Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, has today [7 July] been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

This rare honour recognises his achievements as an obstetrician and gynaecologist and his distinguished career in academic medicine.

Professor Thomas, who became Bristol’s Vice-Chancellor in 2001, was previously Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.

He is Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network and a board member of the South West Regional Development Agency – not to mention, according to today’s citation, an ‘avowed fan of Newcastle United’.

The Royal College of Physicians is the oldest medical institution in England. Since the College's creation by Royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518, it has engaged in a wide range of activities dedicated to its overall aim of upholding and improving standards of medical practice. The Fellows are senior members of the medical profession, usually hospital consultants or physicians working in university departments of medicine.