Professor Matthew Flinders, Chair of the Political Studies Association, was elected to the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) on Friday 2 July at the Academys AGM in London. 

The member Learned Societies and Fellows of the Academy were eligible to vote in the election which saw a strong turnout – both in terms of the number of candidates and the level of voting. A late resignation from Council meant that there were three vacancies in each of the two constituencies and Professor Flinders was deemed elected to serve for the term 2015-2018. Others elected to the Council were Professor Patricia Broadfoot (University of Bristol), Emeritus Professor David Byrne (University of Durham), Professor Linda Hantrais (Loughborough University), Professor Andrew Jones (City University London) and Professor Catherine Pope (University of Southampton). 

At the AGM, Professor Roger Goodman was warmly welcomed as the Academy’s new Chair. He succeeds Professor Sir Cary Cooper who was the Academys Chair for the previous six years.

Professor Matthew Flinders is Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield and has been Chair of the Political Studies Association since June 2014.