Godfrey Baldacchino


Godfrey Baldacchino is a Maltese and Canadian social scientist. He is Pro Rector and Professor of Sociology at the University of Malta. Between 2016 and 2020, he was the UNESCO Co-Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is former Director of the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta and is the current chairman of its board. With Alexander Gatt, Baldacchino founded the Students Astronomical Circle in 1978. In 1984, he was elected as the first President of The Malta Astronomical Society which resulted from the merger of the SAC and the Astronomical Association of Malta. He was inscribed as Honorary Life Member of the Malta Astronomical Society in 2015.

Career

He served as Canada Research Chair at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, for the full double term of 10 years.
Baldacchino is founding Vice-President of the University of Malta Academic Staff Association and was elected as member of the Council of the University of Malta for the period 2001–2003. As Chair of the Malta Board of Cooperatives, Baldacchino presided over a doubling of registered cooperative societies.
He has provided consultancy to the Malta Prime Minister and various other Ministers on: the self-management system at Malta Drydocks, the Student Stipend Scheme, the workings of the Malta Employment and Training Corporation, a code of practice for worker-directors, and the Planning Council's plans for the South of Malta. He has also offered his consultancy services to the General Workers' Union, the Malta Employers' Association, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and the Unjon Haddiema Maghqudin. Baldacchino was elected President of the International Small Islands Studies Association in 2014 and Chair of the Scientific Board of RETI, the Network of Island Universities, in 2015. He set up Island Studies Journal, which he edited from 2006 to 2017; he also set up Small States & Territories, an on-line open access journal, in 2018.
Baldacchino has served as visiting professor to tertiary education institutions in Australia, Barbados, Fiji, Iceland, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sweden. He has also been invited to deliver papers, guest lectures and/or keynotes in Åland, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, St Lucia, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, the UK and USA. His academic work has appeared in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Swedish. With Elaine Stratford and Elizabeth McMahon, he is Editor of the Rethinking the Island book series with Rowman and Littlefield International.

Publications

Books written