HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS
Lord Alec Nigel Broers
Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow awarded Lord Alec Nigel Broers an honorary degree during the University's 151st Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 20, 2007.
[ Biography | Honorary Degree ]
Alec Nigel Broers, your discovery of things small produced an impact of giant proportion. You were the first person to use the scanning electron microscope to fabricate micro-miniature structures, helping to launch an entirely new field – nanotechnology. Your research helped to provide the foundation for advancements in materials science, micro-machines, chemistry, electronics, and industry. What a remarkable accomplishment from one whose first love is music. It was as a choral vocalist, on scholarship, that you attended the University of Cambridge and pursued a passion for electronics. After earning a doctorate you went on to a distinguished career with IBM, where you rose to the highest scientific rank. But higher education called to you, and you returned to Cambridge, first as a faculty member, then head of Churchill College, before rising to become the first engineer to lead the great university that gave us Newton, Darwin, Milton, Tennyson and Keynes, to name but a few. As one of the world's leading engineers, you were elected President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Now you serve your nation in the House of Lords as chairman of its Science and Technology Committee. Lord Broers, for contributions to society, science, engineering, industry and higher education, it is a distinct honor to present you today the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.
Photo by Jodi Hilton for Tufts University Photo
This story originally ran on May 20, 2007.