Susan J. Smith
Born1956 (age 67–68)
Alma mater
Scientific career
FieldsGeography
InstitutionsGirton College, Cambridge
ThesisCrime and the structure of social relations within a British city: a geographical critique, with reference to north central Birmingham (1982)

Susan Jane Smith FBA FAcSS FRSE (born 1956) is a British geographer and academic. Since 2009, she has been mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.[1][2] Smith previously held the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh from 1990 to 2004 and until 2009 was a professor of geography at Durham University, where she played a key role in establishing the Institute of Advanced Study. On 1 October 2011, she was conferred the title of Honorary Professor of Social and Economic Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge for five years,[3] which was renewed until 2021.[4]

She studied at Oxford University, reading geography at St Anne's College and completing her DPhil at Nuffield College. She held research fellowships at St Peter's College, Oxford, Brunel University and the University of Glasgow.

Smith's research is concerned with the challenge of inequality, addressing themes such as residential segregation, housing for health, and fear of crime. Her current work focuses on inequalities in the housing market.[5] In 2010, Smith gave the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Cambridge University with the title "Care-full markets – Miracle or Mirage?" which examined—from a perspective of the ethics of care—the moral economy of the housing market.[6] Her work combines qualitative and quantitative approaches, and she is interested in an array of participatory techniques. In collaboration with Dr Mia Gray and the Menagerie Theatre Company, Smith has developed a project on "public choices in times of austerity", an experiment in dramatising the findings of a study in Interactive Forum Theatre style.

Smith plays euphonium with the City of Cambridge Brass Band.[7]

Honours

In 1999, Smith was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS).[8] In 2000, she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[9] In 2008, she was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).[10] In 2010, she was appointed a Tanner lecturer at Clare Hall, Cambridge, a recognition for "uncommon achievement and outstanding abilities in the field of human values".[11] In 2014, she was awarded the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.[12]

References

  1. ^ Girton elects new Mistress from Cambridge University News and Events, 4 March 2009
  2. ^ Varsity issue 693 page 3
  3. ^ Cambridge University Reporter Vol cxlii No 8: Notices by the General Board
  4. ^ "Honorary Professors". Cambridge University Reporter, Special No.4, 23 December 2016. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Department of Geography, Cambridge » Susan Smith". www.geog.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  6. ^ "The 2010 Tanner Lectures". Cambridge University. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Meet the Band". City of Cambridge Brass Band. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Susan J. Smith". Department of Geography. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  9. ^ Directory 2016/17 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. p. 214. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  10. ^ "SMITH, Professor Susan". British Academy Fellows. British Academy. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Department of Geography, Cambridge » Susan Smith". www.geog.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Mistress of Girton honoured by Royal Geographical Society". Girton College. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
Academic offices Preceded byMarilyn Strathern Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge 2009–present Incumbent
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