Paul Wilkinson (academic)

Paul Wilkinson CBE (9 May 1937 – 11 August 2011) was a terrorism expert and an Emeritus Professor of International Relations and Director of the University of St Andrews Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV). Dubbed "Britain's leading academic specialist in the study of terrorism", he was a frequent commentator in mainstream British media and an advisor to the UK government.

Born in Harrow, Middlesex, on 9 May 1937, Wilkinson was educated at John Lyon School in Harrow. He earned a BA in Modern History and Politics at University College, Swansea, followed by an MA.

After serving six years as an education officer in the Royal Air Force, he began his academic career at the University of Wales, Cardiff, as an Assistant Lecturer in Politics in 1966. He became Senior Lecturer and then Reader in Politics at Cardiff before moving to the University of Aberdeen, where he was appointed as the first Chair in International Relations in 1979. He published his first book on terrorism, Political Terrorism, in 1974.

In 1989 he was appointed to the first Chair in International Relations at the University of St Andrews and served as the director of the Research Institute for the Study of Conflict and Terrorism from 1989 to 1994. In 1994 he co-founded Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) with its first director, Bruce Hoffman.

During the 1997–98 academic year he was a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is co-founder and was co-editor of the academic journal Terrorism and Political Violence 1989–2006, and directed a research project funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) on the UK's preparedness for terrorist attacks. He also served as Adviser to Lord Lloyd of Berwick's "Inquiry into Legislation Against Terrorism" and authored its second volume, "Research Report for the Inquiry", which were published in October 1996. In August 2007 he was appointed Emeritus Professor of International Relations and retired from serving as the Chairman of CSTPV's Advisory Board but remained active in academia and policy circles.

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