April 14, 2008 16:52

Queen's Brian May made university Chancellor

Guitarist says he is proud to receive the honour

Queen guitarist Brian May has been awarded an honorary fellowship for his contribution to astronomy and services to the understanding of science at Liverpool John Moores University.

May has taken over the role of Chancellor from Tony Blair's wife Cherie Blair.

Duties May will have to undertake as Chancellor include representing the university on special occasions and supervising graduation ceremonies, BBC News reports.

The university released a statement from May saying: "I am very proud to be the new Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. I am passionate about education and lifelong learning.

"It really doesn't matter how old you are or what stage of your life you are in, it is never, ever too late to start learning. I proved that by completing my PhD, 30 years after I started it. As Chancellor, I hope that my personal experiences will act as an inspiration for others."

May studied Astrophysics at Imperial College London in his twenties but put a career in science on hold to concentrate on making music with Queen.

He completed his PhD thesis, 'A Survey Of Radial Velocities In The Zodiacal Dust Cloud', in 2007.