A Lancaster University Distinguished Professor has been elected to a highly prestigious role at the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences.

Professor Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad FBA, a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy, has been elected as Vice-President (Humanities) of the British Academy.

The elected ten VPs play an important part in the general strategic guidance and governance of the Academy.

The appointment is a four-year role for the Academy, founded in 1902, which brings together around 1700 leading national and international academics, elected for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences, with the purpose of deepening understanding of people, societies and cultures.

Professor Ram-Prasad is Deputy Dean of the University’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and a Distinguished Professor in Lancaster University’s newly founded School of Global Affairs in the discipline of Religious Studies.

Congratulating Professor Ram-Prasad on his key appointment, the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield said: “This prestigious appointment is a testament not only to Professor Ram-Prasad’s own scholarly contributions but also to Lancaster’s leading reputation as a centre for work on the humanities, arts, and social sciences. His election underscores the University’s commitment to fostering world-class interdisciplinary research that engages with the most pressing challenges of our time.”

Professor Ram-Prasad said: “I look forward to serving as Vice-President, to speak for and lead on the BA’s sustained commitment to the humanities from my background in Comparative Religion and Philosophy, and Asian, African and Middle Eastern Studies. It is vital to understand the value of the humanities to the study of the past and responses to the global challenges of the present; and to have social and institutional support for their continued role in the future. The newly launched School of Global Affairs in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences represents exactly such an undertaking, and I am happy to be a member of it.”

Lancaster University is set to launch its new School of Global Affairs which brings together academics from the disciplines of Languages and Cultures, History, International Relations, Philosophy, Politics, and Religious Studies. The School adopts an interdisciplinary approach to addressing the complex and multi-dimensional problems facing humanity.

Professor Ram-Prasad, whose work focuses on Indian religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism – and comparative phenomenology, epistemology, metaphysics and the philosophy of religion, will work alongside the British Academy’s newly elected 32nd president, Professor Susan J Smith FBA, succeeding Professor Dame Julia Black FBA.

He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2017 and is an alumnus of Sri Sathya Sai Institute, India, and earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford.

He is a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, sits on the Academic Board of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and presently serves on the Council of Research England and the Academic Panel of the Leverhulme Trust. He is now engaged with the Berggruen Institute’s interdisciplinary initiative on consciousness.

Professor Ram-Prasad has published seven books and around 60 papers on a wide range of topics in Indian and comparative religion and philosophy. His linguistic expertise is in Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil. His current book project for Cambridge University Press compares key classical Indian thinkers with major figures in Chinese, Western and Islamic traditions.

Over the years he has been a regular contributor to various programmes on BBC Radio 4, and has spoken at HowTheLightGetsIn Hay Festival.

The British Academy invests in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engages the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.

The Academy represents fields of study which concern the human world – from history, philosophy and languages to human behaviour, economics, business and psychology.

Taking up his role as VP Humanities, starting in 2026, Professor Ram-Prasad will work closely with the Academy’s VP Social Sciences to:

• Play a significant role in the development, implementation, governance and advocacy of the Academy’s strategy and activities.
• Provide leadership for the Academy’s work on matters specifically relating to Humanities Group of Humanities Sections.
• Foster and maintain good working relationships and line of communications between Sections and the leadership of the Academy.