Former Dundee University rector Stephen Fry has said he is ”delighted” to have an award named after him.
The actor, writer and presenter was elected to represent the student body in 1992 and served for six years.
The inaugural Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research will be presented on Friday as part of the university’s Discovery Days 2012 event.
This will see each of the 17 professors appointed in the last year give short talks on their area of expertise.
Mr Fry said: ”This is an extraordinary honour. I am simply delighted to have such an encouraging and useful award in my name.
”I hold my time as rector at Dundee very fondly and am extremely happy to maintain my links to the university in this way.”
The award will go to the researchers who have made the greatest contribution in the past year to reaching out to the public and explaining their work.
University principal Professor Pete Downes said: ”Public engagement with our research is a key element of what we do as a university and I am delighted that Stephen Fry has agreed to put his name to this award.”
Among topics being discussed at Discovery Days 2012 are identifying the dead, how belonging to a group may improve your health, the role of concrete in a low-carbon economy and food security during climate change.
Photo by Barry Batchelor/PA Archive