A BURY-born man now living in the USA has been awarded France's top national honour.

Alec Hargreaves, a professor of French, was named a Chevalier in the Lgion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), an elite order created by the emperor Napoleon in 1802 to honour outstanding service to the French nation.

The honour, in recognition of his contribution to strengthening the cultural ties between France and the United States, was conferred on Mr Hargreaves by French Minister for Equal Opportunities Azouz Begag at a ceremony in Paris.

He praised the Bury man, who now directs a French Studies Institute in Florida, as an important influence in shaping public debate over anti-discrimination policy in France, including his own thinking as minister for equal opportunities.

"You have helped France better understand the challenges and opportunities of diversity," Mr Begag said. "Through your pioneering research and publications you also have helped the English-speaking world better understand France," he added.

He also noted that Mr Hargreaves had been among the first to make France's North African immigrant minorities widely known in Britain and the United States.

Mr Hargreaves was a pupil at the Derby School in Bury, when he first visited France in 1962 as part of a school exchange between Bury and its twin town Angouleme.

He said: "That first visit began a love affair with France that has remained strong ever since. It was wonderful to have that opportunity through Bury's twinning with Angouleme and I am delighted to receive this award."

It is rare for foreigners to be admitted to the Lgion d'Honneur. The Paris ceremony was attended by distinguished French writers, film makers, researchers and other public figures with whom Mr Hargreaves has worked.

A specialist on international migration in France, he was appointed in 1992 to the first professorship in England combining French and Francophone studies, a new field covering the interface between France and other French-speaking countries.

He served as head of the department of European Studies at Loughborough University before moving to the United States in 2001 to head Florida State University's newly-created Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies. He also has held visiting professorships at Warwick University in the UK and Cornell University in the United States as well as in Paris and at other French universities.

The Lgion d'Honneur is not the first honour conferred upon Mr Hargreaves by the French Government. In 2003, he was named a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms. That order, established by Napoleon in 1808, recognises devotion and accomplishment in the areas of teaching, scholarship and research.