Exeter expert receives prestigious award 

Dr Matt Finn, from the University of Exeter, has received a prestigious award from the Royal Geographical Society. 

Dr Finn, a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, has received the Taylor and Francis Award 2023 for demonstrating “excellence in the practice and promotion of teaching in higher education.” 

Dr Finn is one of 23 Geography experts and organisations to receive awards and medals from the Society for 2023, for their notable contributions to geography.  

Speaking about the awards, Dr Finn said: I’m delighted to receive this award for excellence in the practice and promotion of teaching in higher education. Realising education’s promise for all isn’t inevitable. It requires intent, collaboration, openness to challenge and alertness to the structural conditions of education and society. 

“It’s been my privilege to work and learn with inspiring students and pupils, university colleagues, teachers and teacher educators who put this into practice. 

“I’m so grateful to family, colleagues in Royal Geographical Society’s research groups – the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group, and Geography and Education Research Group, in the Geographical Association, Time for Geography and Decolonising Geography groups, and for the support of colleagues and the University of Exeter’s Education Incubator. 

“Across these it’s my joy to collaborate with so many people committed to developing educational practice, pursuing the co-creation of excellent education and the championing of geography for all.” 

Dr Finn’s research explores changes in the contemporary conditions of education, and work to understand how childhood and young people’s lives vary globally.  

As an 
Exeter Education Incubator Fellow, his research includes working with students to research experiences of transitions to university following the introduction of the reformed A Levels in England, and online resources and narrowcasting the curriculum. 

Dr Finn is also a Fellow of the 
Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers, a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, a member of the Geography Education Research Collective, Education Officer for the RGS-IBG Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group and a member of the RGS-IBG Geography and Education Research Group committee. 

He is also a member of the editorial collective of 
Geography – the Geographical Association’s international journal for lecturers, teachers and students in post-16 geography. 

The full list of recipients is available on the
Royal Geographical Society website.