Pat Thane
Patricia Thane, known as Pat, is a British historian.
Career
Thane studied history at the University of Oxford, and then completed her PhD under Brian Abel-Smith at the London School of Economics.She was a lecturer then senior lecturer in the department of social policy at Goldsmiths College London from 1967 until 1994. She was professor of contemporary history at the University of Sussex 1994-2001, then Leverhulme professor of contemporary British history at the Institute of Historical Research 2001-10 and professor of contemporary history at King's College London to 2019 as well as a general historian. She has been a visiting professor at Nanjing University, China, and at universities in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Chile, New York.
Since 2019, she has been a visiting professor in history at Birkbeck College, London University. She is Professor Emerita at the University of London. Thane was a co-founder of History & Policy, which publishes historical research freely online.
Thane has a particular interest in the history of gender, old age, pensions, and the welfare state.
Alongside Alastair Reid, Simon Szreter,, and Virginia Berridge, Thane is a founder of History & Policy, which publishes historical research freely online.