Saul Becker

Summary

Saul Becker FAcSS (born 1960) is a British academic and social scientist renowned for his work on Young Carers and considered as the pioneer and world leader in the field. He is author of author and editor of 18 books, including Young Carers and their families and Responding to Poverty.[1] He is currently (since 2023) the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the Faculty of Health and Education of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Saul Becker
NationalityBritish
Known forResearch on Young Carers, Social Work and Social Policy
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
Academic work
DisciplineSocial Work and Social Policy
InstitutionsManchester Metropolitan University

Early life and education edit

Becker is a former pupil of Rossall School and a graduate of the University of Nottingham: BA (1981); MA (1983); and PhD (1987). His Doctorate was on the relationships between poverty and the use of social services. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts is a Registered Social Worker RSW) with Social Work England.[2] He has practiced as a local authority social worker and senior welfare rights officer.

Career edit

In May 2022 Becker was appointed Professor of Children and Families at Manchester Metropolitan University.[3] Previous posts held include: Director of Research, & Andrew and Virginia Rudd Professor of Social Care Research and Education Practice, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge; Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, UK.;[4] Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences, University of Birmingham;[5] Assistant Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Internationalisation), University of Nottingham; Head of the School of Social Policy and Sociology, University of Nottingham; Director of Research, Institute of Applied Social Studies, University of Birmingham; Co-founder and associate director, Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University.

Becker is known as a highly funded and impactful researcher and academic, with more than 50 externally funded research projects as Principal Investigator.[6]

His research impact has been recognised by the Carers Trust which appointed him as their first-ever Ambassador,[7] AccessHE which recognised him as a Role Model[8] and Universities UK which named his as one of the Nation's Lifesavers.[9]

He was a member of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 Social Work and Social Policy Sub-panel 22.[10]

Publications edit

Becker is a prolific author with over 350 publications (including 18 books) and over 240 conference papers, most as invited keynote speaker.[11]

He was also the chair of the UK Social Policy Association and the founding series editor for the Policy Press Understanding Welfare book series. He and his work have featured in nine television documentaries and hundreds of radio broadcasts.

References edit

  1. ^ "Saul Becker".
  2. ^ Saul Becker (1997). Responding to Poverty: The Politics of Cash and Care. ISBN 9780582243224.
  3. ^ "Internationally renowned children, care and caring expert to join Manchester Met". 17 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Saul Becker: mental health advocate, cake enthusiast and your new Deputy VC". The Badger Online. 11 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Saul Becker". 18 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Professor Saul Becker joins University of Sussex as Deputy Vice-Chancellor : Broadcast: News items : University of Sussex". www.sussex.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Carers Trust appoints world-leading young carers' researcher as its first-ever Ambassador". 2014 Carers Trust. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Next up, we're looking at role models more broadly". 2014 AccessHE. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Provost named among Nation's Lifesavers". 2014 Universities UK. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Sub-Panel 3" (PDF). 2014 Research Excellence Framework. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Professor Saul Becker: Provost : Our leadership : ... : About us : University of Sussex".