A UNIVERSITY professor in the North-East has earned the accolade considered the knighthood of the science world.

Professor Richard Samuel Ward was named among 44 pre-eminent scientists from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS), the UK academy of science.

He was elected mainly for his pioneering research at Durham University, which has had a huge impact on mathematical physics.

South African-born and educated, Professor Ward came to Britain in 1974 as a graduate, studying with Sir Roger Penrose, at Oxford.

He was a research fellow at Merton College, Oxford, in 1977/1978, a lecturer at Dublin's Trinity College, from 1979 to 1982, before going to Durham in 1983, joining the mathematical sciences department, which he now leads.

Prof Ward spoke of the great honour he felt on his election to the Royal Society, and thanked colleagues in the department and in the university's Centre for Particle Theory for "maintaining such a vibrant and pleasant research environment".

He plans to continue his research and broaden the scope of his work.

Prof Ward won the "warmest congratulations" from Durham University vice-chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman for "such an outstanding personal distinction".