The University of Miami dean of medicine describes tough but valuable school years in Brooklyn after his family escaped Haiti, and their role in committing him to a diverse model of excellence
The senior lecturer in financial risk management discusses his academic career around the world, his admiration for Galileo and how a traditional game inspired his love of mathematics
The biographer of the first black American woman to study at Oxford discusses life in segregated schools in the South, why affirmative action still matters and ‘election-style’ efforts to unseat Harvard president Claudine Gay
Wellesley environmental historian on drawing inspiration from students for his Cundill History Prize-nominated book on batteries, and why the West risks growing China dependency in clean energy era
The Georgetown professor of Middle East and Islamic politics talks of hating his parents’ return to Iran after the 1979 revolution – and crediting it with his life’s mission of advancing democracy and human rights
Economic psychology professor discusses his first book, A Theory of Everyone, lessons learnt from aperipatetic childhood and how a need to ‘manage risks’ as an undergraduate inspired his multidisciplinary approach
The lecturer in Islamic art discusses how her son set her on the way to contributing to one the world’s biggest-selling video game franchises and why she resists the idea of impact
The political philosopher and anthropologist talks about the city that made her, what she learned as a squatter and the importance of dance for revolutions
The astronomer discusses the discovery of stars that explode as supernovae, having his work replicated in Minecraft and the importance of public understanding to astrophysics
Critical care medicine professor explains why she was compelled to write the remarkable tale of how students, scientists and doctors united to fight polio 70 years ago
The research director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Centre on Media, Politics and Public Policy talks about growing up in an environment of aggressive scepticism, and then battling an academic culture that can’t handle it
Orwell Prize nominated writer on decolonising medicine, being inspired by her father and her experiences working as a sexual and reproductive health registrar in the NHS
The historian talks about growing up in the ‘open-air museum’ of Berlin and his popular books on some of the 20th century’s most terrible events and individuals
New chancellor of Oxford Brookes University on overcoming racism at school, ‘tedious’ drama school politics and ‘nonsense’ claims of ‘wokery’ over decolonisation of curricula
Industrial relations professor discusses how his field has become dominated by HR, the role of public intellectuals and his book on rail union leader Mick Lynch
Magical literature professor reflects on the influence of witch trials on contemporary US politics, the Harry Potter novels and dealing with requests for exorcisms
The expert in outbreak medicine discusses overcoming early academic challenges, the UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how a chance meeting over bagpipes changed his life
Expert in online education long before it became fashionable discusses what can be learned from the gaming industry, common mistakes innovators make and why her own undergraduate experience was an unhappy one
Drug discoverer talks about her caravan childhood, her frustration with process inefficiencies and why researchers need to understand the business side
The mathematician and author talks about how her experience of racism and ‘not fitting in’ prepared her for being a woman in maths, and how abstract maths can stimulate empathy
International relations expert discusses Western dominance of the field, what can be gained from amplifying new voices and balancing her academic work with being mayor of a small town in Warwickshire
The Harvard refugee education expert discusses teaching classes of 200 pupils, living in post-apartheid South Africa and why she is optimistic for the children she meets in migrant camps
The human geographer talks about her work with stateless groups, the importance of collaboration and why the stereotype of a map-wielding explorer is important in confronting her subject’s imperial legacies
The product of a warm and happy childhood spent tinkering with computers explains how soft expectations created a personal drive that startled lab colleagues
Biomedical engineer talks about problem-solving, the importance of monitoring foetal cardiac health and why no one has got it quite right on STEM education for women
Cambridge professor discusses swapping engineering for history, why researchers overlook the Indian and Pacific oceans, and what it means to offer ‘an environmental lens’ on imperial history