Newell and Koujianou Goldberg elected to British Academy
Newell and Koujianou Goldberg were elected to the British Academy’s Fellowship this July in recognition of their “outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.”
Stephanie Newell, George M. Bodman Professor of English, and Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, William Nordhaus Professor of Economics and Global Affairs, were elected to the British Academy’s Fellowship this July in recognition of their “outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences.”
Newell was elected to the Modern Languages, Literatures and other Media from 1830 section of the Academy. Her research focuses on the cultural histories of printing and reading in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. She has published numerous books and articles on African-owned newspapers in the colonial period and local print cultures in the twentieth century, including The Forger’s Tale: The Search for ‘Odeziaku’ (2006), The Power to Name: A History of Anonymity in Colonial West Africa (2013, finalist for the 2014 African Studies Association Best Book Prize) and Newsprint Literature and Local Literary Creativity in West Africa, 1900s–1960s (2023, winner of the 2024 Gustav Ranis International Prize for Best Book and the 2025 ALA Book of the Year Award). Newell said of her election, “I’m thrilled to join the British Academy and look forward to participating in its many activities.”
Koujianou Goldberg was elected to the Economics and Economic History section of the Academy. She has published research utilizing a variety of methodologies on topics including the determinants and effects of trade policies, the resurgence of protectionism and the rise of economic nationalism, the effects of trade liberalization in the presence of domestic distortions, and discrimination against women in developing countries, among many others. From 2018 to 2020, she was the Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a recipient of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, the Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Bodossaki Prize in Social Sciences.
Professor Susan J. Smith PBA, the President of the British Academy, said: “With specialisms ranging from the neuroscience of memory to the power of music and the structural causes of poverty, [this year’s Fellows] represent the very best of the humanities and social sciences. They bring years of experience, evidence-based arguments and innovative thinking to the profound challenges of our age: managing the economy, enabling democracy, and securing the quality of human life.”
Newell and Koujianou Goldberg join a community of more than 1,800 scholars dedicated to “advancing the humanities and social sciences” through their work.