Dame Helen Wallace (UK) is one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of European studies and a globally respected authority on European integration, EU governance, and comparative public policy. An alumna of the College of Europe and a Professor there for over two decades, she has played a defining role in shaping both the academic development of European studies and the intellectual life of the College.
Educated at the University of Oxford, where she obtained a BA in Classics, and subsequently at the College of Europe in Bruges, Dame Helen completed her doctoral studies at the University of Manchester, focusing on the domestic policy implications of the United Kingdom’s application for membership of the European Economic Community. Her academic career spans several of Europe’s leading institutions. She served as Lecturer in European Studies at UMIST, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe from 1976 to 2001, and later as Jean Monnet Professor of Contemporary European Studies and founding Director of the Sussex European Institute at the University of Sussex. From 2001 to 2006, she was Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, and subsequently Centennial Professor at the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Alongside her academic appointments, Dame Helen has held numerous influential advisory and leadership roles. She has served as Director of the West European Programme at Chatham House, Chair of the Conseil universitaire européen pour l’Action Jean Monnet, a member of the UK Better Regulation Commission, and an advisor to the European Commission. She has also been a board member of Bruegel and has played a prominent role in UACES, the academic association for contemporary European studies. From 2011 to 2015, she was Foreign Secretary of the British Academy.
Dame Helen Wallace is the author, editor, or co-editor of an extensive body of seminal publications on European integration and EU policy-making. Her works are widely regarded as foundational texts in the field and continue to shape scholarly debate and teaching across Europe and beyond.
Her contributions have been recognised through numerous honours and distinctions. She was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French Republic, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to social science. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Member of the Academia Europaea, and a recipient of the All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values. She has also received honorary doctorates from several European universities.