Professor Tony Crook Legacy Seminar

The School of Geography and Planning is holding an afternoon event to celebrate the contribution of Professor ADH (Tony) Crook CBE to applied housing and planning policy research. The event, which is structured around talks from Zoë Billingham (Director, IPPR North), Peter Kemp (Professor of Public Policy, Oxford), Ed Ferrari (Director, CRESR, Sheffield Hallam), will seek to reflect on Tony’s legacy as a policy researcher and in public service and will both explore lessons for policy-engaged researchers and for policy-making. The afternoon will conclude with a discussion about lessons learned and practical next steps, which will chaired by Kate Dommett (Director of Research and Innovation, Faculty of Social Sciences, Sheffield).

The event will be held at Inox Dine, Students Union Building, University of Sheffield. Refreshments will be available from 1.30 before opening remarks from Professor Ruth Blakeley (Vice-President, Social Sciences, University of Sheffield) at 2pm. The event will close at 4.30 with a drinks reception. The event is free and is open to friends and colleagues from across the research, policy and practice community.

The Programme for the afternoon can be found here - Programme

About Professor ADH (Tony) Crook CBE

For over 50 years, Professor Tony Crook was one of the driving forces in building a thriving, world-class urban studies, planning and housing research community at the University of Sheffield. Professor Crook’s contribution was wide ranging – holding formal leadership roles, nurturing and mentoring staff and students, and building lasting collaborations with the broader academic, policy and practice communities. Throughout his career, Tony revelled in what he saw as the privilege of being an academic. He was incredibly proud of the Department, his colleagues, and the University to which he dedicated his career. He took great pleasure in the shared commitment to bridging the gap that could sometimes emerge between academia and policy/ practice. Tony’s own academic practise very clearly reflected this commitment to engage in policy debates and to offer practical insights, both in terms of its focus and also through a commitment to public service. An important part of Tony’s lasting legacy comes through The Crook Public Service Fellowships, an initiative he established and supported and that provided opportunities for future leaders in public and not-for-profit sectors to work with colleagues at Sheffield on research projects that address a range of societal challenges.

Prior to his retirement, Tony served as Head of Town & Regional Planning and Head of the Department of Landscape before undertaking a nine-year term as Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor where he was responsible for academic planning, HR and capital projects. Most recently he held the position of Emeritus Professor of Town & Regional Planning and continued to make an invaluable contribution as a public orator at graduations.

Tony had a celebrated career, including being appointed CBE in the 2014 New Year's Honours List for services to housing and the governance of charities. In 2001, Tony was elected a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in recognition of his distinguished contribution to planning research. This was followed with a Distinguished Service Award in 2021 from RTPI. In 2004 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of his standing as a social scientist and contribution to public policy.

For four decades Tony also led large applied research programmes on the supply side of the private rented housing sector and the use of the planning obligations to secure affordable housing, infrastructure and capture land value. Tony's work received research grants of over £3.5m and he had over 250 publications, including books, research reports, journal articles and other outputs. His work on land value taxation over two decades, which involved regular research commissions from the government to analyse policy impact, has had a significant impact on public funding decisions.

Tony was also very active in the world of policy and practice and was involved in a significant number of influential committees, panels, and charities, including amongst many others: Chair of South Yorkshire Housing Association; Chair of the Board of Trustees of Shelter; Chair of Sheffield Homes; Deputy Chair of the Orbit Group; Board member of the National Housing Federation; Chair of The Conservation Volunteers; Deputy Chair of the Construction Industry Council and Chair of its housing panel; and Member of the Architects' Registration Board.

About the Speakers

Please click on the links below for more information about the speakers attending

Peter Kemp

Ed Ferrari

Zoe Billingham