ON Tony Davies (52-57) has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UEA, in recognition of his contributions to science.

Tony is an internationally recognised expert on chemical analysis by near infrared spectroscopy and the owner of Norwich Near Infrared Consultancy (NNIRC), a company he started in 1989.

Tony grew up in Norfolk and was educated at Norwich School and Brunel College C.A.T. in London. Locally he has worked for Norfolk Canneries, Colman Foods and the Institute of Food Research. He has served as the chair of the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry), AD East Anglia Region Committee and Molecular Spectroscopy Group and the International Committee for Near Infrared Spectroscopy (ICNIRS). In 1986, he organised the first ICNIRS conference, which was held at UEA.

He has lectured at numerous conferences and organised and taught NIR training courses across the globe. His contribution to NIR spectroscopy has been recognised by awards presented in USA and Japan, and in 2007 he was made a “Fellow of NIR spectroscopy” by ICNIRS.

Tony commented, “On the day, I will be very excited but currently I am very worried that someone will realise that they have got the wrong Tony Davies!”

Congratulations Tony!