Mike, for almost all of us in this marquee, you have always been here, and tonight we celebrate your remarkable 40 year career at Tonbridge.
Faced with your application in 1978 listing two stellar degrees and university prizes from Oxford and post-doc positions at Harvard and Cambridge, it cannot have been Christopher Everett’s hardest decision to appoint you to the Chemistry Department!
Initially you also taught A-level Physics; latterly you saw the light and also taught A-level Maths – a one-man STEM maestro!
Within the Chemistry Department, you wrote the textbook, devised a finely tuned Scheme of Work, and created an astonishingly successful Chemistry Extension course which, since 1990, has delivered some 10% of all our 753 Oxbridge places.
At a memorable dinner just over a week ago, a large number of your former students returned to hear your valedictory lecture, and I took the opportunity to ask them what it was like to be taught by you:
“He made us think harder than we thought possible.”
“We loved it when he said, ‘This is what you need to write to score full marks in the exam, but this is what the answer should be.’.”
“He gave us the ideas and encouraged us to explore where they led.”
“He made the teaching at University seem a bit crap.”
But I was struck by how many had jobs with a research element – you really had lit a fire that kept burning.
Mike, I now turn to your writing.
While most of us have holidays, you just seem to have deadlines!
You have a remarkable symbiotic relationship with the world’s leading Chemistry textbook author, Peter Atkins, which dates back almost 50 years.
You have co-authored books with him: I remember seeing the Serbo-Croat translation of Principles of Physical Chemistry – which made as much sense to me as the English version!
And, even now, you are proof-reading and correcting the latest editions of his books – speaking truth unto power!
You edited the Penguin Dictionary of Science with a team of co-authors all of whom had connections with Tonbridge.
However, this magnificent tome surely has room for a few more entries?
Modifying Einstein’s energy equation
E=mc2 to
E=mjc might be a step too far, but how about an entry for:
Clugstonium. A great name for a chemical element, but what properties would it have? Radioactive with a record half-life?
Or perhaps a metal with a sequence of exotically coloured aqueous ions – Ferrari red, Lotus green, and Lionel Messi’s Barcelona and Argentina colours.
But, above all, can I propose an entry for the Clug as a unit of enthusiasm - and we can discuss later what qualifies for 1 Clug, 1 Kilo-Clug and 1 Mega-Clug!
Mike, you have always admired greatness in others – the best scientists, the best Formula 1 drivers since Fangio, the best sportsmen and women.
Tonight, the boot is on the other foot: it is our turn to admire your greatness.
We salute you and thank you for all that you have done at Tonbridge: 40 years of high octane, full throttle teaching where every twist and turn has been Eau Rouge.
You have enriched, enlivened and inspired us with your passions, your boundless energy, your phenomenal memory, your loyalty and your heart of gold.
We wish you a long, happy and productive retirement (keep writing!).
Can I ask everyone to stand and raise their glasses – ideally filled with Vintage Clug – in a toast to the Tonbridge legend that is Mike Clugston.
Help us celebrate a truly spectacular career at Tonbridge and share your memories of Mike in the comment box below, or email us at OTS@tonbridge-school.org
