Warwick celebrates three new British Academy Fellows

Three academics from the University of Warwick have been elected as Fellows of the British Academy, the University has announced.

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the social sciences and humanities. The Fellowship is awarded to 52 scholars across the UK whose research contributes significantly to their field and society at large.

Warwick’s newly-elected fellows are Professor of Economics Sonia Bhalotra, Professor of Hispanic Studies Kirsty Hooper, and Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies Celia Lury.

The University has cited the academics’ research originality and influence on their fields in the social sciences and humanities, specifically in the research of interdisciplinary social sciences, economics, and Spanish.

Professor Bhalotra’s research focuses on health and gender, exploring components of the micro-foundations of social mobility and inequality.

She experiments with large datasets to identify decision-making among stakeholders like families, businesses, and governments.

Congratulations to Sonia, Kirsty and Celia on this well-deserved recognition. Their research exemplifies the curiosity, creativity and intellectual rigour that define Warwick

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick

Professor Hooper’s research specialises in Galician, Spanish, and Anglo-Spanish cultural history since 1800, with a focus on the history of Hispanic communities in the UK, Galician Studies, and Anglo-Spanish links.

Her work utilises genealogical, textual, and micro-historical techniques to centre marginalised communities in the context of nationhood, colonialism, and empire.

Professor Lury’s research contributes to developing the field of interdisciplinary study
of culture.

She combines studies of broad evolutions of the cultural scene like personalisation and consumer culture with their sociological and economic impacts, focusing on the relations between individuals and groups along with individual identity.

Commenting on the academics’ fellowship elections, the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick, Professor Stuart Croft, stated: “Congratulations to Sonia, Kirsty and Celia on this well-deserved recognition. Their research exemplifies the curiosity, creativity and intellectual rigour that define Warwick.

“Across very different disciplines, they have challenged assumptions, opened up new ways of understanding the world and produced research with lasting value beyond academia. We are immensely proud to see their achievements recognised by the British Academy.”

Welcoming the cohort of 2026 fellows, British Academy President Professor Susan J. Smith stated: “I am delighted to welcome our newest fellows to the British Academy. Each has made an outstanding contribution to their field, and together they reflect the remarkable breadth and depth of scholarship across our disciplines.”