Brian May. Photo / Getty Images
Rock star and astrophysicist Brian May has been appointed chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
The Queen guitarist will be installed as the university's figurehead leader early next year.
May, 60, was awarded a PhD from Imperial College London in August for his thesis Radial Velocities in the
Zodiacal Dust Cloud. He is already an honorary fellow of Liverpool John Moores University, which has a well-known astrophysics research institute.
May was an astrophysics student at Imperial College when he joined Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor to form Queen in 1970, but dropped his doctorate as the glam rock band became successful. Queen became one of the biggest British groups of the 1970s.
May continued to pursue his interest in astronomy and last year co-authored a book on the subject, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe.
May said the university appointment was "a great honour and a great new challenge". He succeeds Cherie Booth, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, as chancellor of John Moores University, which was formed in 1992 from the former Liverpool Polytechnic.
"Brian May is an intensely talented individual who achieved global success with Queen," said the university's vice-chancellor, Michael Brown. "In this age of celebrity culture, it is rare to find someone who has fame, fortune and universal acclaim and yet who remains true to his core values of learning and enlightenment."
- AP
