Brian May

THE fourth Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University was solemnly installed yesterday to the sound of a trumpet fanfare.

However, it is the rumble and howl of the electric guitar for which astrophysicist and author Dr Brian May PhD is best known.

An august ceremony yesterday morning at Liverpool’s St George’s Hall before an audience of some 500 staff, students, and close friend Sir Patrick Moore, saw Dr Brian May take over the figurehead position at the helm of LJMU from Cherie Blair.

On the platform, he cut a dignified figure alongside the university’s vice chancellor Prof Michael Brown as the formal rites were read.

Only the iconic black curls that sneaked out from beneath his mortar board pointed to the fact that this was the legendary axeman best known for the blistering guitar work of Bohemian Rhapsody.

His two stage personae are separated by galaxies.

Speaking before the ceremony, he admits in his softly spoken manner: “It was a great experience writing Bang (The Complete History of the Universe) though I started off with very little confidence, as is the case with many things in my life.

“I said to Patrick (Moore) I didn’t think I was qualified enough to contribute, but he said: ‘No, you’re doing it’, and that was it.

“We thrashed out every single word and sentence based on a template that Patrick banged out in the first half hour – he’s like that.”

His involvement in the project alongside Chris Lintott and Sir Patrick Moore, also a Fellow of LJMU, earned him an Honorary Fellowship last year. His delight that Sir Patrick was able to attend was evident.

He has already established links with scientists in the university’s internationally acclaimed Astrophysics Research Institute.

Fittingly, the university-owned Liverpool telescope – one of the world’s largest robotic telescopes, designed and built by LJMU experts – is located in the Canaries, the same location for Dr May’s original observations when a PhD student at Imperial College, London.

In October, he completed his doctoral thesis at Imperial College, having put his academic career on hold to concentrate on the small matter of selling 400m albums with Queen.

“I’m going to revisit the work I did in my thesis using much more modern equipment to carry out the experiments, using a spectrometer attached to a telescope. I am passionate about education. It really doesn’t matter how old you are or what stage of your life you are in, it is never, ever too late to start learning.

“As Chancellor, I hope that my personal experiences will act as an inspiration to others.”

But all these academic plaudits and aspirations have not dulled his appetite for rock.

“The long arm of Queen has pulled me back in at the moment. It is a beast.

“We’ve pressed the button to go on tour this autumn, so already the preparations are very consuming. We are finishing an album. We’ve chosen our set, we’ve chosen our environment on tour.

“It is very exciting, very exciting indeed.

“Very time consuming, but Queen always was consuming.

“At first it’s a slightly frightening feeling but the adrenaline is starting to flow now.

“As soon as you press that button and decide to go for it, it’s like a gathering storm.

“And this time we’re back in Liverpool this September, in the Arena.”

HE ROCKS forward on his seat with enthusiasm, just as he does when discussing zodiacal light or even the thought of taking up science fiction writing.

“There’s a thought,” he admits, tucking a black tie emblazoned with a stylised red dragon back into his suit jacket.

“I loved sci-fi as a child reading Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke.

“It’s important to me to take an untrodden path. So maybe.”

More practically, he revealed that a sequel to the musical We Will Rock, but it was still in being planned.

He said of We Will Rock You: “I think about 2m people have seen it. I can’t believe it that whenever I go in (to the theatre) the place is full.

“We are planning the sequel. It is a real challenge.”

Prof Brown is now hoping to harness May’s odd and gripping mixture of intellectual achievement and popular success to pull his university into a new successful chapter.

SEE a video of Bryan May’s installation on www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/videos-pictures

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