The recipients come from wide and varied backgrounds in the social sciences including sociology, criminology, law, geography and linguistics.

Among the 51 academics given the title are Sir Peter Hall, professor of urban regeneration and planning at University College London, a town planning and regeneration pioneer; Philip Cowley, professor of parliamentary government at the University of Nottingham, who is regularly sought after by the media for comment on political issues; Fran Bennett, an expert on social policy at the University of Oxford; Charles Pattie, professor of geography at the University of Sheffield, an expert on electoral behaviour and David Walker, the journalist, broadcaster and author.

The award has also been conferred on Perri 6, professor of public management at Queen Mary, University of London, whose research focuses on the cultural theory of risk.

Professor 6, who changed his name from David Ashworth in 1983, worked for the centre-left think tank Demos in the 1990s and has carried out government-backed research for the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The national Academy represents distinguished academics, societies and practitioners in the social sciences. It has previously awarded Academician status to 46 societies and 900 individuals from universities and the policy and practice communities, representing nearly 90,000 social scientists.

The status of Academician, including the entitlement to put the letters “AcSS” after a practitioner’s name, is bestowed after work has been reviewed by peer groups.

The full list of the 51 is:

Professor David Adams

Ian Mactaggart, chair of property and urban studies

University of Glasgow

Emeritus Professor Martin Albrow

Honorary vice-president

British Sociological Association

Professor Alison Anderson

Professor, School of Social Science and Social Work

Plymouth University

Professor Adrian Bailey

Chair, professor of geography

Hong Kong Baptist University

Professor Jon Bannister

Professor of criminology

Manchester Metropolitan University

Professor Anne Barlow

Professor of family law and policy

University of Exeter

Professor Michele Barrett

Professor of modern literary and cultural theory

Queen Mary, University of London

Fran Bennett

Senior research fellow in social policy and intervention

University of Oxford

Professor David Block

Research professor in sociolinguistics

Universitat de Lleida

Professor Vanessa Burholt

Professor of gerontology

Swansea University

Professor Matthew Carmona

Professor of planning and urban design

UniversityCollege London

Professor Neil Coe

Professor of economic geography

National University of Singapore

Professor Philip Cowley

Professor of parliamentary government

University of Nottingham

Professor Paul Crawford

Professor of health humanities

University of Nottingham

Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham

Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation

Queensland University of Technology

Professor John Curtice

Professor of politics

University of Strathclyde

Professor Stewart Fotheringham

Professor of human geography

University of St Andrews

Professor Jon Gabe

Professor of sociology

Royal Holloway, University of London

Professor Andrew Geddes

Professor of politics

University of Sheffield

Vincent Goodstadt

Independent planning advisor

Professor Sir Peter Hall

Bartlett professor of urban regeneration and planning

UniversityCollege London

Professor Simon Halliday

Professor of socio-legal studies

University of York

Professor Stephen Hinchcliffe

Professor of human geography

University of Exeter

Emeritus Professor Jenny Hockey

Emeritus professor of sociology

University of Sheffield

Professor Sarah Holloway

Professor of human geography

Loughborough University

Professor Ian Rees Jones

Professor of sociological research

Cardiff University

Professor Desmond King

Andrew W Mellon professor of American government

University of Oxford

Keith Kintrea

Head of urban studies

University of Glasgow

Professor Loretta Lees

Professor of human geography

King’s College London

Professor Constant Leung

Professor of educational linguistics

King’s College London

Professor David Lyon

Queen’s research chair in surveillance studies

Queen’s University, Canada

Professor Judith Masson

Professor of socio-legal studies

University of Bristol

Professor Jon May

Professor of geography

Queen Mary, University of London

Emeritus Professor David HJ Morgan

Professor in sociology

University of Manchester

Professor Linda Mulcahy

Professor of law

London Schoolof Economics and Political Science

Hon. Professor Kevin Murray

Director

Kevin Murray Associates (planning consultancy)

Professor David Ormrod

Professor of economic and cultural history

University of Kent

Professor Stephen Osborne

Professor of international public management

University of Edinburgh

Professor Joseph Painter

Professor of geography

Durham University

Professor Charles Pattie

Professor of geography

University of Sheffield

Professor Christine Piper

Professor in law

Brunel University

Professor Lydia Plowman

Chair in education and technology

University of Edinburgh

Emeritus Professor Philip Rees

Professor of population geography

University of Leeds

Professor Tess Ridge

Professor of social policy

University of Bath

Professor Karen Rowlingson

Professor of social policy

University of Birmingham

Professor Emeritus Neil Serougi

Consultant in health informatics

Professor Perri 6

Professor in public management

Queen Mary, University of London

Professor Louise Stoll

Professor of education

Institute of Education, University of London

Emeritus Professor William Twining

Emeritus Quain professor of Jurisprudence

University College London

David Walker

Journalist and author

Professor Anthony Gar-On Yeh

Professor of urban planning and design

University of Hong Kong