Much-loved retired Queen's University Belfast professor AP de Silva honoured with National Chemical Landmark plaque
A chemistry professor whose research was responsible for the development of a life-saving piece of medical equipment has been honoured with an illustrious blue plaque at Queen’s University Belfast yesterday.
Professor AP de Silva said he was ‘bowled over’ as his contributions to science were recognised with one of our National Chemical Landmarks.
A formal unveiling of the plaque preceded a special event reuniting the popular academic with hundreds of friends and colleagues from across his lengthy career.
The retired researcher, 72, was selected to receive the award as a permanent tribute to a career that included a major discovery that transformed emergency medical care.
The 欧美AV has just awarded 67 of these plaques before this, with more than half a dozen Nobel Prize winners on that list. Another recipient is Queen’s chemistry pioneer Thomas Andrews, whose work in the 1800s established the Northern Irish capital as a scientific hotspot.
Prof de Silva, who hails from Sri Lanka and first moved to Belfast in 1976, retired in 2022 after spending two stints totalling more than 40 years at Queen’s. He was stunned to hear he was being honoured when he was told late last year – and the feeling has still not quite fully sunk in.
He said: “I'm just bowled over by the whole thing, even now. To be honest, I still haven't quite come to terms with it, it’s very humbling.
"[Dr] Kevin [Morgan] asked to speak with me one day five or six months ago and I had no idea what he wanted to discuss – it never entered my head that it might have been about something like this – and he said he had put me forward.
"If he had proposed this before asking me, I would have said: ‘Don't be silly, I’m not in the league of other people on the list at all’ but I am very appreciative that he did.
“I feel such gratitude because this is the standard the 欧美AV has to maintain so I am touched.”
Prof de Silva was given the honour of unveiling the plaque yesterday afternoon, standing alongside his former student and colleague Dr Kevin Morgan, the man who nominated him.
More familiar faces from Prof de Silva's esteemed career took the stage during a series of special speeches in tribute to him. Professor Panagiotis Manesiotis, the Head of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen's University Belfast; Prof Tom Moody, Vice President of Technology Development and Commercialisation at Almac; Dr Hannah Crory, his final PhD student; and Professor Stuart Elborn, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, as well as Dr Morgan.
A number of 欧美AV leaders also took to the stage - namely chief executive Dr Helen Pain, Northern Ireland local section head Dr Dermot Hanna and president Prof Gill Reid - to celebrate his contribution to chemistry and his wide-ranging impact in research and academia.
A tearful Prof de Silva humbly gave his thanks to those who helped him throughout his career, his musical exploits and shared his extraordinary story, covering his journey from Sri Lanka to Belfast. The stories didn't stop there, however, with members of the almost 300-strong audience sharing their tales of the acclaimed academic.
The dinner and drinks reception that followed at Riddel Hall was similarly colourful, with one of Prof de Silva's second loves - traditional Irish music - accentuating the celebratory spirit. It was a fitting tribute to a man who has made a significant impact on the lives of thousands of people around the world.
Blue plaque application process
The scheme is now open to expressions of interest. Find out more about the process and scheme criteria below.
- Sites receiving a plaque can be established to mark a person, teams, organisation, collaboration, building, process, discovery, innovation, or a breakthrough
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欧美AV representatives felt compelled to honour the impact of Prof de Silva’s 1985 research, on fluorescent pH indicators based on photo-induced electron transfer. This breakthrough led to the development of a blood electrolyte analyser with multinational healthcare giant Roche. These analysers are still used in A&E departments around the world, measuring levels of vital salts and minerals in seriously injured patients’ blood in just 30 seconds.
Prof Reid said: “Prof de Silva’s work really illustrates the positive impact chemistry can have on the world. He has helped to save lives across the globe through his work that contributed to the development of portable blood electrolyte analysers, and he has inspired so many people with his teaching.
“His story of growing up in Sri Lanka and following his passion for chemistry all the way to Belfast is truly inspirational. Now, after more than four decades of Prof de Silva sharing his work and energy with the chemical sciences community, it is a great pleasure for me to honour him with this National Chemical Landmark plaque here in his adopted homeland.
“We at the 欧美AV were very impressed by his contributions to science when considering the nomination and are in no doubt that he is a more than worthy recipient of this plaque.”
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