Merton Fellow receives 2025 Recognition of Distinction

Professor Patricia Thornton has been awarded the title of Professor in the Politics of China as part of the University of Oxford’s 2025 Recognition of Distinction exercise. The formal notice of her achievement will appear in the University’s Gazette on 2 October 2025.

Professor Thornton, Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations and Tutor in the Politics of China at Merton College, has established a distinguished scholarly profile in Chinese politics and statecraft. Her publications include Disciplining the State: Virtue, Violence, and State-making in Modern China (Harvard University Press, 2007) and, most recently, the co-authored The Chinese Communist Party: A 100-Year Trajectory (ANU Press, 2024). She has also co-edited influential volumes such as Red Shadows: Memories and Legacies of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Cambridge, 2017) and To Govern China: Evolving Practices of Power (Cambridge, 2018).

The Recognition of Distinction scheme is held annually to confer the title of full professor on academics who demonstrate sustained excellence in research, teaching, and citizenship. Following a rigorous review process by divisional committees and the University’s senior appointments board, Professor Thornton was among those approved for the title in 2025.

Professor Thornton’s appointment underscores her deep expertise in Chinese political dynamics and institutional governance, as well as her sustained contributions to scholarship and teaching at Oxford.