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Reason, James, 1938-2025

By Professor Nicholas Pidgeon FBA, Professor Elena Lieven FBA, Professor Tony Manstead FBA and Professor Rebecca Lawton

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Date
20 Feb 2026

Professor James Tootle Reason FBA CBE was an applied psychologist with a lifelong interest in individual cognitive performance and the ways in which the occurrence of simple cognitive slips and errors could impact our health and wellbeing. Jim’s major and lasting contribution came in the 1990s in the interdisciplinary area of risk management and organisational safety practice. It is no exaggeration to state that it was his enthusiasm and skill in clearly communicating the application and relevance of his theories in the real world that was to prove transformational for practitioners in the safety profession.

Posted to Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy, 23

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