Previous Winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award

We are delighted to announce that the recipients of the 2024 UACES Lifetime Achievement Award in European Studies are Pamela Barnes and Ian Barnes. Read what members and colleagues in the UACES and European Studies communities have to say about Pamela and Ian below:

"Pamela and Ian Barnes have indeed contributed their lifetimes’ work to the understanding of contemporary Europe. They have been tireless and dedicated both individually and together in explaining European experiences in developing the integration process, always alert to new challenges and conscious of setbacks as well as successes. Their work has done much to demystify the European Union." Dame Helen Wallace

"I can hardly think of anyone who deserves this award more than Ben. His work has been ground-breaking and a constant source of inspiration for those studying the complex dynamics between the member states and the EU. He has been a driving force behind the study of Europeanisation and then de-Europeanisation in foreign and security policy. At the same time, Ben is so kind and supportive, always ready to encourage and help, in particular those in the early stages of their careers and in precarious circumstances. He is also a shining example of an academic standing up for his principles. Thank you, Ben, you made an incredible impact on the life and work of many of us!" Karolina Pomorska

"This award acknowledges an impressive and exceptional achievement.  From the start, Loukas’ work on European integration has had breadth – from economics to politics - offering original and thought-provoking analyses.  He has also himself been an eloquent advocate of the European cause he has studied: a ‘true’ European, with an élan few academics can match.  He has been a high-level policy advisor, both in Athens and Brussels , and, at home, he also helped to create one of Greece’s most highly-regarded think-tanks.  He was a ‘class’ act to follow at the LSE.  He has straddled the European stage and has remained respected by all throughout." Kevin Featherstone 

"Ann Kennard is a very worthy recipient of this award for a number of very obvious reasons - Her commitment to and support of UACES including her work with the Graduate Forum at its inception; her brilliant lecturing in European Studies which has undoubtedly stimulated many undergraduate and post-graduate students over the years; her fascinating research on borders and EU enlargement in Central and Eastern Europe; and her enthusiasm for building networks to foster closer European ties and cooperation. I am delighted that Ann's wholehearted engagement both with UACES and the wider European Studies community (particularly in CEE), since she entered academia in the mid 1970s, is being acknowledged by this award. " Nicholas Startin

"Nonna Mayer's work on populism and the radical right amounts to a huge contribution to the discipline of European Studies with her analyses remaining as salient as ever. Throughout her career Nonna has always sought to extend the impact of her research beyond the academic community to a wider audience." Nicholas Startin

“Professor Nonna Mayer is one of these few absolutely outstanding scholars. Her paradigm-shifting research on the Front National and far right more generally was one of the reasons which drove me to academia, but she can equally be praised in my opinion by her incredibly ethical research outlook and practice, as well as supportive and yet casual attitude, which confirms that academia can and should be a force for good in our societies." Aurelien Mondon

"Drew joined the Europa Institute in 1991 as a Jean Monnet lecturer and made an immediate difference, bringing with him an economics perspective. Drew is a sensationally good teacher and his courses proved very popular and innovative.  Shortly after his arrival he and Simon Bulmer became Editors of the JCMS. It is not an exaggeration to say that they transformed it and set in on a stellar course which has lasted till the present. Drew and I worked very closely together in a whole series of events surrounding the Edinburgh Summit of 1992 including the Hon Doc for Jacques Delors. Drew’s flair and tireless enthusiasm contributed to making it the most exciting year of my professional life. I was greatly delighted when Drew married Aileen, one of my first students at Edinburgh. Drew has made a huge difference in European Studies and is a very worthy winner." William Paterson

"Academically, Jo Shaw is one of the few truly interdisciplinary scholars who is as comfortable in the legal world as she is conducting empirical research or contributing to debates in political science. Through her research and teaching she has inspired a generation of younger scholars from different backgrounds to follow her into working in the field of European Studies. As a colleague and PhD supervisor she stands out for being incredibly supportive, reliable and fiercely loyal. It is not a coincidence that she was a guest at a number of her PhD students’ weddings! She is a true academic citizen; always prepared to help younger scholars and to take on thankless, selfless and often invisible tasks such as peer reviewing. At the same time as all of this, she has somehow managed to maintain interests and friendships outside of academia. She is a remarkable woman who has had a profound impact on European Studies and would be a very worth recipient of the UACES Lifetime Achievement Award." Rebecca Zahn

