Bulletin Number One 1983

Citations The Rt. Hon Lo rd Todd of Trumpington, OM, FRS The Right Honorable Lord Todd of Trumpington is the recipient of twenty-nine honorary degrees from all over the world. Today The Chinese University of Hong Kong honours him with yet another degree, to acknowledge his contribution to the growth of science and technology in Hong Kong, as well as his invaluable advice to and warm friendship for the University. Lord Todd was elected to the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry in the University of Manchester in 1938 at the age of thirty, and to the Royal Society four years later. He is one of those very rare scholars who can combine an illustrious academic career with distinguished public service, having held the Presidencies of the Chemical Society, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Chemical Industry, and the Royal Society. He was Chairman of both the Advisory Council on Scientific Policy and the Royal Commission on Medical Education of the United Kingdom. Knighted in 1954, he was further honoured with a life peerage as Baron of Trumpington in 1962, and the Order of Merit in 1977. Lord Todd was also awarded the Pour le M é rite from Germany and the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan, as well as medals and honours too numerous to mention here. He was Master of Christ's College, Cambridge University, and is now Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. One may be forgiven for asking whether the onerous public duties left Lord Todd with any time for scholarly pursuits. This question is shown to be unfounded by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded him in 1957, for his research on nucleotides and the chemical structure of nucleic acids, which are the building blocks of life. And, looking back on his pioneering work from this age of genetic engineering, it is certainly right to call him the man who took the first step towards unravelling the mysteries of life. Lord Todd's links with Hong Kong dated back to the 1950s, when he was first associated with, and subsequently became Chairman of, the Nuffield Foundation, which offers research and training grants to exceptional scientists and engineers throughout the Commonwealth. Lord Todd has also been sharing his wealth of experience and unmatched wisdom with the University, by chairing its Academic Advisory Board on Natural Sciences since 1977, and by becoming an Overseas Member of the University Council a year later. In 1980, through the generosity of the late Mr. Noel Croucher, the Croucher Foundation was established with Lord Todd as its first Chairman, and vast and exciting opportunities for promising young talents in Hong Kong were opened up. Surely, with a person of Lord Todd's stature and energy at its helm, this well endowed Foundation cannot but make a major impact on the face of science and technology of this area before long. Mr. Chancellor, may I now request Your Excellency to award Lord Todd of Trumpington the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. 2 NEWS