Alumni Awards 2025
Celebrating excellence
The Alumni Awards, launched just last year, have quickly become a highlight in our calendar – a moment for us to celebrate the incredible achievements of our alumni community.
These awards honour individuals who exemplify excellence across various domains: as ambassadors, entrepreneurs, achievers, contributors to social impact, and those who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments, whether recent or over a lifetime.
The awards provide a platform for alumni to shine, by either nominating themselves or being nominated by students, staff, fellow alumni, and members of the public.
The response for this year's awards was nothing short of extraordinary: we received nearly 200 nominations! Each application was a testament to the remarkable talent, dedication, and impact of our alumni.
Our distinguished judging panel, which included Dindu Okechukwu, SU President, Rachel Brown, Head of Development and Alumni Relations, and John Curnow, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, faced the challenging task of narrowing down the nominees to a final shortlist.
After their careful deliberation, the final decision was placed in the hands of the public to decide our winners.
We extend a heartfelt congratulations to our winners:
- Alumni Ambassador Award: Michelle Cotter
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Harrison Nash
- Rising Star Award: Emily Bibby
- Entrepreneurial Award: Amii James
- Trailblazer Award: Lucy Ford
- Social Impact Award: Ian Sherriff
I’d like to thank all 24 nominees for being fantastic ambassadors for Â鶹´«Ã½. From our home in the sunny South West, our University now has 190,000 alumni in 158 countries. That’s something we can all be proud of – an incredible statistic for a modern university that reflects our diversity and strength as an institution.
Professor Richard Davies
Vice-Chancellor
Alumni Ambassador Award winner
Michelle Cotter
A recent graduate in Adult Health and Mental Health Nursing, Michelle is someone who is always quick to advocate for and support her fellow students, and draws on relatable experiences to help others learn from her own journey.
She’s been a regular at open days and interviews, alongside being active in the Peer Assisted Learning Scheme.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner
Harrison Nash
Graduating from BA (Hons) Social Work in 2011, Harrison has spent more than 17 years dedicated to supporting vulnerable and traumatised children in South Africa.
He is the founder of Maranatha Care Children, a charity that aims to offer children education, life skills, and a safe home environment – helping them fulfil their potential.
A holder of the British Empire Medal, Harrison has also shared his expertise as an Honorary Lecturer at the University since 2019, delivering talks to inspire future social workers and share an invaluable international perspective.
Rising Star Award winner
Emily Bibby
A Mechanical Engineering graduate and Babcock International Best Project Prize winner, Emily is currently excelling within the BAE Systems Graduate Scheme. Emily recently earned the Sustainability Graduate award at the BAE Systems Graduate Awards, recognising her impactful work in decarbonisation and vessel efficiency.
Alongside her successful career, she is a researcher pursuing a masters. In addition, Emily somehow finds time to volunteer as a youth leader with the Scouts and save lives at sea with the RNLI.
Entrepreneurial Award winner
Amii James
Amii completed her Illustration degree in 2021 and completed a further masters with us, last year. The first in her family to attend university, Amii is now a self-employed illustrator, creating witty prints, books, colouring books and more.
She has built a large following on social media, including attracting the attention of celebrities, and recently secured a licensing agreement with a greetings card company that supplies retail giants Waterstones and John Lewis.
Through resilience and entrepreneurial spirit, Amii has turned her creative passion into a flourishing business that connects people globally through creativity, absurdity and dry humour.
Trailblazer Award winner
Lucy Ford
Lucy is a Psychology graduate who co-founded the Community Interest Company, Her Game Too, a passionate movement dedicated to tackling sexism and promoting gender equality within the world of sport
Running the campaign alongside working full time, Lucy and her friends have partnered with 76 of the 92 professional football clubs in England and branched out into cricket, rugby, ice hockey and e-sports as far afield as France and USA.
The result is that Her Game Too is ensuring women and girls feel welcome and empowered in what is a traditionally male-dominated environment.
Social Impact Award winner
Ian Sherriff
Ian is a Social Work and Management Studies graduate who is well known throughout the University and further afield, as a champion of compassionate, individualised social care for those with dementia plus their carers.
He is a much-loved ambassador for Â鶹´«Ã½, who represents the University locally, nationally, and internationally, spearheading numerous initiatives and contributing to research and policy to improve social care in the community.
A British Empire Medal holder, Ian has worked with several prime ministers and is currently working with the UK government and a Ukrainian dementia charity to help rebuild the war-torn country’s care services.
The standard of entries was exceptionally high, and each winner has demonstrated extraordinary achievements that make them truly deserving of this accolade.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who participated in the awards – from nominating, judging, and voting to cheering on the nominees.
The next Alumni Awards will take place in 2026.
We can’t wait to continue this tradition of recognising and celebrating the outstanding contributions of our alumni.
H Alumni Ambassador Award
Recognising graduates who have gone above and beyond with their ambassador duties. Examples can include: paying it forward with their time by hosting alumni events for a particular chapter; offering guidance and support by mentoring the next generation of graduates; sharing their experiences through inspirational storytelling or by speaking publicly at events aimed at our student community.
H Lifetime Achievement Award
Recognising a graduate for their ongoing and significant contribution over a number of years, at any stage of their life. This award is for individuals who have made positive contributions of outstanding significance in their particular field.
H Rising Star Award
This award recognises a recent graduate who has achieved something extraordinary within just five years of leaving Â鶹´«Ã½. It celebrates our talented and creative alumni who aren’t afraid to take risks and follow their passions.
H Entrepreneurial Award
This award recognises a graduate who has displayed an entrepreneurial spirit in their endeavours.
H Trailblazer Award
This award recognises the work of our innovative alumni who are striving to make a positive impact in their field right now and for future generations.
H Social Impact Award
This award recognises a graduate who has made a positive contribution to the lives of others.