'The recognition will reinforce the Business school's ambitions'

Jill Rubery was the first female professor at what was Umist. She has now been appointed BA fellow

Jill Rubery, professor of comparative employment systems at Manchester University, is one of 34 newly elected fellows of the British Academy.

Professor Rubery, director of the European Work and Employment Research Centre, at Manchester Business School, welcomed the fellowship. "A lot of social science research is now conducted in business and management schools. The (British Academy) recognition is very helpful and I think it will reinforce Manchester Business School's ambitions to be a leading social science research centre," she said.

Professor Rubery joined what was Manchester School of Management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1989 as a lecturer in employment studies, having previously worked at Cambridge University. She became Umist's first female professor in 1995. For the past 12 years, she has been co-ordinator of the European Commission's expert group on gender and employment.