It is with great sadness that we heard on 3 July of the passing of Jacqui Briggs, our former editorial colleague at European Political Science. Over a long and distinguished career, Jacqui was a constant voice promoting the study of politics and in particular learning and teaching within the discipline. She served as Associate Editor of EPS for 6 years from 2009 until 2015 with special responsibility for the learning and teaching section of the journal. Under her leadership EPS carved out a clear and distinctive voice as a publisher of high-quality pedagogic research, which resulted in a growth in the content, profile and readership of the journal. Much of this was due to Jacqui’s warm and supportive personality, where she was a constant voice of support and encouragement at academic conferences and in particular to the development of new members of the profession.
Jacqui’s leadership led to EPS carving out a unique place for the publication of symposia on learning and teaching, which proved to be a particularly important conduit to strengthening the voice of the teaching of political science within the discipline. Jacqui remained an active member of our editorial board and along with Gabriele Abels and Heather Savigny formed the judging panel for the best article published in EPS in 2017. The all-female membership of the panel reflected our own commitment to gender equality, and it was particularly pleasing that the judges recognised an article from our teaching and training section as the best published in 2017. We consider this to be an important moment in the recognition of learning and teaching in the discipline, and this is in no small part due to Jacqui’s efforts.
Outside of her work with EPS, Jacqui served as vice-chair of the UK Political Studies Association (PSA) and served on the campaign board of the Academy of Social Sciences. At the PSA she was critical in the development of closer links with the American Political Science Association (APSA) and played an important role in the growth of the PSA’s influence and outreach. At the University of Lincoln, Jacqui’s contribution as Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences was pivotal to the growth and success of the teaching and research of politics and the nurturing of new academic staff.
Jacqui represented the sort of academic that we should all wish to aspire to. She was fun, supportive and inspiring. She gave freely of her time and was invariably the first to respond to requests for support. She undertook her professional responsibilities seriously, but never lorded her achievements over others. Her legacy at EPS will last beyond our own tenure as editors. She will be greatly missed, and our thoughts are with her family and close friends.
EPS Editorial Team
