I’ve been busy the last few weeks, writing documents for the Planck SGS RR, grant proposals, getting ready for the exam season, and (I know I can’t complain), travelling to the Aegean.
But this afternoon I took a few hours off and attended the Imperial College postgraduate degree ceremony. In and amongst the several hundred students received their degrees were all three of my first students (I celebrated their successful PhD vivas here, here and here). There were a couple of short speeches, and a few honorary degrees awarded (the morning ceremony gave one to F1 head and infamous labour donor Bernie Ecclestone), but most of the time was taken up by the students marching up one at a time and shaking the hand of an Imperial luminary. In addition to my students, their were a few other astrophysics PhDs awarded, including to Dr Brian May, who got (by far) the biggest cheer of the day. Me, I got the rare honor of sitting on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, in my academic regalia (American PhDs robes are heavier than those from the UK, for reasons that escape me, not ideal for a couple of hours under stage lights — and it now appears that my hood wasn’t even the proper maroon and black combo that my Chicago degree apparently calls for).
I admit I was inordinately proud of my students, in my meagre supervisory role as Doktorvater (to use the excellent Germanic term for supervisor): they’ve all done fantastic theses, important science, and most importantly by the end I was able to just get out of the way while they did the hard work. Congratulations again to each of them.
One response to “Who Put the Pomp?”
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FINAL DRAFT FOR WORLD-WIDE CIRCULATION:
now with EMBEDDED VIDEOS!
please FWD all appreciations to [REDACTED]
SEE HOW WE CAUSED THE PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN ATHEISTS, ELLEN JOHNSON,
TO QUIT HER JOB AND STOPPED RANDI’S MILLION DOLLAR PARANORMAL
CHALLENGE:
for randi & dawkins and all the so-called “critical thinkers”
the ORIGINAL *KING OF TERROR* VIDEO…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGsOqPDkIZY
the *MODEL* of mental health:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zBEbfiaZTfc
“Look at the ANGLE OF THE KEY….see that, see that….”
what an idiot this Randi is…..a REAL CRITICAL THINKER….
Visit:
http://nostradamus-usa.netfirms.com
to see how we stopped the MILLION DOLLAR PARANORMAL challenge…..
watch carefully the consequences of Randi’s *idea*…..
For over 40 years James Randi Zwigert (is this even a REAL NAME?) has
had total control over who and how the testing was conducted, yet
despite all this he has terminated the challenge.
The ONLY REASON why the challenge was stopped is because he lost and
refused to pay.
Apparently, Randi likes to break the rules when it serves him:
“14. This prize will continue to be offered until it is awarded. Upon
the death of James Randi, the administration of the prize will pass
into other hands, and it is intended that it continue in force. ”
Great force…..it’s over……
where is my MILLION DOLLARS, you LITTLE *NO-NAME* FRAUD
PS: Almost Forgot: Love the IRONY of the [REDACTED] sign over Randi’s
ugly head….