Award
Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa 榮譽社會科學博士
Year of Award
2016
Biography
A world authority in sociology, Prof Lord Giddens is not only a highly influential modern social theorist but also a polymath. He started his academic career at the University of Leicester and subsequently the University of Cambridge. From 1997 to 2003 he became the Director of the highly prestigious London School of Economics. He was also a cofounder of Polity Press, one of the world’s most reputable publishers especially in sociology and social theory. He continues to devote his time and energy on public service and has served on the boards and committees of various public organisations, including the Institute of Public Policy Research.
Prof Giddens is the author or editor of over 40 books, which have been translated into over 40 different languages. His famous Sociology textbook has sold over one million copies and he is regarded as one of the most widely cited sociologists of our age. Prof Giddens has written with an interdisciplinary approach on a wide range of subjects and a number of far-reaching theoretical models, including theoretical and methodological re-examination of the role of sociology, social structures and “Structuration Theory”, modernity, relationship between the self and society, globalisation, as well as politics.
Prof Giddens served as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's adviser, and his beyond-left-and-right “Third Way” politics had not only become Blair’s guiding political doctrine but has also made a profound impact internationally. He was awarded a peerage as Baron Giddens in 2004, and sits in the House of Lords currently. Over the years, honorary degrees have been bestowed upon him by over 15 universities around the globe. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Russian Academy of Science. He was also awarded the Prince of Asturias Award from Spain (also known as the “Spanish Nobel Prize”) in 2002.
Prof Giddens was awarded the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa by Lingnan University.
Prof Lord Anthony Giddens