Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Anthony Guest

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Nomination withdrawn. (non-admin closure)‎ Geschichte (talk) 06:13, 9 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Anthony Guest[edit]

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Fails WP:NBASIC for the following reasons

1. https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-13901 - this isn't even his profile and the source isn't reliable.

2. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/anthony-guest - this is an academic profile but he wasn't a named chair or a distinguished professor so it fails WP:NACADEMIC

3. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50906/page/5769 - This is a routine press announcement that he passed the bar like many run of the mill lawyers do. Plus, it's a routine press announcement so it's primary.

4. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/51578/supplement/8 just another listing showing another appointment that doesn't meet any of the alternative notability criteria for living people. Plus, it's a routine press announcement so it's primary

5. https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/anthony-guest-FBA/ - This source isn't independent because he's a member and it's a primary source. Plus, The British Academy isn't the same as a National Academy of Sciences or the Royal Society) or a fellow of a major scholarly society which reserves fellow status as a highly selective honor (e.g., Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics) so again this fails WP:NACADEMIC Signal Crayfish (talk) 16:56, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Strong keep (as creator). Guest is one of the leading experts on English contract law; he held a full professor at King's College London, one of the UK's leading universities; was elected a fellow of the British Academy, the UK's national academy for the humanities; and was appointed CBE and Queen's Counsel, significant state honours. He also edited several leading textbooks in his areas of specialism. If he is not eligible for an article here, I am really not sure how many living non-celebrities would meet the threshold. I'm going to address your points in turn.

1. Who's Who is a selective biographic dictionary produced by Oxford University Press, one of the foremost academic publishers in the world. It's inclusion criteria and editorial process is found here and states that:

"An invitation to appear in Who’s Who recognises distinction and influence. ... The holders of some posts, such as MPs, senior judges and high-ranking civil servants, are invited to have an entry as a matter of course, when the appointment itself is of general public interest. For those who do not fit into these categories, a Selection Board meets regularly during the preparation for each edition of Who’s Who to discuss potential entrants. The Selection Board reviews those people whose professions are less rigidly structured, such as artists, actors and sportsmen, as well as professors, scientists and businesspeople. Prominent figures in numerous fields are considered by the Board on the basis of their continuing achievements, and ultimately selected due to their exceptional pre-eminence. Where necessary, the Selection Board consults those with specialist knowledge."

2. WP:NACADEMIC#5 says that holders are presumed notable if "The person has held a named chair appointment or distinguished professor appointment at a major institution of higher education and research, or an equivalent position in countries where named chairs are uncommon." We don't have distinguished professorships in the UK and named chairs are very rare, at least in the humanities; the highest academic rank is professor, and in my experience this has normally been seen to meet WP:NACADEMIC#5 for UK academics (will see if I can find some AfD discussions to demonstrate this, but leaving this here for now).

3. This is not referring to him being called to the bar; this records his appointment as a Queen's Counsel (or King's Counsel now that we have a king in the UK), which are "barristers or solicitor advocates who have been recognised for excellence in advocacy. They’re often seen as leaders in their area of law", according to the Law Society. In fairness, I don't feel that every KC/QC should be presumed notable to the degree that they all need articles, but this is a significant professional award which, in combination with his other achievements, cannot be summarily dismissed here.

4. This is the official record of him receiving the CBE, which is a fairly high-ranking and quite exclusive UK honour; it's particularly rare for academics or lawyers (other than judges) to receive a CBE.

5. The British Academy IS the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Election to its fellowship is a highly exclusive honour; in 1993, when Guest was elected a fellow, he was one of only 36 academics to receive this much-coveted status.

Furthermore, Guest's extensive publication list suggest that a great deal of critical engagement with his legal work should be found in scholarly articles and reviews; I don't think, for all the reasons listed above, that this is necessary to establish notability, but a quick search should settle the matter if others disagree. Cheers, —17:34, 3 February 2024 (UTC).

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 17:43, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 17:43, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 17:43, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of England-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 17:43, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Law-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 17:44, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep He is a subject matter expert with publications going back decades who has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. Article can and should be expanded but currently it does indeed demonstrate that he meets WP:NACADEMIC. Thriley (talk) 18:08, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Speedy keep WP:SK3. The nominator has made it clear on their talk page that they do not understand or accept our notability guidelines, particularly WP:PROF#C3 (which Guest passes), but their misunderstanding should not be the basis of a deletion nomination. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:58, 3 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Satisfies WP:PROF. He also satisfies GNG and BASIC. He also satisfies WP:ANYBIO as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE). He also satisfies WP:AUTHOR, with multiple periodical book reviews. James500 (talk) 08:24, 4 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: Satisfies WP:PROF#C3. Toughpigs (talk) 06:19, 5 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Satisfies WP:NPROF as a holder of an established chair at a major university, NPROF and WP:ANYBIO #1 as an FBA, and ANYBIO as a CBE. @Signal Crayfish: May I suggest you get a little more experience of Wikipedia editing before nominating any more articles for AfD? -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:22, 6 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Speedy Keep Clearly meets Wikipedia's notability threshold. He satisfies WP:GNG, WP:BASIC and WP:NACADEMIC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Signal Crayfish (talk • contribs) 19:06, 6 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.