Alan Christopher Walker, CBE, FBA, FRSA,

FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(born 20 April 1949) is a British academic, social scientist and public health administrator. Since 1985, he has been Professor of

Social Policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

and

Social Gerontology Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, Culture, cultural, Psychology, psychological, cognitive, and Biology, biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Ancient Greek, Greek , ''geron'', "ol ...

at the University of Sheffield.

Career

Alan Christopher Walker was born on 20 April 1949. He attended the University of Essex, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and sociology in 1972. After completing his degree, he worked at the university for three years as a research assistant and latterly as a research officer. He was then a senior research officer at the National Children's Bureau before joining the University of Sheffield to take up a

lectureship Lecturer is an academic rank Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals ...

in 1977. Promotions followed to a senior lectureship in 1983 and a readership the next year, before he was appointed to his current position as Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology in 1985."Walker, Prof. Alan Christopher"
''Who's Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2017). Retrieved 4 June 2018."Professor Alan Walker CBE"
''University of Sheffield''. Retrieved 4 June 2018. He was Head of the Department of Sociological Studies at Sheffield from 1988 to 1996, and directed the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

's "Growing Older Programme" from 1999 to 2004. He has also held visiting professorships in Canada, Hong Kong, Israel and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. According to his British Academy profile, Walker's research focuses on "social policy and social gerontology including political economy, comparative research in Europe and East Asia, and the theory and application of social quality". Walker has also served as a public health administrator in his capacity as chairman of the Community Health Sheffield NHS Trust from 1999 to 2003, when he became chair of the Sheffield Care Trust; he then chaired the Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Trust from 2008 until 2016.

Awards and honours

Walker was founding Academician of the

Academy of Social Sciences The Academy of Social Sciences is a representative body for social sciences in the United Kingdom. The Academy promotes social science through its sponsorship of the Campaign for Social Science, its links with Government on a variety of matters, a ...

(later renamed Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; FAcSS). He has been a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA) since 1994, and in 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences."Professor Alan Walker"
''British Academy''. Retrieved 4 June 2018. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

"for services to social sciences".''Birthday Honours List 2014''
(

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

). Retrieved 4 June 2018. Walker was also awarded a doctor of letters degree (DLitt) by his alma mater in 1990 and received the Queen's Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2002 for his research on ageing, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Social Policy Association The Social Policy Association (SPA) is the United Kingdom's professional association for teachers, researchers, students and practitioners of social policy. It works to promote the discipline, encourage public awareness of social policy research, ...

in 2007 and (in the same year) he was the inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Society of Gerontology. In 2006, Hong Kong Baptist University awarded him an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

doctor of social sciences (DSocSc) degree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Alan 1949 births Academics of social policy Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Essex Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Fellows of the British Academy Living people