Anthea made a truly remarkable contribution to the field of social gerontology during her time at King’s, serving as the founding Director of the Institute of Gerontology. Her work has shaped our understanding of long-term care, housing, technology, elder abuse, loneliness and social isolation in later life, and much more.
Professor Carlo Caduff
14 August 2025
In Memoriam: Professor Anthea Tinker CBE
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Anthea Tinker
Professor Anthea Tinker CBE was Professor of Social Gerontology at King’s from 1988, when she became the first Director of the Institute of Gerontology.
Anthea died peacefully on Tuesday, surrounded by her family.
Paying tribute to her tremendous academic legacy, Professor Carlo Caduff, Head of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, said Anthea had also been a generous mentor and teacher to generations of students and colleagues, with her guidance and support to doctoral students and early-career researchers being particularly outstanding.
Over the course of her remarkable career, Anthea authored eleven books, co-authored twenty-one more, and published over 300 articles. Her contributions to the field were widely recognized: she was awarded the CBE in 2000 for Services to Housing for Older People, elected a Founding Member of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences in 1999, and became a Fellow of King’s in 1998.
But perhaps most importantly of all, she was widely known as a kind and generous colleague.
Professor Carlo Caduff
Anthea was awarded the title of Fellow of the British Society of Gerontology in 2008 and was one of the Women of the Year in 2002. In 2010, she was awarded the Alan Walker prize by the British Society of Gerontology for her significant and lasting contribution to Social Gerontology.
She was on the staff of three universities and three government departments, and a consultant to the World Health Organization, European Union, and OECD. She also chaired the College Research Ethics Committee from 2001-2011.
Just recently King’s celebrated Anthea’s extraordinary career in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, surrounded by her friends, family, colleagues and students.
“It was a beautiful and moving tribute to the profound influence she had on so many of us,” Professor Caduff said.