Binghamton New York Professor Knighted By King Charles

It's June 18th, which is the 82nd birthday of Sir Paul McCartney. Happy Birthday, Paul. It must have been an honor to be knighted by the Queen of England on March 11, 1997.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be knighted by someone from the United Kingdom's Royal Family? Well, maybe you could ask someone locally what that feeling might be like.

It just so happens that someone who lives and works in the Binghamton area has recently been knighted. According to a Facebook post from Binghamton University, Professor Stanley Whittingham was named a Knight Bachelor by King Charles “for his services to research in chemistry.

A Knight Bachelor means "belonging to the most ancient but the lowest order of English knights and not a member of an order of chivalry" according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Just like Sir Paul McCartney, Professor Whittingham now will be known as Sir Stanley, or Sir Stanley Whittingham. By the way, Sir Stanley is also a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, awarded in 2019 for Chemistry.

Sir Stanley's Alma Mater, Stamford School, located in Stamford, Lincolnshire, U.K., congratulated him on their website, stating "Without Professor Whittingham's pioneering work, we wouldn't have the mobile phones and tablets that are ubiquitous today. These devices have transformed communication, making it accessible to large parts of both the developed and developing world."

Binghamton University notes that Sir Stanley Whittingham is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Materials Science & Engineering, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Sir Stanley was born in Nottingham, England, and holds a B.A. Chemistry, Oxford University, England, 1964, M.A. Oxford University, England, 1967 and D.Phil. Chemistry, Oxford University, England, 1968.