Professor Michaela Benzeval is a leading authority on longitudinal research and is the Director and Principal Investigator for Understanding Society.
Alongside her role at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, the home of Understanding Society, Michaela is Visiting Professor at the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. Before joining ISER, Michaela 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.
On receiving the honour, Michaela said, “Receiving a CBE is a highlight of my social science career – it’s not something that I ever expected to receive, but I am very pleased to do so.
I see this honour as something that reflects the value of Understanding Society as an internationally important study, and the skills and enthusiasm of all the people working on it, who make it such a success. High-quality, long-term data is vital for good decision making – I’m incredibly proud of everything that Understanding Society is achieving now and the data we’re building for future generations of social scientists.”
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.”
