Brian May, Queen guitarist and astrophysicist, received a special non-music award in Toronto
As all good Queen fans know, guitarist Brian May has a PhD in astrophysics (Check out his dissertation entitled A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud).
When he was in Toronto with the band on July 24, he took some time away to be awarded The Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Lawerence J. Burpee medal. It’s presented to those who display outstanding contributions fo the advancement of geography.
The medal was presented by RCGS CEO John Geiger, RCGS vice-president Wendy Cecil, and Lt-Government of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell (who is an RCGS Fellow).
From Mr. Geiger: “We are also honouring Dr. May for his work as an astrophysicist and more particularly as someone who has used his
enormous celebrity to promote greater public understanding of a field
that can appear to many as dense as a black hole, but which
represents so much of the hope for humanity, as well as the potential
for discovery that lies ahead.”
Brian had this to say: “I was deeply honoured to receive a beautiful medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in Toronto. They very kindly made me a Fellow in recognition of the part I’ve played in making Science more accessible, and bringing Music and Science closer together. My
grateful thanks. I will add more details about this when I have a
moment. And I believe that the Society will be publishing a short
video showing the ceremony. Cheers – Bri”
Thanks to Tom Sandler for all the information and pictures.