Professor Nigel Slater was delighted to return to Bolton School to give the annual Marcus Tillotson Lecture - after all it was only 35 years ago that he was Captain of the School!  He is now Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and he entertained the audience with insights into a life spent in research and teaching. 

Nigel graduated in Natural Sciences at Cambridge and obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry where he was elected Research Fellow of Fitzwilliam College.  Over the past 28 years his professional and research interests have taken him into many interesting areas such as gene therapy, vaccines and biological medicines but he had to admit that he will probably remain most famous for introducing cholesterol-reducing cheese.  He said it was a bit like acting in Eastenders in that he felt he would be forever typecast.  His finding had come about through necessity as he had taken on a cheese business which had been within days of going bankrupt.  He managed to take out the fatty bits and replace them with cholesterol-reducing oils.  A Swiss company now sells the product.

The main message he wanted to put across to the audience of pupils, parents, staff and governors of Bolton School was that Science is a great deal of fun.

The Tillotson Lecture has been running since 1971 at the behest of Marcus Tillotson, a great supporter of Bolton School.  Sadly, in his ninetieth year and in the thirty fifth year of the lecture series, Marcus Tillotson passed away.  There is a long and illustrious list of past speakers including another former Old Boy, Sir Ian McKellen.