We are delighted to announce that Professor Jo Fox, Head of Department and Professor of Modern British and European History in the Department of History at Durham University, has been appointed Director of the Institute with effect from 1 January 2018.

‘It is an exciting time to be an historian, with the research environment rapidly evolving,’ said Professor Fox. ‘The Institute of Historical Research is extremely well placed to play a central role in the development of the discipline, providing for its future by supporting working historians throughout their careers’.

Professor Fox is a specialist in the history of propaganda and psychological warfare in twentieth-century Europe. She has published on the propaganda in Britain and Germany during the Second World War, in particular exploring the connections between propaganda and popular opinion. She is currently working on a history of rumour in the Second World War and, with David Coast (Bath Spa), on a major project on rumour and politics in England from 1500 to the present day. She has previously served as the Honorary Communications Director of the Royal Historical Society.

Professor Fox holds BA and PhD degrees in history from the University of Kent.

‘I am delighted with the appointment of Professor Jo Fox as Director of the Institute of Historical Research’, said Professor Roger Kain, Dean of the School of Advanced Study. ‘She brings a distinguished record as a historian as well as administrative ability and experience to the role. She will strengthen the Institute’s position at the heart of the modern historical profession and lead the Institute’s further development as it approaches its centenary in 2021’.