Gary Younge leaves Guardian to join Manchester University as sociology professor

Gary Younge is stepping down as the Guardian’s editor-at-large to take up a post as professor of sociology at the University of Manchester.

Younge joined the newspaper in 1993 after completing a masters degree at City University and served as its US correspondent before being named editor-at-large in 2015. He will continue to write for the title.

“The Guardian was my first full time job, and I worked there for 26 years – it’s been a fantastic experience,” said Younge.

“Journalism, for me, has always been a process of enquiry and sharing whatever insights I’ve gathered in an accessible and informative way – that’s precisely what I hope to achieve as a professor at The University of Manchester…”

“I won’t be giving up journalism altogether. But teaching and researching at Manchester will provide a welcome shift of emphasis, even as I continue in that tradition.”

Younge has won several prizes for his journalism, including the award for Feature Writer of the Year in 2018 from both Amnesty UK and the Society of Editors for his series on knife crime.

Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said Younge is “one of the leading thinkers and writers on politics and society working in Britain today”.

She added: “His powerful and distinctive reporting, commentary and film-making have been central to the Guardian’s coverage of some of the biggest stories in the world for the last twenty years, and like many others at the Guardian, I’ve learned a huge amount from working closely with Gary – about politics, about writing, about life.

“I’m very sorry to see him leave, but I’m delighted that he will continue to write for the Guardian – and that he will be continuing to use his talents to shine a light on some of society’s most pressing problems.”

Professor Brian Heaphy, head of the University of Manchester’s School of Social Sciences, said: “As a journalist and author, Gary’s work has long been grounded in principles of research that makes visible the social and political processes that shape people’s everyday lives, often in very tragic circumstances.”

Picture: University of Manchester

Topics in this article : Guardian News and Media