Robert William James Dingwall (born 6 August 1950) is a British sociologist and academic, specialising in

medical sociology Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of health, Illness, differential access to medical resources, the social organization of medicine, Health Care Delivery, the production of medical knowledge, selection of methods, the study of action ...

. He has been Professor of Sociology at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

since 1990. His research is on the interdisciplinary study of law, medicine, science and technology.

Early life and education

Dingwall was born on 6 August 1950. He attended the independent

St Peter's School, York St Peter's School is a mixed-sex education, co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school (also referred to as a Public school (United Kingdom), public school), in the English City of York, with extensive ...

from 1963 to 1968. At

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, Dingwall studied economics for part I of the

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

and then switched to

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

for part II, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1971: as per tradition, his BA 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 Cantab) degree. He then studied

at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, graduating with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1974. His

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 ...

was titled "the social organisation of health visitor training".

Career

From 1975 to 1977, after completing his doctorate, Dingwall was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

in the Institute of Medical Sociology at the

. From 1978 to 1990, he worked 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 ...

: he was a research officer, then senior research officer, and finally a research fellow at its Centre for Socio-Legal Studies and

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Wolfson is an all-graduate college, it prides itself on being one of the most international colleges at Oxford, with part ...

. He was Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham until 2010, where he founded the Institute for Science and Society, subsequently moving to Nottingham Trent University. He was elected

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used t ...

(FAcSS) in 2002: he was a member of its council from 2013 to 2019. He is an Honorary Member of the

Faculty of Public Health The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is a public health association in the United Kingdom established as a registered charity. It is the standard setting body for public health specialists within the United Kingdom, setting standards for training ...

. He has served on NERVTAG, a scientific advisory panel for epidemic preparedness of HMG. He has chaired the Bioscience for Society Strategy Panel of the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

and previously served as a member of the Committee on Ethical Aspects of Pandemic Influenza and of the

Civil Justice Council The Civil Justice Council is a UK non-departmental public body that advises the Lord Chancellor on civil law (common law), civil justice and civil procedure in England and Wales. It was established in 1998 under section 6 of the Civil Procedure A ...

. He has also been a consultant to industry on the ethical use of

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

. He has also received commissions from the

Royal Pharmaceutical Society The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPharmS or RPS) is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the pharmacy profession (pharmacists) within England, Scotland, and Wales. It was created along with the General Pharmaceutical Council ...

and the

Food Standards Agency The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is led by a board appoin ...

Public engagement (COVID-19)

In early May 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Dingwall was interviewed by a journalist at the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' over the Government's coronavirus warnings. He opined that: In the same interview, Dingwall stressed that: On 18 July, Dingwall criticised another SAGE report, which forecasted 120,000 deaths from COVID-19 in wintertime 2020–21. In his estimation "was based on flawed mathematics" and created an "environment of fear". By 31 March 2021, there had been a total of 89,588 deaths from laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dingwall, Robert British sociologists Medical sociologists Living people Academics of Nottingham Trent University Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford People educated at St Peter's School, York People from Wollaton 1950 births