Bobby Duffy

Bobby Duffy is a social researcher specializing in public policy, serving as professor of public policy and director of the Policy Institute at King's College London. In this role, Duffy leads a team of public policy specialists focused on connecting research with policy to address societal challenges. He is also a trustee of British Future, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and chair of the advisory board for CLOSER.

Before joining King's College London, Duffy was managing director of the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute in the United Kingdom and global director of the Ipsos Social Research Institute. In these positions, he directed public affairs and global research, including oversight of large-scale studies on public perception. Duffy has worked across a range of public policy areas throughout his career in policy research and evaluation, and has been seconded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics.

Duffy is the author of several books that apply data analysis to major social issues. His first book, "The Perils of Perception – Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything," draws on global studies of how people misperceive key social realities. His follow-up work, "The Generation Divide," published in hardback as "Generations," offers a framework for understanding divisive issues such as gun control, climate change, Brexit, and the surveillance state. The book includes data from more than 40 countries and interviews across generational divides, challenging assumptions about how birth year influences identity and values.

Duffy's research has been featured in the Washington Post, Economist, Financial Times, Quartz, NBC, and BBC. He serves on several advisory boards, including chairing the Campaign for Social Science and the CLOSER Advisory Board, is a member of the executive of the Academy of Social Sciences, and is a trustee of British Future and the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education. Duffy's TEDx talk, "How We Create Our Own Fake News," highlights his ability to communicate complex research on public perception, generational change, and evidence-based policymaking to a broad audience.