Professor Martin Paul Eve shortlisted for the Disability Power 100 2021
The annual Shaw Trust Power 100 list profiles the most influential disabled people in the UK.
Martin Paul Eve, Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing in the Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing has been shortlisted for the prestigious Shaw Trust Power 100 list, a celebration of disabled people in the UK who are working to break the stigma around disability, and create a more accessible and inclusive world for all.
The Shaw Trust Power 100 list was created five years ago and aims to address the lack of recognition of successful disabled people who are making a positive change in society. It highlights individuals from a range of sectors and professions, with the hope that those featured will inspire the young and talented leaders of tomorrow.
At the age of 19, during his undergraduate degree, Professor Eve developed rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis leading to a stroke, innumerable hospitalisations due to immunocompromise, and sensorineural hearing loss.
In spite of this, Professor Eve went on to carve out a successful career in academia, and has been described as “one of the most brilliant scholars of his generation.” In 2016 he was appointed as one of the youngest Professors of English in the UK, just three years after completing his PhD. He has dedicated much of his career to widening the accessibility of humanities scholarship and is the co-founder of the award-winning academic publisher, The Open Library of Humanities, which specialises in making research free to read. He is the author of nine significant academic books, all of which are free to download, with print royalties going to Versus Arthritis. He is considered an international expert on open access to academic research and has advised UK and overseas government panels.
In addition to this, Professor Eve has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Leverhulme Trust Prize for Languages and Literature in 2019. Most recently, his work on the funded Community-led Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) has been shortlisted for the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers' annual award.
Professor Eve said: "Disabled people still face substantial barriers to participation in work, whether in the form of overt discrimination or structural hurdles. After almost two decades of contending with serious autoimmune conditions, I am delighted to have been recognised by the Shaw Trust for my work in the educational space."