University of Bath Professor elected Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences
Professor Phil Tomlinson, from the University of Bath’s School of Management, has been conferred Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences, in recognition of his contribution to the social sciences for public benefit.
The Academy’s Fellowship comprises 1,500 leading social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors. Their expertise covers the breadth of the social sciences, and their practice and research addresses major challenges facing communities, society, places and economies.
Professor Tomlinson, Co-Director of the University’s Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy, is recognised for his research on regional development and contributions to place-based industrial strategy, particularly with regards to revitalising lagging regions. These issues have become increasingly prominent in the public policy domain in recent years, and Professor Tomlinson has contributed to shaping these debates locally, nationally and internationally.
He has been an advisor to the All-Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, and presented to Parliament and the European Commission. Locally, he was a member of the advisory panel for Swindon and Wilshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) industrial strategy, and he sits on the West of England Combined Authority’s Skills Advisory Panel.
“I am absolutely delighted and truly honoured to receive this accolade,” said Professor Tomlinson. “Although I trained as an economist, I primarily identify myself as a social scientist in the broadest sense, in that I seek to draw on perspectives from across the whole breadth of social science to inform my research and methodological approach.
“A key passion driving my research has always been the implications of my work for public policy and practice – especially place-based industrial policy and how this might be utilised to improve the prospects of businesses and the livelihoods of people located in so-called lagging regions.
“The Academy is a wonderful platform for promoting the value of social science research in the public domain, and it is a fantastic honour to be recognised in this way. I would like to thank my colleagues in the School of Management, across the University of Bath, the Regional Studies Association and my wonderful family and friends, as they have all played such a supportive role in my research career and intellectual journey.”
Dean of the School of Management, Professor Steve Brammer, added: “I am delighted by Professor Tomlinson’s appointment as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. This is well deserved recognition of his outstanding and sustained contribution to social science over many years (22 years of which have been in the School of Management). I am also especially happy to see contributions to the frontiers of social sciences stemming from the business and management community.”
Professor Tomlinson is a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association and is the Policy Debates Editor of the Regional Studies journal. He is a member of the Institute of Policy Research. He is currently working on an InterAct funded project (Economic and Social Research Council) exploring how manufacturers can utilise co-working spaces to enhance their operations, and the impact this might have in lagging regions and for ‘levelling up’.