A Nobel Laureate has disclosed that he is spending his prize money to help young Scots attend university.
Prof David MacMillan, a North Lanarkshire native, revealed that he had established a foundation in memory of his parents.
In October, the Princeton University chemist and German scientist, Benjamin List, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He was born in New Stevenston, near Bellshill, and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in chemistry.
He subsequently went to the United States to pursue doctoral studies.
His collaboration with Prof. List on creating molecules that are mirror reflections of one another earned him the worldwide prize and a half-share of the ten million krona (£842,611) prize pot.
Their chemical toolset has been used to create compounds that can collect light in solar cells and develop new medications.
Prof. MacMillan, 54, said that he was giving away all of the money from his Nobel Prize, including money for talks he would give in the year after his win.
“We’re giving all of the Nobel money to charity,” he stated. In addition, all honoraria from all the talks I’ll be giving for the first year will be donated to charity.
To honour his parents’ support for his education, he established the May and Billy MacMillan Foundation.
He went to New Stevenston Primary and Bellshill Academy, and he has stated that he is “very, very proud” of his “working class” upbringing.
The Rangers supporter, who now lives in Hawaii with his wife and three children, was in Glasgow on Sunday as a guest of honour for the Old Firm encounter at Ibrox Stadium.
Prof. MacMillan previously stated that the award was his “road to Off The Ball,” which he listens to every week online from the United States and that being interviewed on the show in October was an “absolute dream come true” for him.
He also revealed that he owes $1000 to Prof. List, “the German boy from whom I took the concept.”