"It is entirely fitting that Simon Bulmer's considerable contribution to EU studies has been recognised by UACES through this award. Simon is one of our foremost researchers and teachers across a range of EU issues and someone who has made a number of seminal contributions across the literature.His early work on the 'domestic politics' of member state EU engagement anticipated and influenced today's orthodox inter-governmental reading, while later work on the UK and the EU provides a range of key insights aiding those seeking to understand the relationship that is marked above all, by complexity. Simon continues to produce research of the very highest quality. And notwithstanding all his academic achievements, he remains one of the nicest and most colleagiate people you could meet!" Drew Scott

"Geoffrey receives this award for his scholarship and academic contribution but also for so much more. He triggered my fascination for EU studies and guided me in how to research and teach. He has also however been a role model for his professional ethics, the respect he has always shown his students and the importance he has attributed to maintaining a healthy balance between work and family life - precious qualities that I hope in turn to be able to pass on to my own students. I feel privileged to have had Geoffrey as a lecturer, a supervisor, and for long now, also a dear friend.” Ruby Gropas

"Brigid Laffan has an outstanding record of academic achievement, professional service and public engagement. In her leadership role as a Vice-President at University College Dublin she has promoted high standards for both students and faculty colleagues. She was a founder member of the Irish Institute of International and European Affairs. Faced with ‘no’ results in the first Irish referendums on the Treaties of Nice and Lisbon, she founded and led the campaigning organisations that engaged in informed public debate and helped to secure the ‘yes’ results that have kept Ireland at the heart of the European Union." Dame Helen Wallace

"Neill’s scholarship on European integration provides us with one reason why the UK has been ahead in European studies. His sheer hard work and application has provided colleagues with publication beacons. His international presence in the US and Europe has bolstered his standing. He is a colleague for whom we can be grateful and it is appropriate that UACES recognises one of the shining lights in the UK’s European integration studies." Clive Archer

"Neill’s scholarship on European integration provides us with one reason why the UK has been ahead in European studies. His sheer hard work and application has provided colleagues with publication beacons. His international presence in the US and Europe has bolstered his standing. He is a colleague for whom we can be grateful and it is appropriate that UACES recognises one of the shining lights in the UK’s European integration studies." William Paterson

"Emil Kirchner’s analytical approach, determination and enthusiasm for the European project have been a guiding light for all of us who had the honour to be his students. As a lecturer, he brilliantly combined theory with practice, and encouraged active discussion and critical thinking. His deep knowledge of the European project and its complexities inspired my own engagement with European affairs, and I had his wholehearted personal support for my thesis on small states in the European Union. He also helped inspire the University of Iceland’s first conference on small states in Europe, leading to the establishment of our Centre for Small States" Baldur Thorhallsson

“I have never met anybody who knows more about European integration than Wolfgang Wessels – its history, technical details of what is going on in quite different policy areas and inter-institutional battles. He has an almost intuitive feel for how things work, what is new and what is just the same tune played in a different key. He has written many path-breaking theoretical works on the European Council, administrative fusion, and European foreign policy, but seemed strangely immune from many of his colleagues’ obsession with a particular theoretical idea, policy agenda or indeed others perception of themselves. He never sought to create his own ‘school’, his own academic cult, but his influence is still visible in his writings over decades and the thousands of students he taught about the joys and frustrations of European integration, most of whom were not deterred and continue to shape European politics from the inside or outside.” Christoph Meyer

“It is a great pleasure to be asked to write a testimonial for Mike Smith. Within the world of EU scholars, Mike holds a special place. His work on EU’s external relations as well as on US-EU relations helped define a field within EU studies at a time when relatively few scholars were interested in understanding how the EU engaged with the world outside its own neighborhood. His interest in Asia was manifest when he visited the University of Canterbury’s National Centre for Research on Europe in New Zealand. As a Jean Monnet Professor, Mike joined a group of scholars whose work was focused on European integration. In his case, however, he had helped shape the questions which younger scholars would then begin to explore. Mike’s engaging personality, love of travel, keen insights, and ability to understand his fellow academics’ foibles have made him an extremely respected, popular, and sought-after colleague.” Alberta Sbragia

The 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented at the 39th UACES Annual Conference in Angers, France.

An award for 'Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary European Studies' was presented to Alan Milward.

Frances Lynch collected the award on behalf of Alan at the 38th UACES Annual Conference in Edinburgh, UK.

An award for 'Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary European Studies' was presented to William Paterson. The presentation was made at the 37th UACES Annual Conference in Portsmouth, UK.

Helen Wallace and William Wallace were joint recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. They were presented with their awards at the 36th UACES Annual Conference in Limerick, Ireland.

The inaugural UACES Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to John Pinder at the 35th UACES Annual Conference in Zagreb, Croatia.