Scotland’s newest Nobel Prize-winner paid an emotional return to his former secondary school in North Lanarkshire.
Princeton University’s Professor David MacMillan spent more than three hours chatting to pupils and staff at Bellshill Academy about his time there.
He also spoke about what it felt to win the Nobel Prize and about his other career successes on his first visit to the school since leaving in 1985.
He admitted it was an emotional experience, saying: “As soon as I entered through the main doors all the memories came flooding back.
“Bellshill Academy and New Stevenson Primary really were amazing places to attend, and I owe so much of what I’ve achieved to the support and encouragement of so many wonderful teachers.
“I just remember there being such a positive culture and not only in the sciences but being encouraged in lots of subject areas.”
Prof MacMillan along with his wife, sister and daughter were given a tour of the school by senior pupils and head teacher Jodie McGraw. As they passed through the assembly hall, he told them of the occasions when his band played on the stage in the hall when he was sixteen years old.
“We were a decent group and had a lot of fun times, but not good enough to go that much further,” he reflected.
As part of his ongoing commitment to encourage pupils to study the sciences, he then visited two chemistry classes.
Pupils had given up a day of their holidays to ensure they got the chance to meet their school’s Nobel Prize winner and be photographed with his medal.
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