Masters of the universe!

Reporter: KAREN DOHERTY
Date published: 25 July 2012


Star Trek captain to honour real-life stargazer Brian

THE captain of the Starship Enterprise will honour celebrity stargazer Brian Cox in Oldham tomorrow.

Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Jean-Luc Picard in the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and its spin-off films, will present the Chadderton-born scientist with an honorary doctorate from University Campus Oldham (UCO).

Sir Patrick is famed for his stage roles as well as his many TV and movie performances.

Famously turned away by Oldham Rep as a jobbing graduate in 1959, he is now chancellor of UCO and will preside at its graduation ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Professor Cox shot to fame in the band D:Ream and is now one of Britain’s best-known scientists, having presented several TV series.

The former Hulme Grammar School pupil is a professor of particle physics at Manchester University, has a PhD in high energy particle physics and works at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva and was awarded the OBE in 2010.

Over 220 UCO students will be graduating during the ceremony, and most will join the two celebrities in a graduation parade through the town centre (from Market Place at 10.15am).

READ the full version of this story only in our print and eChron editions
Follow us on Twitter - @OldhamChronicle