Prof Jonathan Jansen, Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University, is among 92 distinguished scholars that have been elected to the British Academy’s Fellowship in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.
The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
The new Fellows of the British Academy represent a broad spectrum of expertise from the study of twentieth-century music and the structural causes of poverty to environmental law and the neuroscience of memory, language, and cognition.
In a statement released by the British Academy (Friday 18 July 2025), Prof Jansen said: “There is no greater honour for a scholar than to be elected to a prestigious fellowship because your peers believe that you have something to say. I am especially thrilled that in the process, curriculum theory from the global south would also enjoy such wonderful recognition.”
Read the full statement by the British Academy below:
The British Academy welcomes 92 new Fellows in 2025
92 distinguished scholars have today been elected to the British Academy’s Fellowship, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.
Among this year’s newly elected Fellows are pioneering academics Professor Lily Kong BBM, PPA, FBA, the first Singaporean woman to lead a university in Singapore, and Professor Jonathan Jansen FBA, who in 2009 was appointed as the first Black Vice Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State.
This year, 58 new Fellows have been elected from 25 universities across the United Kingdom, alongside 30 International Fellows from universities in the United States, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore, China, Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Cyprus. Four Honorary Fellows have also been elected in recognition of their exceptional achievements in music, art, journalism and librarianship.
The new Fellows of the British Academy represent a broad spectrum of expertise from the study of twentieth-century music and the structural causes of poverty to environmental law and the neuroscience of memory, language, and cognition. This year’s cohort sees an increased number of UK Fellows elected, due to new Fellowship places for candidates whose research spans more than one discipline. They join a community of over 1 800 scholars who share a commitment to advancing the humanities and social sciences.
Current British Academy Fellows include classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian and China expert Professor Rana Mitter and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill. The Academy also counts Professor David Olusoga, Baroness Brenda Hale, and Professor Gary Younge among its Honorary 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 percent 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.”
Jonathan D Jansen FBA, Distinguished Professor of Education, Stellenbosch University, said: “There is no greater honour for a scholar than to be elected to a prestigious fellowship because your peers believe that you have something to say. I am especially thrilled that in the process, curriculum theory from the global south would also enjoy such wonderful recognition.”
Professor Lily Kong BBM, PPA, FBA, President and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, said: “I had the great privilege of being mentored by wonderful advisers in Britain during the years I worked on my PhD. I have had the great pleasure of collaborating and co-publishing with other British scholars in the ensuing decades. This great honour of election to the British Academy is a tribute to all those who have been part of my intellectual journey from around the world, and especially from Britain, where it all began for me.”
Richard Ovenden, OBE, Hon FBA, FSA, FRSA, FRHistS, FRSE, Bodley’s Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of University Libraries, said: “I have always regarded the British Academy as the pinnacle of excellence in the humanities and social sciences. To receive the Honorary Fellowship means an immense amount, as it recognises the importance of libraries, archives, and the preservation of knowledge as a vital underpinning of scholarship. I hold this Fellowship for all librarians and archivists.”
Professor Sarah Semple, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, said: “I am delighted to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy and truly honoured to join so many distinguished colleagues in representing and championing the vibrancy and strength of archaeology, the humanities and social sciences more broadly, and their relevance for tackling the challenges of today.”
