Urddo gwyddonydd chwaraeon

Cyflwynwyd yr Athro Clyde Williams, cyn-fyfyriwr o Brifysgol Aberystwyth, chyn Bennaeth Adran Addysg Gorfforol, Gwyddor Chwaraeon a Rheolaeth Hamdden a Dirprwy Is-Ganghellor Ymchwil ym Mhrifysgol Loughborough yn Gymrawd er Anrhydedd gan yr Athro David Lavallee, Pennaeth yr Adran Chwaraeon a Gwyddor Ymarfer Corff.

Cyflwyniad yr Athro Lavallee.

Professor Clyde Williams is known worldwide as the leading figure of sport and exercise science in the United Kingdom.

His contributions to national and international organisations have been substantial, and he has been at the forefront of the development of sport and exercise science from an emerging field in the 1970s to a hugely successful and popular field of education and professional practice today.

Professor Williams began his career here in Aberystwyth with a Degree in Chemistry and Diploma in Education. After a short period as a chemistry teacher, he moved to Washington State University where he gained an MSc Degree in Physiological Chemistry with a focus on exercise biochemistry.

He then returned to the UK to a post as Lecturer in Physiology at the University of Aberdeen where he taught pre-clinical physiology to science and medical students.

During this time he continued to collaborate with colleagues here at Aberystwyth and supported the set-up of a small sport science lab in the old sports hall, one of the first in the UK and arguably the first in Wales.

In 1978 he moved to Loughborough University as a Senior Research Fellow to establish a Sports Science Research Group and was promoted to the first Chair in Sports Science in the UK in 1986.

Since then, he served as Head of the Department of Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management for seven years, and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research.

He is currently Emeritus Professor at Loughborough in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, housed in a building bearing his name which opened on May 12th earlier this year.

Professor Williams has made a significant contribution to the scientific literature in the field of nutrition and exercise performance, through publication of scientific papers, books and book chapters.

In addition, he has trained a vast number of undergraduate and postgraduate students, many of whom have gone on to make their own significant mark in the worlds of science, sport and sport and exercise science.

Professor Williams has made outstanding contributions to the development of the discipline of sport and exercise science during his career both nationally and internationally.

Professor Williams was the founding chairman of British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Programme Secretary for the Nutrition Society, Director of the National Sports Medicine Institute and Chair of the 2008 Sport-Related Studies Panel for the Research Assessment Exercise.

He serves on the Editorial Board of numerous international journals and regularly acts as a consultant to UK and European government agencies.

He was presented with the David Munro Award for contributions to Sports Science in Higher Education in 1996 by the British Universities and Colleges Physical Education Association, and in 2005 the Physiological Society dedicated a conference to mark his retirement and acknowledge his exceptional contributions to the wider discipline.

In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List last month he was awarded an OBE for services to sports science.

It is a privilege to not only be able to note how Aberystwyth played an important role in the development of Professor Williams as a scientist during his early career, but also how Professor Williams has played an important role in the development of sport and exercise science here at Aberystwyth.

Mr President, I am pleased to present Professor Clyde Williams to be ordained as an Honorary Fellow of Aberystwyth University.