Twelve academics from the University of Cambridge have been made Fellows of the prestigious British Academy for the humanities and social science
It couldn't be a more important time to mobilize the social sciences and humanities to address some of the most critical issues of our era
Yael Navaro
They are among 92 distinguished scholars to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of their work in fields ranging from medieval history to international relations.
The Cambridge academics made Fellows of the Academy this year are:
Professor Jeremy Adelman (Faculty of History; Global History Lab; Darwin College)
Professor Anthony Bale (Faculty of English; Girton College)
Professor Annabel Brett (Faculty of History; Gonville and Caius College)
Professor Hasok Chang (Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science; Clare Hall)
Professor Jennifer Howard-Grenville (Cambridge Judge Business School; Trinity Hall)
Professor Barak Kushner (Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; Corpus Christi College)
Professor Marta Mirazón Lahr (Dept. of Archaeology, Clare College)
Professor Yael Navaro (Dept. of Social Anthropology; Newnham College)
Professor Joanna Page (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics; Centre of Latin American Studies; Robinson College)
Professor Clare Pettitt (Faculty of English; Emmanuel College)
Professor Diane Reay (Faculty of Education)
Professor John Robb (Dept. of Archaeology; Peterhouse)
Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a Fellowship consisting of over 1700 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 funder of both national and international research, as well as a forum for debate and public engagement.
In 2025, a total of 58 UK Fellows, 30 International Fellows and four Honorary Fellows have been elected to the British Academy Fellowship.
Professor Marta Mirazón Lahr said: "I am honoured and delighted to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy. As a native of South America who has been welcomed and encouraged throughout my career in the UK, I feel particularly privileged to join the academy. My work spans anthropology and archaeology and it is pleasing to see inter-disciplinarity recognised. Research in human origins is very dependent upon official and community support across many countries, and I am deeply grateful to the people of Brazil, India, Libya, Melanesia and specially Kenya who have made my work possible (and so enjoyable!), and I look forward to contributing to the Academy's global mission."
Professor Joanna Page said: "I am deeply honoured to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy, and I look forward to supporting its mission. It is more important than ever to uphold the value of the humanities and interdisciplinary approaches in forging more just and sustainable futures. Learning from the perspectives and experiences of other regions, including Latin America, is essential to that work. I would particularly like to thank the vibrant community of Latin Americanists at Cambridge - staff and students, past and present - who have made this such a stimulating place to do research."
Professor Barak Kushner said: "It is an honour to be recognised by the British Academy, though also a bit daunting to be put on par with scholars I have looked up to for years. Recognition of this kind brings more attention to the importance of transnational history when researching East Asia and the need to look beyond national borders."
Professor Yael Navaro said: "I feel truly honoured to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy. It couldn't be a more important time to mobilise the social sciences and humanities to address some of the most critical issues of our era."
Welcoming the 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 per cent 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."
