Professor Sir David Cannadine elected President of the British Academy
Professor Sir David Cannadine, Honorary Fellow of St John’s,
editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Dodge Professor of
History at Princeton University, has been elected the thirtieth President of
the British Academy. He will take up office in July 2017 for four years, succeeding
Lord Nicholas Stern.
The British Academy exists to champion the humanities and social sciences, and their role in our national life.
Professor Cannadine is a modern British historian who was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 1999. On his appointment he said: ‘I am hugely thrilled and honoured to be following Nick Stern as the next President of the British Academy.
‘In more ways than one, these are challenging times, for the Academy, the people it represents and the values it embodies. The current climate of opinion seems ever more hostile to academic excellence, intellectual distinction and evidence-based research, and to humane tolerance and liberal internationalism. These are the essential verities and transcendent truths that the Academy was established to recognize and promote, and during my presidency I am determined to do all I can to proclaim, safeguard and reaffirm them.
‘In the current political and economic climate this will not be an easy task, and I hope I may count on the support of the Academy’s benefactors, Fellows and staff: truly, we are all in this together, and there is a great deal of urgent and important work to do.’