SMU President Professor Lily Kong has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy – one of the highest honours in the humanities and social sciences. Her appointment, announced this July, places her among an élite group of global scholars recognised for their contributions to advancing the humanities and social sciences through innovative research and thought leadership.
Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the United Kingdom’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Each year, it selects a small number of scholars from across the world whose work has had a transformative impact. This year’s cohort includes 58 new Fellows from UK institutions and 30 International Fellows, reflecting a diverse global community committed to thought leadership and scholarly excellence.
For Professor Kong, this recognition carries personal significance.
“I had the great privilege of being mentored by wonderful advisers in Britain during the years I worked on my PhD,” she reflected. “I have had the great pleasure of collaborating and co-publishing with other British scholars in the ensuing decades. This great honour of election to the British Academy is a tribute to all those who have been part of my intellectual journey from around the world, and especially from Britain, where it all began for me.”
Her election as Fellow not only marks an individual achievement but also acknowledges the collaborative and international nature of academic inquiry – something that has long defined her approach to scholarship and leadership.
A career marked by breadth and depth
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy, warmly welcomed the new Fellows, stating, “They bring years of experience, evidence-based arguments, and innovative thinking to the profound challenges of our age: managing the economy, enabling democracy, and securing the quality of human life.”
Professor Kong’s research spans a vast terrain: intercommunal relations and identity, cultural policy and heritage, creative industries, and urban development. Her work has illuminated Asia’s dynamic social and cultural transformations, showing how humanities and social sciences help to inform societal change and sustainable development.
Through a lens of social and cultural geography, Professor Kong has shown how communities negotiate change, how policy can foster cohesion, and how cities evolve through creativity and inclusion. Her work demonstrates how the humanities and social sciences remain essential to addressing the most complex challenges of our time.
In addition to serving as SMU’s President, Professor Kong holds the Lee Kong Chian Chair Professorship of Social Sciences and is appointed to SMU’s College of Integrative Studies. Her interdisciplinary and integrative approach exemplifies her commitment to leveraging scholarly insights to address societal challenges.
Whether in her research or her role as university president, she has consistently championed the importance of integrating knowledge across disciplines, grounding theory in real-world application, and ensuring that scholarship serves society.
As a newly elected Fellow, Professor Kong joins noted international scholars whose work has shaped the intellectual currents of their fields. This includes classics scholar Professor Dame Mary Beard (University of Cambridge), historian Professor Rana Mitter (University of Oxford), and legal scholar Professor Anne Davies (Oxford). Among International Fellows are Judge Hilary Charlesworth, Professor of International Law at the University of Melbourne, and Professor Amy Finkelstein of MIT, whose work in health economics has informed US policy.
This year’s new International Fellows also include Harvard historian Ann Blair, Yale economist Pinelopi Goldberg, and University of Helsinki anthropologist Sarah Green – each contributing to a more connected, insightful understanding of the human condition.
Professor Kong’s election is more than a recognition of academic achievement. It affirms the value of scholars who build bridges – between disciplines, geographies, and the academy and society. Her work illustrates the role of humanities and social sciences in fostering understanding, resilience, and progress amid an increasingly complex world.
See also: Professor Lily Kong Named British Academy Fellow | SMU Newsroom
