An inaugural lecture is a special moment in an academic’s career as it marks that they have now been promoted to a professor or have recently joined the School.
These lectures are a chance to celebrate the successes of our community and allow our professors to present their research and achievements.
Inaugural lectures are open to everyone and are free to attend.
They are also an opportunity for family, friends and colleagues to celebrate this key milestone together.
If you are interested in delivering an inaugural lecture or have any questions about these lectures please email comms.events@lse.ac.uk.
Upcoming inaugural lectures
Thursday 27 February 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
Innovation is increasingly monopolised by a small entrepreneurial elite that is not representative of the population at all.
To simultaneously increase our innovation potential and reduce inequality, it is urgent to involve everyone, especially women and people of underprivileged backgrounds, in the innovation process, from the creation of technologies to their widespread dissemination. What do we know and what should we do to find the “Lost Marie Curies” and “Lost Einsteins” and give them their chance? Join us for Xavier Jaravel's inaugural lecture to find out the answers to these questions.
Wednesday 5 March 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
A cultivar is a plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those when propagated. This inaugural lecture by Mukulika Banerjee draws on long-term fieldwork among paddy farmers in Bengal to explore the ways in which cultivation - of crops, neighbourly relations, and selves - can help democracy and truthful politics to flourish.
It also considers how the university, through its own cultivation of knowledge and debate, is another vital site for nurturing active citizens and a better future.
Tuesday 18 March 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
New ideologies of doing good stress the importance of maximising the social impact of our altruism and seeking long-term solutions to social problems. Innovative mechanisms of financing and organisation mix business practice with philanthropy and charity, stretching from impact investing and venture philanthropy to the social enterprise and the purpose-driven corporation. These new institutions and approaches to private action for public benefit open valuable new windows for achieving social change. But they also create tensions, puzzles and discomfort. In his inaugural professorial lecture, Jonathan Roberts explores how we can navigate this complex and dynamic new world of doing good.
Wednesday 26 March 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
In her inaugural lecture, Denisa Kostovicova discusses how former opponents engage with the legacy of mass atrocity.
War crimes need to be addressed, if peace is to be built. But, in divided societies polarised by violence, war crimes talk can deepen the divisions. Kostovicova draws on her study of post-conflict Balkans and presents lessons for contemporary conflicts. She locates the possibilities for peace in political communication across conflict lines, assesses the risks and considers alternatives, such as arts-based approaches.
Thursday 27 March 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
This inaugural lecture will look at key issues in the study of women’s health through the lens of reproductive histories, looking at both contingent and cumulated events to include physical and mental shocks such as conflict and disasters which would eventually have an impact later in life.
Thursday 3 April 2025, 6.30pm to 8.00pm
Rocco Macchiavello is Professor of Management at LSE. His research focuses on how stakeholders collaborate to forge supply chains that foster sustainability. He blends conceptual frameworks from organisational economics, data analysis, fieldwork, and RCTs to test how supply chains function and how they can be leveraged for the betterment of society.