as Fellows, alongside Professor Morag Treanor, Professor Anne Kerr, Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, and Professor Irene-Marie Esser.
They join an outstanding international community of leading social sciences and humanities researchers.
Ken Thomson is former Director General Strategy and External Affairs at the Scottish Government and one of the key architects of devolution. He joined the Centre for Public Policy as Honorary Professor in March 2024.
His distinguished career in the civil service saw him support Ministers of five parties in the UK and Scottish Governments, including as Principal Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Donald Dewar MP MSP as Secretary of State for Scotland and as First Minister of Scotland.
Professor Morag Treanor’s research was spotlighted in March 2025 at a Child Poverty and Public Debt Crisis national conference, co-hosted by the Centre for Public Policy and leading child poverty charity, Aberlour.
The conference built on research undertaken by Aberlour with Professor Treanor. The research sheds light on the consequences of public debt, such as Council tax and rent arrears, which 'exacerbate poverty and effectively trap families in a cycle of financial hardship'.
The Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship comprises 1,600 leading social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors.
Spanning a range of research and practice areas including health inequalities, the gender wage gap, European cybersecurity governance, AI and big data analytics, and the anthropology of Britain, the 64 newly elected Fellows highlight the importance, breadth and relevance of the social sciences to understanding and tackling the varied challenges facing society today.
As well as excellence in research and professional use of social science, the Fellows have also made significant contributions beyond the academy, including to industry, policy and higher education.
First published: 2 April 2025