Sir John Robert Hills, (29 July 1954 – 21 December 2020) was a British academic, latterly professor of Social Policy at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. He acted as director of the ESRC Research

Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) is a British research centre at the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economic and Related Disciplines at the London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Politica ...

from 1997. His work focused on inequality, and the role of social policy over the life course.

Education

John Hills was educated at

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

and Abingdon School. At Abingdon he was Head of Dayboys and won the St Catherine's prize for Intellectual Initiative, the Smith Chemistry prize and Ingham Physics Prize, in addition to English and Mathematics prizes. Before going to Cambridge he conducted research at Euratom. He studied at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

for his undergraduate degree, and at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

for his master's degree (MSocSc Economics, 1980).

Work

Hills worked at the LSE from 1986 until his death in 2020, having previously held research posts at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

and the

Institute for Fiscal Studies The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom, which specialises in UK taxation and public policy. It produces both academic and policy-related findings. The institute's aim is to "ad ...

. His appointment as Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) in 1997 coincided with the election of New Labour and a greater level of interest in issues around poverty and social exclusion. He took part in a number of high-profile reviews for government. These included * a review of fuel poverty in 2011; * a 2010 report on inequality for the National Equality panel; and, * a 2007 review of council housing entitled ''Ends and Means''. Hills was one of three commissioners on the Pensions Commission. Among the most important reforms proposed by the Pensions Commission during his tenure was a new type of non-state pension, which they called NPSS (National Pension and Savings Scheme). This is a pension scheme where people are 'auto-enrolled', and which has a compulsory employer contribution. This idea was later renamed as 'personal accounts' and was being introduced in 2012 in the form of the

National Employment Savings Trust The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) is a defined contribution workplace pension scheme in the United Kingdom. It was set up to facilitate automatic enrolment as part of the government's workplace pension reforms under the Pensions Act 2 ...

. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 1998 New Year honours for services to social security analysis and was knighted in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 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 policy development. He was Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was at the time of his death one of the sub-panel members for the

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...

in the field of social work and social policy & administration.

Personal

He was married to Professor Anne Power of the

Publications

*''Towards a More Equal Society?: Poverty, Inequality and Policy Since 1997'' (The Policy Press, 2009: coeditor with T. Sefton and K. Stewart) *''A More Equal Society: New Labour, poverty, inequality and exclusion'' (The Policy Press, 2005; coeditor with K. Stewart) *''Inequality and the State'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) *''Understanding Social Exclusion'' (Oxford University Press, 2002; co-editor with J. Le Grand and D. Piachaud)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, John 1954 births 2020 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor People educated at Abingdon School Alumni of the University of Birmingham Fellows of the British Academy

Education

Work

Personal

Publications

See also

References