Five University of Sydney academics are among 43 leading social scientists elected to the Academy in 2026, one of the field’s highest honours.

Professors Lisa Adkins, Julia Horne, Rosemary Lyster, Cameron Stewart and Chris F Wright have been recognised for research and leadership spanning sociology, history, law, health, climate change, work and industrial relations.

Fellowship recognises excellence and distinction in the social sciences and significant contributions to public understanding, policy development and social progress. Fellows are elected through a rigorous peer-reviewed process.

Professor Mike Ryan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), congratulated the five new Fellows.

“It’s fantastic to see five outstanding Sydney researchers recognised for the quality and impact of their work.

“Their research spans some of the biggest questions facing Australia and the world, from climate change and the future of work to health, law and the role of universities in society. This recognition reflects the important contribution social sciences research makes to understanding these challenges and helping shape how we respond.”

Professor Lisa Adkins is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and an internationally distinguished sociologist whose research examines the changing nature of work, economies and everyday life in post-industrial societies.

Her research has helped expand the field of economic sociology, examining issues including the growth of the service economy, transformations in work, new forms of wealth generation and the increasing role of finance in everyday life.

Her most recent books are The Time of Money (2018, Stanford University Press) and The Asset Economy (2020, Polity Press) co-authored with Martijn Konings and Melinda Cooper.

Professor Julia Horne, from the School of Humanities, is Professor of History, University Historian and a Professorial Research Fellow. She is a historian whose research examines the role universities play in society, bringing together history, politics and policy.

Over the past two decades, her work has helped establish the history and politics of higher education as a distinctive field of research in Australia and contributed to its development internationally.

Her research considers universities not simply as institutions, but as social and political actors shaped by government, culture and inequality.

Professor Rosemary Lyster is Professor of Climate and Environmental Law at Sydney Law School and an international leader in climate disaster law. 

Her research examines the legal challenges created by climate change and disasters, including questions of climate justice, responsibility and resilience.

Her books include Multispecies Climate Justice, Disasters and Responsibility (2026), Climate Disaster Law (2018) and Climate Justice and Disaster Law (2015).

Professor Cameron Stewart is Professor of Health, Law and Ethics at Sydney Law School and a member of the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies. He is an internationally recognised scholar in health law and ethics.

His research examines how law, ethics and professional regulation interact in healthcare, with a particular focus on consent and healthcare decision-making.

His work considers how these systems affect vulnerable populations, including children, people living with cognitive decline and people living with disabilities.

Professor Chris F Wright is Professor of Work and Labour Market Policy at the University of Sydney Business School, where he is the Responsible Management Research Hub Community Lead. 

His research examines the forces that help or hinder access to decent work, focusing on the regulation of work, employment relationships and labour migration, particularly in low-wage sectors. He is currently involved in Liberating Migrant Labour?, a major comparative study of temporary labour migration in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States. He is also on the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration expert subcommittee.

Professor Wright’s research has contributed to public debate and evidence-based policy on work, labour markets, collective bargaining and migration, influencing industrial relations and migration policy in Australia and internationally.