15 Facts About Tom Shakespeare

Tom Shakespeare's mother was a nurse of Sri Lankan Burgher descent.

Tom Shakespeare was educated at Radley College, Oxfordshire, taking A-levels in English, History, and History of Art; and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he matriculated in 1984 to read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, completing that tripos in 1986.

Tom Shakespeare gained a MPhil degree from King's College, Cambridge, in 1991.

Tom Shakespeare then lectured in sociology at the University of Sunderland from 1993 and returned to King's College in 1995 to obtain his PhD degree.

Tom Shakespeare's father died in 1996 and Shakespeare inherited his baronetcy, but does not use the title.

Tom Shakespeare wrote the book Disability Rights and Wrongs published by Routledge in 2006 and edited Arguing About Disability published in 2009 by Routledge.

Tom Shakespeare has worked as a research fellow at both Newcastle University and Leeds University, and has worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva.

Tom Shakespeare was a coauthor and coeditor of the 2011 World Report on Disability, published by the World Health Organization and World Bank.

Tom Shakespeare served as a member of the Arts Council of England between 2003 and 2008.

Tom Shakespeare has presented programmes on BBC Radio 4, including A Point of View.

Tom Shakespeare is Professor of Disability Research in the medical faculty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and was previously Professor of Disability Research in the medical faculty at the University of East Anglia.

In July 2018 Tom Shakespeare was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

Tom Shakespeare was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to disability research.

In 2002 Tom Shakespeare married dancer and disability rights campaigner Caroline Bowditch.

Tom Shakespeare has two children, both of whom have achondroplasia; his daughter Ivy is a social worker, and his son Robert is a civil servant.