Professor conferred Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences
Professor Paul Miller will receive his certificate of Fellowship in December at a special meeting of the Academy in Edinburgh
THE UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield’s Professor Paul Miller, whose research into contemporary education is conducted on a global scale, has become a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
As one of the latest cohort of distinguished academics and other experts to be conferred with this honour, he will receive his certificate of Fellowship in December from the Academy’s President, Professor Sir Ivor Crewe, at a special meeting in Edinburgh.
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Paul Miller is Professor of Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Huddersfield. His Fellowship recognises his expertise on the subject of educational leadership, in particular the discrimination faced by black and ethnic minority teachers when they aspire to leadership roles in UK schools.
But Professor Miller’s work has an international reach. Jamaican-born, his overseas distinctions include membership of the Caribbean Community’s Working Group on Educational Leadership and Teaching Innovation. His latest book – due for publication at the start of 2018 – is the result of interviews that he conducted with 64 head teachers in 16 countries.
Titled The Nature of School Leadership, the book explores its topic through a cross-cultural lens. But Professor Miller found that there were more similarities than differences in the attitudes and experiences of head teachers around the world.
“The most significant thing was that head teachers felt that they were driven by policies rather than being led by policies. Too many policies were being churned out by government and because school leaders have to implement them, they felt they were doing too much policy implementation.”
Professor Miller has recently delivered his inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Huddersfield, on “The Nature of School Leadership”. He is planning a presentation at the December meeting of the Academy of Social Sciences, and will deal with the subject of race inequality.
His Fellowship came after he was nominated and seconded by distinguished academics in the field of social sciences and there was then an extensive peer review process, with the impact of Professor Miller’s work being appraised.
This prestigious mark of recognition by Paul Miller’s peers in the social science community underscores how fortunate we are to have him as a colleague.
Professor Pete Sanderson
Dean of Education and Professional Development
Announcing the conferment of new Fellowships, the Academy’s Chair, Professor Roger Goodman, said: “Each new distinguished Fellow has been recognised for their outstanding and impactful contributions in their respective fields, and will prove invaluable additions to the range of expertise within the Academy.
“This speaks not only to the power and scope of the social sciences to address the big issues of our time, but also to the growing depth and breadth of representation within the Academy as the voice of the social science community as a whole.”
Professor Miller is based in the University of Huddersfield’s School of Education and Professional Development, and its Dean, Professor Pete Sanderson, said: “This prestigious mark of recognition by Paul Miller’s peers in the social science community underscores how fortunate we are to have him as a colleague.
“In addition to the excellence of his research, Paul has made a huge impact on the School and its partners in school and the community, in terms of appreciation of the key issues in leadership and diversity, through his supervision of postgraduate research, his teaching on our Masters programme, and guest lectures in schools and colleges across Yorkshire. Paul’s unrivalled international networks and reputation have also helped to promote the work of the School and the University across the globe.”