Saul Becker (born April 1960) is a British academic and social scientist renowned for his work on

Young carer A young carer is a young person who cares, unpaid, for a person who has any type of physical or mental illness, physical and/or mental disability or misuses substances such as alcohol or drugs. The age of a young carer varies between countries. F ...

s and considered as the world leader in the field. He is author of author and editor of 18 books, including ''Young Carers and their families''. He is currently (since 2023) the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

Early life and education

Becker is a former pupil of

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania ...

and a graduate of the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

: BA (1981); MA (1983); and PhD (1987). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and The Royal Society of Arts he is a Registered Social Worker and holds a CQSW, RSW, FAcSS, F RSA.

Career

In May 2022 Becker was appointed Professor of Children and Families in the Faculty of Health & Education at

. Previous post held include: Director of Research, & Andrew and Virginia Rudd Professor of Social Care Research and Education Practice, Faculty of Education,

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 ...

; Provost and Deputy

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of 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 , ...

, UK.; Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences,

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 ...

; Assistant Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Internationalisation),

; Head of the School of Social Policy and Sociology,

; Director of Research, Institute of Applied Social Studies,

; co-founder and associate director, Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University. Becker is known as a highly funded and impactful researcher and academic, with more than 50 externally funded research projects as Principal Investigator. His research impact has been recognised by the

Carers Trust The Carers Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom which supports carers. It works with a network of partner organisations to help carers with the challenges of their caring roles. History The Princess Royal Trust for Carers was created on the ...

which appointed him as their first-ever Ambassador, AccessHE which recognised him as a Role Model and

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

which named his as one of the Nation's Lifesavers. He was a member of the UK

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 ...

(REF) 2014 Social Work and Social Policy Sub-panel 22.

Publications

Becker is a prolific author with over 350 publications (including 18 books) and over 240 conference papers, most as invited keynote speaker. He is also the chair of the UK

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, ...

and the founding series editor for the

Policy Press , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Understanding Welfare book series. He and his work have featured in nine television documentaries and hundreds of radio broadcasts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Saul Academics of the University of Nottingham Living people 1960 births British social scientists Academics of the University of Sussex