A PROFESSOR and cathedral clergyman has been awarded one of the UK's premier learning distinctions.

The Reverend Canon Professor David Brown, a theologian at Durham University and canon of Durham Cathedral, has been made a fellow of the British Academy.

He is among 35 new fellows admitted to the academy this year, and is the only academic from the North-East.

Prof Brown was appointed to Durham University in 1990 as Van Mildert Professor of Divinity, and is also the canon librarian at the cathedral, with responsibility for the organisation of its several libraries and the custody and cataloguing of their books.

Among the topics he teaches are contemporary, philosophical, and sacramental theology, as well as theology and the visual arts.

His research interests include creation and revelation and his recent publications include The Sense of the Sacramental, Christ the Sacramental Word, and Tradition and Imagination.

Sir Kenneth Calman, university vice-chancellor, said: "This is a great distinction for Prof Brown and a testimony to the strength of our staff."

Theology has been taught at Durham since its foundation in 1832.