Prof Henry Yeung, Department of Geography, was recently conferred as an Academician with the Academy of Social Sciences (ASS). Prof Yeung shares the honour with only over 700 academics and is the only academic from an Asian university.

Prof Yeung is a highly influential academic whose research interests cover, broadly, theories and the geography of transnational corporations, Asian firms and their overseas operations and Chinese business networks in the Asia-Pacific region. Throughout his career, he has been accorded many honours, among which, he was ranked first on the list of top 50 human geographers in the Journal of Economic Geography (Vol. 10), placing him in the ranks of prominent geographers such as Nigel Thrift, Peter Taylor, Billie Turner and Michael Goodchild.

The Academy’s mission is to promote social sciences in the United Kingdom for the public benefit and is composed of over 700 Individual Academicians and 43 Learned Societies. Academicians are distinguished scholars and practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors. Most of the Learned Societies in the social sciences in the United Kingdom are represented within the Academy.

Being an Academician means that a peer group has reviewed the standing and impact of one’s work and found it worthy of the conferment of the award of Academician. Typically, the award would not be conferred until the person being nominated is in at least mid career, with significant achievements to their name, and they must have contributed to social science more broadly than the normal demands of their job. This contribution can be the area of thought leadership, practitioner applications or policy development. This peer group recognition is valued by holders of the award and has often been found to be helpful in supporting applications for new roles, internal promotion and wider standing.