Professor Simon Hix
LSE has appointed Professor Simon Hix as the next Pro-Director for research.
Professor Hix joins the School Management Committee from the LSE Department of Government and School of Public Policy, where he has been Academic Director since 2017. The inaugural Harold Laski Professor in Political Science and Head of the Department of Government from 2012 to 2015, he has extensive knowledge and experience of LSE, both as an academic and as a student, having studied for his undergraduate and master’s degrees here.
Professor Hix is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Arts and Associate Editor of the journal European Union Politics. As founder and Chair of www.VoteWatch.eu, he leads a not-for-profit group in Brussels that tracks voting in the European Parliament and EU Council.
Commenting on the announcement, Professor Hix said, “I am delighted to be following the outstanding work of Professor Julia Black. The next few years will be challenging for research in the social sciences, both in terms of funding and the credibility of social science research and expertise in the minds of policy-makers and the public.
“I look forward to these challenges, and aim to work closely with colleagues to support their outstanding research, promote research dissemination and knowledge exchange to broad audiences, improve the quality of research environments within and between departments, and upgrade our PhD training and placements.”
LSE Director, Minouche Shafik, added: “Simon brings an exceptional breadth of experience from his time at the School and as an outstanding academic recognised for world-leading research, all of which will help support LSE’s research vision for the future as part of the School’s new strategy.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Julia Black for her fantastic work as Pro-Director and as LSE’s Interim Director from 2016 to 2017. I wish Julia every success in her new position as an external member of the Prudential Regulation Committee of the Bank of England, which she will undertake whilst still remaining at LSE.”