THREE prominent university figures in the field of science and history have been awarded one of the city’s highest honours.
The City of Leicester Award has been bestowed upon the three leading academics from the University of Leicester, to tie in with the university’s centenary commemorations.
Those receiving the award included two members of the team involved in the search, discovery and analysis of the lost remains of King Richard III, which were found beneath Greyfriars in 2012, along with a leading light in the field of physics and astronomy.
Dr Richard Buckley OBE, Professor Emeritus Kevin Schürer and Professor Emeritus Ken Pounds CBE were recognised for both excellence in their respective fields and the international acclaim which they have brought to the city of Leicester through their work.
Dr Buckley was the director of the University of Leicester’s Archaeological Service during the excavation of the Greyfriars site, which led to the discovery of King Richard’s gravesite. He received an OBE in the New Year’s honours for 2014 for services to archaeology. Now retired, he remains an Honorary Research Fellow with the university's School of Archaeology and Ancient History.
Professor Schürer was involved in carrying out the painstaking genealogical research to find descendants of the immediate relatives of King Richard III. His research was instrumental in identifying the remains as that of the king, who was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Ken Pounds CBE is Emeritus Professor of physics at the University of Leicester and is known for his groundbreaking work on space physics, galaxies and black holes.
They were handed the award by Lord Mayor of Leicester Cllr Dr Susan Barton, at an event in Leicester’s historic Guildhall, on Thursday, August 17. The Lord Mayor said: “The people being recognised with this award have been involved in some of very important historic and scientific research and discoveries, which are widely recognised and acknowledged both locally and nationally.
“I am very proud to be able to confer the City of Leicester Award upon them.”
City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “The City of Leicester Award is a very fitting way to recognise the hugely significant contribution these prominent figures from the university have made through their educational, historic and scientific endeavours.
“This is our second ceremony, since making the very first awards to Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanapraba, and his late father Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in 2022, and there will be more to come as we look to recognise the great achievements of people in our city.”
The City of Leicester Award was introduced last year to recognise people whose outstanding achievements have had a positive and wide-reaching impact on the city, and have been a source of inspiration to its residents.
Recipients will have contributed to the educational, cultural, civic or economic life of the city, or through their achievements gained the city wider recognition.
The first recipients of the award were LCFC chairman Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanapraba, and his late father and former chairman Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who took the football club to its historic Premier League title win in 2015/16.
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Pictured from left: Lord Mayor of Leicester Cllr Dr Susan Barton; Dr Richard Buckley OBE; Professor Emeritus Ken Pounds CBE; Professor Emeritus Kevin Schürer; and, City Mayor Peter Soulsby.