HE earns millions a year and heads a company with 75,000 staff.

And George Buckley’s road to success started at Huddersfield.

The chairman of global giant 3M – which makes everything from post-it notes to passports – gave the first talk at a new lecture theatre at Huddersfield University yesterday.

The Sheffield man – who studied at the old Huddersfield Polytechnic in the 1970s – paid tribute to the place where he started on the road to success.

Mr Buckley, 62, said: “I had many great teachers here – like Mike Lewis, Keith Pratt and Jack Priestley – and I will be eternally grateful for the way they helped me. There’s no question that Huddersfield set me up for my career.”

Mr Buckley left school at 15 with no qualifications. However he won a place at Huddersfield Polytechnic in 1969, going on to get a degree and a PhD in engineering.

He was nearly 22 when he started studying. Mr Buckley was not a typical student. He said: “I was determined to get a good education. I didn’t come here to chase women or drink. My classmates may have thought I was a nerd.”

Mr Buckley added: “I lived in little bedsits on Wakefield Road and Halifax Road which had mice – the kind of places you stay when you’re a student. I also remember the terrible meals at the Students’ Union.”

But Mr Buckley is impressed by the changes since he left Huddersfield in the late 1970s.

He said: “This is a fabulous place. There have been great improvements like the new Creative Arts Building.”

Mr Buckley, who lives in Minnesota, became chairman, president and chief executive officer of 3M in 2005.

He said: “We make about 75,000 different products. We’re the largest manufacturers of dental products and adhesives in the world. We have 190 manufacturing sites including 11 in Britain. We make British passports at our site in Manchester.”

Mr Buckley, who has seven children aged 15 to 35, earned $6m before tax last year.

He spoke yesterday about managing in turbulent times at the new lecture theatre in the Estates Building.

The £370,000 redevelopment of the old recital hall holds up to 64 students.

University vice-chancellor Prof Bob Cryan was impressed with the new facility.

He said: “It’s a Harvard-style theatre rather than the old tiered system. It makes such a difference to the way the lecturer can engage with the students.”