Andrew Stuart Thompson (born 3 June 1968) is a British historian and academic. He specialises in modern British history,

Imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

, and the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Since September 2019, he has been Professor of Global and Imperial History at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and a Professorial Fellow at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

. Thompson co-chairs the Global and Imperial History Centre. He previously taught at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

and the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He was Executive Chair of the

Arts and Humanities Research Council The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), formerly Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), is a British research council, established in 1998, supporting research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. History The Arts a ...

(AHRC) from 2018 to 2020, having previously been its chief executive on a part-time basis.

Early life and education

Thompson was born on 3 June 1968 in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

, Nottinghamshire, England. He was educated at

Loughborough Grammar School Loughborough Grammar School is a 10–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boys' school in the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1495 with money left in the will of Thomas Burton (merchant), Thomas Burton. To ...

, an all-boys

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, Leicestershire. He studied

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

at Regent's Park College, Oxford, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1990; as per tradition, this was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA Oxon) degree in 1991. He then undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. The notion of "postgraduate" refers to studies following a undergraduate degree. Postgraduate research either occurs within ...

, under the supervision of John Darwin. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1994 with a

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on ''Thinking imperially?: Imperial pressure groups and the idea of Empire in late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain''.

Academic career

Thompson began his career as a tutorial fellow in modern history at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, between 1993 and 1997. He joined the

as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in 1997. He was Professor of Imperial and Global History at the University of Leeds from 2005 to 2011. He was additionally its Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research between 2009 and 2011. From 2011 to 2017, he was Professor of Modern History at the

. He moved to the

in September 2019, where he had been appointed Professor of Global Imperial History and elected a Professorial Fellow at

. From December 2015 until March 2017, Thompson served as interim chief executive of the

(AHRC). He was then selected to continue as its CEO, serving until his appointment as Executive Chair in 2018. He stepped down from that role in August 2020.

Honours

Thompson was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to research.

Publications

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Andrew 1968 births Living people 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians Historians of the British Empire People from Mansfield People educated at Loughborough Grammar School Alumni of Regent's Park College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Exeter Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Historians of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Royal Historical Society