The University of Dundee’s Professor Nicholas Fyfe has been made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of the impact of his work on policing research.
Professor Fyfe, Dean of Dundee’s School of Social Sciences, is among 51 Fellows elected in this year’s cohort following a robust review by peers. All new Fellows were recognised for their outstanding contributions to research and application of social science to policy, education, society and the economy.
Professor Fyfe’s career has seen him carry out research ranging from improving police-community engagement and addressing the challenges of investigating organised crime, to understanding the impacts and implications of police reform following the establishment of Police Scotland.
“I am delighted and honoured to be made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences,” said Professor Fyfe. “It is great to receive this recognition from your peers and to join a diverse and distinguished community united by a shared vision of the importance of the social sciences.
“In addition to recognition of past achievements, being a member of the Academy provides a platform to champion the public value of social science and its role in helping us to better understand a range of global challenges, from the climate emergency to issues of social inequality, health and security.
“The University’s vision of transforming lives by creating, sharing and applying knowledge has always been central to my own idea of what being an academic entails, so I have found Dundee to be enormously supportive of my ambitions to use research to help inform improvements in the policy and practice of policing, locally and globally.”
Between 2006 and 2018, Professor Fyfe was founding Director of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, a pioneering interdisciplinary collaboration between 12 universities, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority. The Institute has established Scotland as an international centre of excellence in policing research and plays a major role in supporting knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners.
In 2007, Professor Fyfe was appointed Specialist Adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee inquiry into the effective use of police resources and was re-appointed in 2008 for their inquiry into community policing. He was appointed Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Dundee in March 2018.
The Academy of Social Sciences’ mission is to promote social science in the United Kingdom for public benefit. Work by the Academy’s Fellows have contributed to the UK’s position as a world leader in the social sciences.
