YouTube can welcome 2015 celebrating the fact that one of its content creators was just knighted. Martyn Poliakoff, a professor of chemistry at the University of Nottingham in England and the host of the Periodic Table of Videos show on YouTube, was given a bachelor knighthood status from Queen Elizabeth II.
Now known as Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff, the good-natured, fuzzy-haired YouTube host was one of the many deserving individuals who were put on the UK’s New Year’s Honours List and awarded some form of honorary title. Sir Martyn told UK’s The Guardian he believes he was knighted for multiple reasons. “It is partly through my role at the Royal Society as an ambassador for UK science, but also it is for my role in chemistry,” he explained. “Partly my research in green and sustainable chemistry.”
Yet Sir Martyn didn’t want to overlook his efforts “to promote chemistry through YouTube,” specifically via the Periodic Videos channel which now boasts over 519,000 subscribers. The channel’s Table of Videos series was created and produced by video journalist Brady Haran to teach people about the 118 elements on the periodic table. Once the series’ creators ran out of elements, they expanded into other areas of science. Sir Martyn has hosted many of the channel’s 500+ videos, which have received over 80 million views to date.
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Sir Martyn noted how unique his knighthood is in terms of his digital accomplishments. “I think it may be the first time that YouTube has been mentioned when somebody has got a knighthood, and so I feel really quite proud about that,” the professor stated. “And I also really want to thank you YouTube viewers who have made this possible through your enthusiasm for chemistry. So in a way, this is an honor we can all share together.”
The chemistry professor-turned-knight expressed doubt about how useful his new title will be in a video uploaded on December 30, 2014. He said when he received his doctorate he could use that title to “produce an effect,” especially when complaining to a company’s customer service employees.
“Now I have no idea whether ‘Sir’ will produce a similar effect or whether people will just laugh,” he said. Don’t worry, Sir Martyn – we think the title will work brilliantly.
