Colin Thain (born 20 January 1959) is professor of political science and a former head of the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. Born in Bedlington, Northumberland, Thain received a BA in economics (1981) and Ph.D. in government (1985) from the University of Manchester. He was previously based at the University of Ulster. Thain is currently also a visiting fellow at All Souls College and senior visiting research fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. In 1988, while he was a lecturer at the University of Exeter, Thain was awarded one of the first three Lloyd's Tercentenary Foundation Fellowships.