Professor Kyle Grayson, Head of the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology; Professor Gina Heathcote, Professor of Public International Law; and Professor Louise Kempton, Professor of Urban and Regional Policy, and Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), have been conferred the honour for their substantial contributions to social science. 

The accolade reflects the significant impacts they each have had in their field and the relevance of their work in understanding and addressing the many varied societal challenges facing the UK and the world today.

Professor Grayson, who is an expert in international geopolitics, security studies and their portrayal in popular culture, said: “I’m deeply honoured to receive this award. I see it as recognition not of individual achievement alone, but of collective efforts to advance the social sciences in the UK, an endeavour to which I have been fortunate to make a small contribution. I have also greatly benefited from being based in a School and Faculty consistently recognised as one of the world’s leading centres of social science research, whose intellectual community and collegial support over the course of my career have made this possible.”

Professor Heathcote researches international law, collective security and the international law of the sea and maritime security from a feminist perspective, and is an expert in non-Western legal understandings of ocean care and custodianship. Her current Leverhulme funded research, Saltwater Law, builds best practices for collaborative research with Indigenous communities through study of Indigenous understandings of marine custodianship, care, and the use of coastal and ocean resources. “Recognition of my work by the Academy of Social Sciences is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the varied legal and feminist networks that have given me the space to explore law as a social, cultural, gendered and interconnected space,” Professor Heathcote said. “Thanks also to Newcastle Law School who continue to support my research, in particular, the Nonhuman and Legal Methodologies Research Groups.”

Professor Kempton is a leading figure in understanding of the role of universities as ‘anchor’ institutions in delivering local and regional economic growth and innovation. She is Principal Investigator of the £5.5 million Insights North East project, which aims to demonstrate how institutions can collaborate to maximise the potential for university research to inform place-based policy-making and practice, ensuring that future research agendas are shaped by the needs of an area. She said: "In an era of social, political and technological turbulence, the role of the social sciences, particularly in terms of informing policy, has never been more critical.  Therefore I am deeply honoured to be granted this award and join such a distinguished group of academics, policy-makers and practitioners."

They join other leading social scientists drawn from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and professions who have been conferred Fellowship of the Academy this spring for their contributions in research and professional applications beyond academia, including in industry, policy and higher education. 

The 74 new Fellows elected in 2026 are drawn from 39 UK organisations, comprising 35 Higher Education Institutions, as well as think tanks, non-profits, civil service, and from countries beyond the UK including Australia, the Czech Republic, Finland and Ireland. 

President of the Academy, Will Hutton FAcSS, said: “I’m delighted to welcome these leading social scientists to the Academy’s Fellowship. Their substantial contributions have furthered knowledge and our understanding in tackling a wide range of societal challenges. We look forward to working with them to further promote the important role the social sciences play in our daily lives.” 

The Academy’s Fellowship comprises 1,700 leading social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors, whose expertise covers the breadth of the social sciences. Their practice and research help to understand and address some of the major challenges facing communities, society, places and economies.

Selection is through independent peer review which recognises their excellence and impact. 

Press release adapted with thanks from the Academy of Social Sciences