Dr Robert Banks Awarded Dunelmensis Award for Exceptional Service to the University

31 August 2022

Symposium attendees smiling for a group photograph outside of Collingwood College.

Image above: A group of 50 of Bob’s friends and colleagues, both old and new, gathered at Collingwood College, University of Durham to celebrate the history, discoveries and future of research associated with Bob’s time in the field.

Dr Robert Banks (Bob) is one of just three winners of this year’s Dunelmensis Award. This award is given by the University’s Senate to a Durham alumnus or alumna for exceptional service in support of the University, particularly for our institutional advancement and for enhancing the University’s reputation, nationally and internationally. As well as his contribution to St Cuthbert’s Society where he has been a Tutor and where he now chairs the St Cuthberts’ Fellows, Bob has also been a firm advocate of the BSI and has taken an active role since it was formed in 2008.

After his formal retirement from the Department of Biosciences In 2013, the BSI was proud to support a symposium in his honour. This Physiological Society meeting was organised by his network of international colleagues. The respect and affection that the attendees have for Bob as a pioneer in the field, and a friend, was clear to be seen. The meeting attracted 53 attendees from 22 institutions and resulted in a special edition of the Journal of Anatomy (227(2), August 2015).