Tony will be much missed, both for his calm steady presence and his sense of humour. Since joining LSE in 1983, he was instrumental in linking social policy with international development and in making the Department’s MSc in Social Policy and Development a success. His longstanding research on Brazil and the Amazon region has been highly influential. More recently Tony’s interests in climate change adaptation and conditional cash transfers led to important research in both fields. The care and attention he always took with his students set an example to us all.
Professor David Lewis, Department of Social Policy
Tony Hall made a vital contribution to the evolving field of developmental social policy – a ‘supradisciplinary’ field that seeks to integrate the insights of development studies and social policy to promote a comprehensive approach to understanding how social wellbeing can be fostered globally.
He joined the Department in the early 1980s to work with me on the social policy and planning courses Richard Titmuss and Brian Abel-Smith had established in 1971, and after I left for the United States in 1985, we continued to collaborate on several initiatives that helped shape the field. In addition to our book, Social Policy for Development (2004), we worked together on several edited collections and international conferences. His own research on Amazonian development, which is widely commended, was of critical importance in linking rural and environmental issues to developmental social policy research. He was an accomplished scholar, an inspiring teacher and effective administrator. The graduates of the social planning courses, who have assumed leading roles in government agencies, international non-profits and development organisations committed to developmental social policy, owe much to his leadership.
He was also a great friend and together with his late wife, Rejane, a generous host. My wife Dija and I were privileged to share their family life and know their children Julie and Joe. We send our deepest condolences to them and other members of their family. I will miss Tony’s quite humour, critical mind and steadfast friendship.
Professor James (Jimmy) Midgley, University of California Berkeley
It was with great sadness that I received the news of Tony passing on Monday 20 May 2019.
I became familiar with Tony’s work while writing my masters dissertation on the globalisation of the Brazilian Amazon in the Department of Geography, at King’s. I decided to stay at King’s after my Masters, and we invited him to be the 3rd reader for my PhD. I continued to follow his work, which showed his passion for the region, by attending his talks and discussing with him my research in the Amazon.
Despite conducting work in Brazil for 40 years, Tony was humble about his impressive contribution to social policy, environment and development scholarship, particularly concerning the Brazil North-East and Amazonia. He never seemed to notice how much his work has been touching so many people. Tony’s research, accurate accounts and relevant inputs have had an impact beyond academia, as he acted as OXFAM’s country representative and as a consultant for the World Bank.
Tony was an inspiration to many PhD researchers working on environmental policies. My friends from CLOSER, a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research group focusing on Brazilian environmental politics, were no different. Tony has been a source of inspiration for every member of our research group. We were six young PhD students with various research backgrounds, from different London universities who had some things in common: an interest in Brazil from a social and environmental perspective and a willingness to improve and share our knowledge. Tony was a doctoral thesis examiner to some, advisor to others, and research godfather to all of us.
His legacy shall endure in every former PhD student and the many peers whose work has crossed paths with him.
Dr. Grace Iara Souza, SOAS, University of London
A tribute and donation page can be found at Dementia UK.