For a man who has been appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, Robert Milton Worcester showed some humility Friday night at the annual All-University Supper at the Kansas Union.

“I’m just a simple country boy from Kansas – gee shucks,” Worcester said during the Kansas University and KU Alumni Association event.

Worcester earned a bachelor’s degree in business from KU in 1955.

Worcester, legal scholar Philip Frickey and biomedical researcher Irving Johnson each received the Distinguished Service Citation – the highest honor from KU and the alumni association.

Worcester was recently appointed chancellor of the University of Kent, and he also formed Market and Opinion Research International, England’s leading police research agency.

“KU changed my life, as it can be said for most of us here,” he said.

Frickey, originally from Oberlin, earned a bachelor’s degree from KU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1975. He is now a distinguished law professor at the University of California-Berkeley and is known for his book “Cases and Materials on Legislations: Statutes and the Creation of Public Policy.”

“I owe a great debt to the honors program at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Frickey said. “It taught me I might not only be able to think but be able to make something of myself as well.”

Johnson earned his doctorate degree in philosophy from KU in 1953. He is credited for his biomedical research with Eli Lilly and Co. that led to the commercial production of human insulin to help make it readily available for more than 200 million diabetics worldwide.

Johnson predicted more scientific breakthroughs in drug discovery.

“We are in a golden age, in my view, of drug development and biomedical research,” he said.

The three honorees received a certificate from Chancellor Robert Hemenway and spoke to a mix of about 250 alumni, administrators, faculty, staff and students in the union’s ballroom.

Before the presentation, Hemenway spoke about the state of KU, which he said was “stronger than it has ever been.”

Among other topics, he lauded the work of the Kansas Legislature during the recent session. He cited the agreement to help fund the new KU Cancer Center with $5 million annually, keeping state base aid the same and the new interest on tuition bill.

“In the midst of all of the discussion about K-12 education, (legislators) managed not to forget about higher education,” Hemenway said.