David Willis, Jesus Professor of Celtic at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at Jesus College, is one of seven academics from the University to have been elected as 2022 Fellows of the British Academy in recognition of their distinguished contribution to research.

Professor Willis investigates the principles of grammatical variation and change, looking particularly at Celtic languages, especially Welsh, Slavonic languages and English. He is also interested in the ways in which digital humanities can inform historical linguistics, including the use of electronic corpora, geospatial techniques (GIS), and the use of social media to track linguistic change. He was appointed Jesus Chair of Celtic in 2020.

 

He said, ‘I am delighted and honoured to have been elected a Fellow of the British Academy. The Academy has always done an enormous amount to support the humanities and social sciences, and my own research has benefited so much from its activities. I am greatly looking forward to becoming involved with its work over the coming years.’

Professor Willis’s election is one of seven made to Oxford academics this year. The other new Fellows from Oxford are:

Daniel Freeman, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychiatry;

Simon Gilson, Agnelli-Serena Professor of Italian Studies at the Department of Medieval and Modern Languages;

Ian Jewitt, Sir Rod Harrod Fellow in Economics at the Department of Economics;

Sally Maitlis, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership at Saïd Business School;

Hilary Owen, Senior Research Fellow in the Sub-Faculty of Portuguese at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages;

Mark Wynn, Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, Faculty of Theology and Religion

Welcoming the elections, Professor Dan Grimley, Head of Humanities at Oxford University, said, ‘I am delighted to see that four academics from the humanities have been newly elected Fellows of the British Academy. Professors Simon Gilson, Hilary Owen, David Willis and Mark Wynn are doing outstanding work in a broad range of fields. This reflects the depth and diversity of the research in our faculties of Medieval and Modern Languages; English; Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics; and Theology and Religion.’

Professor Belinda Lennox, Head of Department, Professor of Psychiatry, said, ‘Huge congratulations to Daniel Freeman on this highly prestigious fellowship. It is an outstanding achievement, and fitting recognition of his pioneering, world leading research, improving outcomes for people with severe mental health conditions. British Academy fellowships are the highest level of distinction for humanities and social sciences. They are awarded to only a couple of people in each research field each year.   Daniel demonstrates outstanding scholarship and impact in his research and is richly deserving of this award. We are proud to have him in Psychiatry. 

Professor Timothy Power, Head of Social Sciences Division, Oxford University, added, ‘I am delighted Ian Jewitt and Sally Maitlis have received the great honour of being elected Fellows of the British Academy. My congratulations to them both on being recognised for academic distinction within their fields. They will bring their in-depth knowledge and outstanding research to this prestigious Fellowship, joining other leading minds in the social sciences and humanities.’

Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a Fellowship of over 1600 of the leading minds in these subjects from the UK and overseas.  Current Fellows include the classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian Professor Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill. Previous Fellows include Dame Frances Yates, Sir Winston Churchill, Seamus Heaney and Beatrice Webb.

This year 85 Fellows have been elected: 52 UK Fellows, 29 Corresponding Fellows and four Honorary Fellows.

Welcoming the Fellows, the new President of the British Academy, Professor Julia Black, said, ‘I am delighted to welcome these distinguished and pioneering scholars to our Fellowship. I am equally delighted that we have so many new female Fellows. While I hope this means that the tide is finally turning for women in academia, there is still much to do to make the research world diverse and open to all. 

‘With our new Fellows’ expertise and insights, the Academy is better placed than ever to open new seams of knowledge and understanding and to enhance the wellbeing and prosperity of societies around the world. I congratulate each of our new Fellows on their achievement and look forward to working with them.’