Prof Geoffrey Palmer

The Voice reports that Scotland’s first black university professor, Geoffrey Palmer  will be knighted for services to human rights, science and charity.

Jamaican-born Palmer is a professor emeritus at Edinburgh’s of Heriot-Watt University and specialises in cereal and grain science.

He told the newspaper:

“I got a letter a few weeks ago and when I opened it and read it, it said the prime minister had recommended me for a knighthood and I immediately thought of my mother.

“She left Jamaica in 1948 on her own and then she sent for me in 1955, when I was 14 years old.

“It took her from 48 to 55 to save £86 to bring me here. Without her love and sacrifice my story would not have been possible.”

Congratulations Prof Geoffrey Palmer.