Jonquil Fiona Williams, (born 22 July 1947) is a British retired academic of social policy whose research covers gender, race, ethnicity, and the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

. From 1996 to 2012, she was

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 Social Policy at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. She was previously a lecturer at the

Polytechnic of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

, Plymouth Polytechnic, and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, before becoming Professor of Applied Social Studies at the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

Early life and education

Williams was born on 22 July 1947 in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, Warwickshire, England, to Celia and Leonard Williams. She was educated at Ilkley Grammar School, a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

grammar school in

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

, Yorkshire. She studied sociology and

social administration 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 ...

at Bedford College, London, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1968. In later life, she studied for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree with the

, which she completed in 1993.

Academic career

From 1968 to 1970, Williams was a Commonwealth Scholar at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

in Nigeria. Having returned to the United Kingdom, she was a part-time lecturer at Kilburn Polytechnic from 1970 to 1972 and a lecturer at the

from 1972 to 1975. After a break from academia, she joined Plymouth Polytechnic where she was a part-time lecturer between 1981 and 1985, and a research officer from 1985 to 1987. She was a research officer at Leeds Polytechnic during the 1987/1988 academic year. In 1988, Williams joined the

; she was a lecturer from 1988 to 1992 and a

senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...

from 1992 to 1995. For the 1995/1996 academic year, she was

of Applied Social Studies at the

. In 1996, she joined the

having been appointed Professor of Social Policy and remained there until she retired. She was Director of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Research Group on "Care, Values and the Future of Welfare" between 1999 and 2005. In 2012, she retired from full-time academia and was appointed a

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. Williams has led an active retirement. Since 2012, she has been a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...

of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, She continued to be co-editor of the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

''Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society'' until 2014. Since 2014, she has been an honorary professor of the Social Policy Research Centre,

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

Personal life

Williams has two children: a daughter and a son.

Honours

In 2003, Williams was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences 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 ...

(FAcSS). In the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to social policy". In 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Fiona 1947 births Living people Academics of social policy Academics of the University of Leeds Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences People educated at Ilkley Grammar School Alumni of Bedford College, London Alumni of the Open University University of Ibadan faculty Academics of the University of North London Academics of the University of Plymouth Academics of Leeds Beckett University Academics of the Open University Academics of the University of Bradford People from Rugby, Warwickshire