The British Academy, the UK’s national body for the humanities and social sciences, has elected Professor Anthony King, Professor of Government at the University of Essex, as a Fellow in recognition of his contribution to the humanities and social sciences.

The announcement was made on Friday 23 July 2010 – the same day that the University of Essex held its degree ceremonies for Department of Government graduands.

Professor King is among 37 other elected Fellows to receive such recognition. Canadian by birth, Professor King came to Britain as a Rhodes Scholar. Before moving to the University of Essex in the mid 1960s, he was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He has been Professor of Government at Essex since 1969 and has also taught at Princeton and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Professor King is also a regular broadcaster and commentator on politics and election programmes for the BBC, is a member of the Academia European, a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an honorary life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, is the national body that champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally.