Lee Elliot Major is the country’s first Professor of Social Mobility. Appointed by the University of Exeter to be a global leader in the field, his work is dedicated to improving the prospects of disadvantaged young people. As a Professor of Practice, he focuses on research that has direct impact on policy and practice, working closely with schools, universities, employers and policy makers. His Penguin book Social Mobility and Its Enemies has attracted attention across the world. His Bloomsbury book What Works? offers best bets to teachers for improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. His latest book What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility? is published by Sage.  Lee was formerly Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust and a founding trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation. He is an Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, an Associate of LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, a Visiting Fellow at the LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, and an Honorary Professor at the UCL Institute of Education. 

Lee regularly appears in national broadcast and print media, commenting on education and social mobility issues. He has served on several Government advisory bodies and presented several times to the House of Commons Education Select Committee. 

He has a PhD in theoretical physics and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield for services to education. He was an education journalist working for the Guardian and the Times Higher Education Supplement. He serves as a Governor at William Ellis School, and a trustee of the Ted Wragg Trust and sits on the Liveable Exeter Place Board. He is the first in his family to attend university. Lee was awarded an OBE in 2019.