Professor Philippe Aghion, Professor Anna Vignoles and Professor Sir Christopher Whitty have been appointed Honorary Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences, in recognition of their significant contributions to the promotion of social science. The announcement was made at the Academy’s 2026 Annual General Meeting which took place earlier today.
The award of Honorary Fellowship was established by the Academy’s Council in 2024 to mark our 25th anniversary year and recognises a small number of exceptional, leading, national and international figures who have contributed significantly to the Academy or the promotion of the social sciences.
Will Hutton, President of the Academy, said, “I am delighted to welcome these three outstanding individuals as Honorary Fellows of the Academy. Their careers to date have championed the value of social sciences and its impact, in all sorts of ways, to our daily lives, and thus the promotion of the Academy’s cause through their work. I congratulate them all and look forward to working with them more closely to raise awareness of the importance of robust social science research, evidence and perspectives to us all.”
Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Philippe Aghion is a Professor at the College de France, at INSEAD, and at the London School of Economics, and a fellow of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the economics of innovation and growth, for which he was recently awarded the prestigious Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2025 (jointly with Peter Howitt for their works on creative destruction, and with Joel Mokyr).
Upon hearing the news of his Fellowship, he said, “I’m so deeply humbled to become an Honorary Fellow of the Academy and to join your renowned intellectual society. With my deepest gratitude.”
Professor Anna Vignoles CBE FBA was Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge before becoming the Director of the Leverhulme Trust in 2021. As an economist applying her skills to the education sector, her research focused on issues of equity and value in education, and the role played by education and skills in the economy and wider society. She was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2017 and awarded a CBE in 2019 for services to social sciences.
She said, “I greatly admire the Academy of Social Sciences for the way it champions the importance of social science and its contribution to society. To be recognised by the Academy in this way is a genuine honour and I am most grateful.”
Professor Sir Christopher Whitty KCB FRS has served as Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019. His multi-disciplinary research centres on diseases of poverty, mainly in Africa and Asia, based out of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In government, he has championed and led the integration of bio-medical, STEM and social science research to address major policy challenges in domestic health and international development. This includes the major emergencies of Ebola in West Africa and COVID-19 in the UK.
He said, “Insights from the qualitative and quantitative social sciences are central to good policymaking. I am very honoured to be an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.”
The Academy of Social Sciences awards its prestigious Honorary Fellowships each year to between one and four individuals. Find out more.