The King’s New Year Honours list for 2024, published yesterday, recognised Professor Michaela Benzeval for services to social science.
Professor Benzeval is a leading authority on longitudinal research and is the director and principal investigator for Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which provides vital and rich evidence about life in the UK in the 21st century.
Professor Meena Kumari, Director of ISER, said: “This is a much-deserved recognition for Professor Benzeval’s outstanding contribution to world-leading social science and we are absolutely delighted for her.”
Professor Chris Greer, Pro-Vice Chancellor Research at the University of Essex, said: “We are very proud that Professor Benzeval has received recognition for her outstanding work as Director of Understanding Society at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
“Professor Benzeval has helped Understanding Society establish its reputation as one of the largest and most significant studies of its kind in the world – delivering important insights into how we live our lives.
“We are very pleased that such an important member of the research community at Essex has been honoured in this way.”
Alongside her role at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Professor Benzeval is Visiting Professor at the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow.
Before joining ISER, Professor Benzeval was a Programme Leader, and Research Project Director of the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow. She has also worked at Queen Mary University of London, East London and City Health Authority, the London School of Economics and the King’s Fund. In 2022 she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.