Pair of Griffith academics elected as Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences

Griffith University Vice Chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Griffith Business School Professor Renee Jeffery is also honoured and joins Professor Evans in the elected Fellowship of more than 650 leading Australian social science researchers.

Griffith Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Carolyn Evans

Professor Evans, a Rhodes Scholar who read law at Exeter College, University of Oxford is acknowledged as an international expert in human rights law, particularly religious freedoms and protection of human rights.

The first female Dean of Melbourne Law School, Professor Evans became Griffith University’s first female Vice Chancellor in early 2019 after a highly distinguished academic career at the University of Melbourne.

“I am humbled and honoured that my colleagues have elected me to the Academy,” Professor Evans said.

“This Fellowship is rewarding and acknowledges the standing and vital contribution of scholarly research into issues like protection of human rights and religious freedoms”.

Professor Reneee Jeffery

The election to the Academy caps off a memorable 2019 for Professor Renee Jeffery from the School of Government and International Relations.

Last month Professor Jeffery became a recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. Her project will examine the roles played by National Human Rights Institutions across Asian nations experiencing political change.

“Being part of the Academy brings with not just an honour but the ability to further promote social sciences including human rights affairs, Professor Jeffery said.

The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is one of Australia’s four learned Academies, established in 1971, and it has an elected Fellowship of over 650 leading social science researchers.

Each Fellow is elected by their peers on the basis of a sustained and internationally distinguished contribution to their field.