Dame Hazel Gillian Genn, DBE, QC (Hon), FBA (born 1949)[1] is a leading authority on civil justice whose work has had a major influence on policy-makers around the world,[2] and is currently Dean of the Faculty of Laws, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at University College London.
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Professor Genn is a lay member of the Judicial Appointments Commission.[3]
She was formerly: a member of the Economic and Social Research Council, where she served as chair of the council's Research Grants Board;[4] a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life;[5] chair of the Public Legal Education and Support (PLEAS) task force;[6] chair of the Advisory Panel for research on Family Advice and Information for the Legal Services Commission; chair of main panel J of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008.[7]
Hazel Genn is the daughter of Lionel and Dorothy Genn. She was educated at Minchenden Grammar School and studied for a joint degree in Sociology, Social Anthropology and Social Administration at the University of Hull.[8] In 1972, she abandoned work towards an M.A. in Sociology and became a researcher, first at Cambridge Institute of Criminology (1972-74), then at the Oxford University Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (1974-1985) as a member of Wolfson College, Oxford,[9] during which she also achieved her LLB.[8]
She joined the Queen Mary Law Department in 1985 and became Professor and Head of Department in 1991.[10] In 1994 she was "poached"[8] by University College London, where she has worked ever since.
Genn was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 17 June 2006, having already been created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
She was awarded honorary fellowship of Queen Mary in 2004,[10] and the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Edinburgh in 2004,[11] and by the University of Leicester on 13 July 2007.[8] She was appointed an honorary Queen's Counsel in 2006.[2]