Lancaster University Management School’s Professor David Knights has been made a Fellow of The British Academy in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the social sciences, humanities and the arts.

Emeritus Professor David Knights, a member of Lancaster University Management School’s Organisation, Work and Technology Department, was one of 84 distinguished scholars to be elected to the prestigious fellowship last week.

Professor David Knights has dedicated his career to researching and advancing the area of work and organisation studies, focusing on topics including gender, technology, higher education and the financial sector.

Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a Fellowship of over 1400 of the leading minds in these subjects from the UK and overseas. Current Fellows include the classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian Professor Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill, while previous Fellows include Dame Frances Yates, Sir Winston Churchill, Seamus Heaney and Beatrice Webb.

The Academy is also a funding body for research, nationally and internationally, and a forum for debate and engagement.

President of the British Academy, Professor Julia Black FBA, said: “As the new President of the British Academy, it gives me great pleasure to welcome this new cohort of Fellows, who are as impressive as ever and remind us of the rich and diverse scholarship and research undertaken within the SHAPE disciplines – the social sciences, humanities and the arts. I am very much looking forward to working with them on our shared interests.

“The need for SHAPE subjects has never been greater. As Britain recovers from the pandemic and seeks to build back better, the insights from our diverse disciplines will be vital to ensure the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the UK and will continue to provide the cultural and societal enrichment that has sustained us over the last eighteen months. Our new Fellows embody the value of their subjects and I congratulate them warmly for their achievement.”

Professor Knights said: "I am greatly honoured to be elected to the British Academy and trust that I can contribute further to its tradition of promoting and supporting research and scholarship of the highest standard."