I am delighted to have the chance to say a few words about Peter's contribution to the success of BA and to science communication in this country.
Peter has been one of the key figures in the UK science communication community since he joined the British Association in 1980. This large and distinguished gathering, and the many messages from people who were not able to be present here tonight, testify to the high regard in which Peter is held.
My officials have said that you have been a pleasure to work with, which is the civil service way of saying you have done an outstanding job.
Under Peter's leadership, the BA has expanded its activities significantly. Its annual income has risen from £165,000 in 1981 to over £2.8 million in 2001, a growth of over 600 percent in real terms.
At every stage of Peter's career at the BA he has developed new and important initiatives.
Peter joined the BA in 1980 as Executive Officer responsible for the Young People's Programme and for Branches. Highlights from that period include the development of Young Investigator Awards, CREST Awards, BAYSDAYs and the national youth science fair.
Then in 1986, Peter became Public Affairs Manager. During this period, Peter was involved in developing the successful Media Fellowships scheme, and discussions at the BA Public Affairs Committee, co-ordinated by Peter, led Roger Highfield to set up the Daily Telegraph Young Science Writer Awards, which the BA has been associated with ever since.
Finally, in 1990, Peter was made Executive Secretary of the BA, and has remained in this post - which is now called Chief Executive - ever since.
In 1991, following Sir Claus Moser's Presidential Address in 1990, the BA established the "Paul Hamlyn Foundation National Commission on Education", with the support of a £1m grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The Commission's 1993 report, "Learning to Succeed", recommended many changes and initiatives that have subsequently been implemented.
In 1993, following the Government's White Paper "Realising our Potential", the BA was given financial support for the first time by the Office of Science and Technology. Part of the OST grant was used to enable the BA to coordinate the UK's first National Science Week in 1994. The week was a great success and has gone from strength to strength. It has provided a very effective way for the many organisations involved in science communication in the UK to work together and has been a major factor in raising the profile of the BA.
Another achievement from this period include taking over from PPARC the management of AlphaGalileo, the Internet press service for European science, technology and arts research - another success story.
A key part of the work of the BA is the branches, and Peter is rightly proud of the revitalisation of the BA regional Branches, which took place under his leadership. The BA is now on course to have over 40 branches in the next few years, strengthening its position as a UK-wide operation.
I have always had a great interest in science centres, and the BA has had links with the development of science centres in the UK since this started in earnest in the mid 1980s. Richard Gregory first exhibited some of the potential exhibits for his proposed Exploratory in Bristol at the BA meeting in Norwich in 1984.
The science communication community and the environment in which it operates have changed beyond recognition since Peter joined the BA in 1980. Peter can be proud of the role that he and the BA have played as agents of that change.
Public interest in science issues has never been higher. The Prime Minister's speech here at the Royal Society in May showed the importance of science communications in the government's agenda, and as a result of Peter and others work we are now moving into a new period of public dialogue and debate rather than the public understanding of science.
Peter, I would like to close by thanking you for the many and significant contributions you have made to the British Association and to public engagement with science. I wish you every success in your new challenges at the University of Surrey Roehampton and I have no doubt that the BA's loss will be the university's gain.
|
