After early years as Research Secretary and Research Officer of Political and Economic Planning and at the Institute of Community Studies (1952-57) Peter Townsend became Research Fellow and Lecturer at the London School of Economics (1957-63). He was appointed Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex upon its foundation in 1963. He held this post for 18 years (including three years as University Pro-Vice Chancellor, 1975-1978). Since then he has held posts in social policy and development at the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has been Chairman of the Child Poverty Action Group since 1969 and of the Disability Alliance since 1974. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of research on poverty in the United Kingdom. Townsend is presently Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow of Social Policy, Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice, University of Bristol and Centennial Professor of International Social Policy, LSE.
From the guide to the The Peter Townsend Collection, 1952-[ongoing], (University of Essex: Albert Sloman Library)
