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Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Posted by Leo Ruickbie on

Leo Ruickbie is Elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

At a meeting on 26 November 2021, the Council of the Royal Historical Society elected 95 Fellows, myself among them. Founded 1868, the RHS is a British learned society promoting historical research based at University College London. It is a great honour to join this venerable institution and my heart-felt thanks go to my sponsor.

The military historian Sir Charles Oman was president from 1917–1921. What many people do not know is that he was involved in psychical research during his student days at Oxford University. Shortly after the Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882, he wound up his Oxford society and passed all its papers over. You can still read them in the SPR’s Archive at Cambridge University Library.

News of the Council’s decision reached me whilst I was still in Las Vegas for the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies award ceremony.

Dr Ruickbie enjoys a considerable reputation in the field of the history of supernatural belief, based on his books, his contributions to edited collections, and his peer-reviewed articles. He is an outstanding public historian, making many contributions to academic conferences and in the media.

Sponsor’s letter of recommendation

Published by Leo Ruickbie

Dr Leo Ruickbie, FRHistS, FRAI, Associate of King’s College, is a Visiting Fellow in Psychology at the University of Northampton and the author of six books, most recently Angels in the Trenches: Spiritualism, Superstition and the Supernatural During the First World War. Actively involved in the parapsychological research community, he is a Council Member of the Society for Psychical Research and a Professional Member of the Parapsychological Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. In 2021, he won third prize in the essay contest organised by the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies.