Emeritus Professor Sol Encel 1925-2010
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It is with great sadness that the Social Policy Research Centre notes the passing of Emeritus Professor Sol Encel on Friday 23 July.
Sol Encel was appointed Professor of Sociology in the School of Sociology at the University of NSW in 1966 and was a pioneer in the study of Sociology and Social Policy in Australia and internationally. He was a distinguished educator and researcher: mentor to countless students and colleagues, whose Honours and PhD research he supervised, and with whom he worked on many significant research projects. He also sat on numerous public policy bodies including those on ageing policy and retirement, age discrimination, science policy, multicultural issues, education, employment and unemployment policy, social justice and human rights. His influence on academic research and research training, and public policy developments in Australia was wide-ranging, innovative and highly respected. He also had a strong involvement in teaching and research in the UK, USA and Eastern Europe. He was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 1968.
His research interests and great strengths included social theory, in particular European social theory; empirical research on issues of social class and inequality; power and political institutions in modern states; population ageing and its social implications; policies to address age discrimination in the workplace, particularly with respect to the difficulties faced by mature-age workers; science, technology and society and the analysis of science policy; the status of women and how to achieve equality; ethnicity and multiculturalism; and the relationship between government and the non-government welfare sector. Sol Encel’s sociological enterprise was one which was always engaged with matters of policy and the political institutions and interests which shape policy, and in this he influenced several generations of sociological and social policy scholars.
Sol was involved with SPRC since its inception in 1980 and played a key part in its creation. Immediately upon his retirement from the School of Sociology and Anthropology in 1991, Sol was appointed Honorary Research Associate at SPRC, later his position was renamed Honorary Fellow and in more recent years UNSW Emeritus Professor. In 1999, he said that his years at the Centre had “enabled him to continue his academic career with scarcely a break with access to all the services and intellectual stimulus provided by a first-class research institute” (J. Lawrence (Social Policy Research: 25 years at a National Research Centre, SPRC, UNSW, p 181). He worked closely with the Centre on many projects, participated in numerous seminars, conferences and workshops, and co-authored many SPRC reports, particularly with respect to population ageing and policy responses, employment for mature age workers, age discrimination, and voluntary sector welfare.
His wisdom, knowledge, experience and generosity of spirit will be sorely missed by all those who knew him, worked and studied with him and learnt from him. We send our condolences to his wife Diana and their family.
Emeritus Professor Sol Encel, CV (PDF) (49 Kb)
