I am honoured to present Professor Claude Jaupartfrom the Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris as a recipient of an Honorary degree.  

Volcanoes are the most dramatic demonstration that we live on a dynamic planet. Volcanic eruptions replenish the oceans, atmosphere and land and are a vital part of the Earth system that sustains life and creates stunning landscapes. The interior of the Earth is extremely hot.Even at 100 km below our feet the temperature exceeds 1,000oC. Understanding of volcanoes and the flow of heat from the hot interior of the Earth has been greatly increased through the application of mathematics and physics by Claude Jaupart. Claude is one of the most outstanding Earth scientists of the last few decades. He is the world's leading expert on heat flow in the Earth and his work is used widely by both academia and industry to explore the Earth’s interior. Claude’s research has explained how volcanoes erupt, elucidated the dynamics of tectonic plates and documented the flow of heat from the Earth’s interior to the surface. Claude’s research will help use this gigantic geothermal energy source for society’s benefit. 

​Claude Jaupart has a special place in the history of the School of Earth Sciences and the University of Bristol. When Bernie Wood and I came to Bristol in 1989 we appreciated the importance of recruiting talent worldwide; indeed the success of science in the UK relies on attracting brilliant people from around the world. Claude was recruited to develop a world-class volcanology group at Bristol. He joined Bristol in 1990 and 1991, during which time he made major contributions that helped build the School’s research profile and international reputation in its formative years. He helped to set up the world-class experimental laboratories, co-supervised PhD students and postdocs, and co-authored important papers with several staff. In short, he played a crucial role in building research prowess in volcanology and research on the Earth’s interior. The ties between Bristol and Claude have been close ever since. His collaboration with Bristol continues with new studies of how continents form with Professor Chris Hawkesworth. 
 
Claude was Director of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris for 10 years. The IPGP is France's top research and premier global institute in Earth sciences, placing him in a key national, European and international leadership position. He steered the Institute through major reforms and complete refurbishment caused by chronic infrastructure problems. His research is characterised by great originality and knowledge in mathematics and physics, skill in experimental science and commitment to meticulous field observations. He applied these attributes to making major advances in understanding volcanism and the dynamics of the Earth. For these brilliant accomplishments he has won several major international awards, notably the Harry Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and Arthur Holmes Medal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), which are two of the highest international medals in the Earth sciences.  He was elected as a Fellow of the AGU and is a member of the French Academy of Sciences. 
 
Claude went into science because he wanted to address our society's energy needs independently of environmentally dangerous solutions such as nuclear energy and oil. Specifically, he wanted to develop geothermal energy, which led him to study the Earth's energy budget, heat transport mechanisms and volcanic systems and processes. Among the joys of being a field scientist are strange and sometimes funny events. Claude and I did field work together in the Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria studying ancient lavas. One of his greatest memories of the trip was a goat we named Boris, who insisted on following us for most of a day and doggedly kept trying to eat our shoelaces when we were looking at the rocks. Note that the year was 1994 and so links to contemporary Borises is entirely coincidental. In Canada, when Claude was discussing hunting with a Canadian miner very far away from any city, the miner asked him whether the moose were good or not in Paris. 
 
There are other sides to Claude outside academia. He was an accomplished rugby player and we enjoyed friendly banter whenever Les Bleus took on Les Rosbifs. Claude has the bragging rights for the moment. Claude is an afficionado of early 1970s British rock music with an encyclopaedic knowledge. His greatest love is the Kinks and he has a comprehensive collection of Kinks records and bootlegs. Claude tells me he learnt the nuances of English language, culture and humour from Ray Davies’s lyrics. One of his favourites, perhaps resonant for the travel-weary academic or business person, is “sitting in my hotel room, thinking about the countryside and sunny days in June”. 
 
Finally Claude, toutesnosfélicitations pour votremerveilleuse contribution aux sciences de la Terre. 
 
Pro Vice-Chancellor, I present to you Professor Claude Jaupart as eminently worthy of the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa.