St Andrews University to honour Professor Peter Higgs

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Peter Higgs is to receive an honorary degree from the St Andrews University next month.

The 84-year-old scientist predicted the existence of a sub-atomic particle, named the Higgs boson particle, which gives mass to all the matter in the universe.

Professor Higgs was supposed to receive the honorary degree last September alongside former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, but could not make the ceremony because of illness.

He will finally be awarded his DSc at a ceremony on Wednesday June 25 at St Andrews University.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and director of the National Gallery in London Dr Nicholas Penny, will also be among the names being honoured during this year’s summer graduations.