John Sloboda

Biography

John Sloboda is Emeritus Professor at Keele a position he has held since his retirement in 2008. He has been a member of the School of Psychology since 1974 and was Director of its Unit for the Study of Musical Skill and Development founded in 1991. From 1991-4 he was Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and from 1994-2000 he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor. He was Head of Psychology from 2000-2003.

John Sloboda is internationally known for his work on the psychology of music. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and has been President of both the Psychology and General Sections of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as President of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, of which he was awarded honorary membership in 2021. He was founding president of the International Platform for Social Impact of Making Music, serving from 2017-2020, and he continues to serve on its governing board.

He was recipient of the 1998 British Psychological Society’s Presidents Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge, and in 2004 was elected to Fellowship of the British Academy. In 2018 he was awarded the OBE for services to Psychology and Music.

John Sloboda is Emeritus Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where until his retirement in 2023 he led their Institute for Social Impact Research in the Performing Arts.

He has had a longstanding concern for the effects of conflict on populations, and he is Co-founder of the Iraq Body Count Project (2003-present). From 2004-2010 he was also Executive Director of the Peace and Security think tank, Oxford Research Group.

Annotated bibliography.