Penelope Summerfield, FBA,

FRHistS The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

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 1951), commonly known as Penny Summerfield, is an English historian and retired academic.

Early life and education

Born in 1951 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Summerfield is the daughter of

Arthur Summerfield Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield (March 17, 1899 – April 26, 1972) was a U.S. political figure who served as the 54th Postmaster General of the United States from 1953 to 1961. As Postmaster General, he was an ardent opponent of obscenity. Early ...

, a professor, and Aline Whalley, a psychologist. She attended the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, graduating with a BA in 1973, an MA in 1976 and a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1982.'' Contemporary Authors'', vol. 119 (Gale, 1986), p. 367. Her doctoral studies were supervised by Stephen Yeo.

Career and honours

Summerfield was a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

and tutor at Durham University from 1976 to 1978. She then taught at the Lancaster University from 1978,"Prof. Penny Summerfield"
''

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

''. Retrieved 9 June 2021. first as a lecturer in the social history of education, and latterly as

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Women's History (1994–2000). She moved to the

in 2000 to be Professor of Modern History; there, she served as head of the School of History and Classics (2002–2003) and the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (2003–2006). In 2020, Summerfield was elected a fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She is also a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

, and was the chair of the

Social History Society ''Cultural and Social History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering cultural and social history published by Routledge five times a year on behalf of the Social History Society. It was established in 2004. Abstracting and indexing The jo ...

from 2008 to 2011.

Personal life

She was married to the management studies academic and Lancaster University professor Mark Easterby-Smith, with whom she had two children before they divorced; their daughter is the historian Sarah Easterby-Smith. Summerfield later married Oliver Fulton, an emeritus professor of higher education at Lancaster University and the son of the university administrator

John Fulton, Baron Fulton John Scott Fulton, Baron Fulton (27 May 1902 – 14 March 1986) was a British university administrator and public servant. In education, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales and of the University of Sussex, and was chair of th ...

.Fulton's university profile is a
"Oliver Fulton"
''Department of Educational Research, University of Lancaster''. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

Bibliography

Books

Thesis

Peer-reviewed articles and chapters

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerfield, Penny 1951 births English historians Alumni of the University of Sussex Academics of Lancaster University Academics of the University of Manchester Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Living people People from Muswell Hill