Alan Roberts - Citation

As you look at our honorary graduate standing at the lectern this morning, you might be forgiven for assuming that I am about to present an accomplished academic, the Professor of Biomaterials in Surgery at the University of Hull and Honorary Professor of Biomaterials at the University of Bradford. But that is only one facet of our honorary graduate. His distinguished service in a number of demanding fields - science and medicine, the military, higher education and the voluntary sector - seem more suited to four men than to one. Alan Roberts' outstanding research in biomaterials and clinical prosthetics, his influential university appointments throughout the world, and his many public honours are ample evidence of his intellectual pre-eminence. But the sheer range of his achievements speak of a man dedicated to serving his community selflessly, with prodigious energy and an astonishing zest for hard work. And, true to the spirit of Brunel University, his activities in every field are characterised by a quest for excellence.

Take his military career, for example: the son of an army major, Colonel Alan Roberts has given illustrious service in the Territorial Army as a gunner. He has been awarded the Territorial Army decoration with three bars, was Aide-De-Camp to Her Majesty the Queen, and was appointed Honorary Colonel Commandant of the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1996.

As a multi-disciplinary scientist, his contributions in the medical field have been equally distinguished. Building on extensive clinical experience and a doctorate in biomedical sciences, he has become one of the foremost world experts in material science and biomedical engineering, where his main research has been on technologies used for the reconstruction of the body. His work in the field of prosthetics and adhesives has profoundly improved the quality of life for many patients, including cancer sufferers, who require extensive plastic surgery, invasive implantation treatments, or the application of diagnostic devices to the body. Making traumatic processes easier, longer lasting and aesthetically more acceptable has been one of his main innovations. In recognition of his discoveries, he has been the recipient of two Insignia Awards in Technology and the Prince Philip Medal for outstanding research achievement, was appointed honorary regional Dean of the Royal Society of Medicine Northern, and is Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine; he has also been director of a number of prestigious research units. Awarded the MBE for services to medical science in 1982, he was appointed OBE in 2002.

But Alan Roberts' talented contribution to the welfare of our nation doesn't end there. He is also an outstanding champion of education as both practitioner and leader. In addition to numerous international visiting professorial appointments and the production of many textbooks and academic papers on his specialist field, he has given exemplary and wise service in a number of educational roles, including, for example, President of the City and Guilds Association, Deputy Chairman of the Council of United Kingdom University Councils, and, for fourteen years, Pro-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. His work in both education and science has given him special insight into medical ethics, knowledge which he generously disseminates as chairman of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Ethics and as the United Kingdom representative on the European Union of Medical Ethics NewGeneris Project Advisory Board.

Friends and colleagues of Alan Roberts single out his warmth, concern for others and genial humour as key characteristics - as central to the man as his formidable intellect. And these qualities have tangible output too! He is Deputy Lord Lieutenant for West Yorkshire, a Justice of the Peace, and a tireless supporter of many charities, holding the Voluntary Service Medal of the Red Cross, and serving as President of the NSPCC for Leeds, and Trustee of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, among many positions. It now won't come as a surprise to anyone in the hall this morning that this polymath of an honorary graduate lists “avoiding holidays" as one of his main recreations in Who's Who.

Pro-Chancellor, for outstanding services to technology, it gives me great pleasure to present to you Alan Clive Roberts for the degree of Doctor of Technology, honoris causa.

July 2007