Alumni news
Ribbons of inspiration
Artist Pippa Hale and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the unveiling of the sculpture.
Artist Pippa Hale and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the unveiling of the sculpture.
A new sculpture by contemporary artist Pippa Hale (Fine Art 1995) celebrates the lives of almost 400 inspirational women who have contributed to the city of Leeds.
The sculpture champions the inspiring contributions made by women past and present with a strong connection to the city. The project began in 2019, when a public appeal was made for nominations. Pippa’s sculpture was unveiled in October at the city’s Quarry Hill site by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves – who is among those named in the sculpture.
Leeds alumni honoured include singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae (English Literature 2000), Yorkshire’s Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime Alison Lowe (History 1990, MA Medieval Studies 1993, Hon DLitt 2022), long-serving community GP Rebecca Hardy (Medicine 1982), Louise Bryant (Psychology 1998, PhD 2003) Professor of Psychological and Social Medicine at the University – and author and suffragette Margaret Storm Jameson (English Literature 1912).
Lawyer wins Royal approval
Ayesha Smart is Britain’s youngest-ever minority ethnic Crown Court judge
Ayesha Smart is Britain’s youngest-ever minority ethnic Crown Court judge
Ayesha Smart (Medical Sciences 2011) is Britain’s youngest-ever minority ethnic Crown Court judge. At the age of 34, Ayesha was chosen to sit in Crown Courts across the north of England, following a selection process of exams, interviews and approval from the King.
Ayesha’s family is from Sri Lanka, and they settled in Yorkshire when she was a teenager. After graduation, she worked as a pathologist before converting to law.
Speaking of her appointment she said: “As someone who has faced prejudice in my life and career, it’s really positive to show that people of colour and women can be just as successful as their white or male counterparts.”
Anita Rani has progressed from being a part-time broadcaster on Leeds Student Radio to presenting BBC TV shows such as Countryfile. She received an Honorary Doctor of Laws.
Honour for leading volunteer
Businessman, philanthropist and academic Dr Mustafa Izzuddin (Politics Junior Year Abroad 2004) has been named in the annual publication “The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims”. Now based in Singapore, Dr Izzuddin was cited for his decades of voluntary leadership in championing socio-cultural causes and being a leading voice in interfaith bridge-building.
A career on the rails
Mark Wild has been appointed Chief Executive of railway project HS2
Mark Wild has been appointed Chief Executive of railway project HS2
The responsibility for leading Britain’s biggest infrastructure programme has been handed to Mark Wild OBE (MBA 1997), who has been appointed Chief Executive of railway project HS2. Due for completion in 2033, HS2 will see trains running at 225mph between London and Birmingham. Mark’s previous roles include being CEO of London’s Crossrail programme. Later named the Elizabeth Line, the project won the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture in 2024.
Breaking sport’s biggest stories
Sports writer Martyn Ziegler
Sports writer Martyn Ziegler
Veteran sports writer Martyn Ziegler (Geography 1989) has been named Sports Journalist of the Year. The Chief Sports Reporter for the Times received the accolade at the 2024 Press Awards.
Martyn told the world about controversial plans for football's European Superleague and broke the news of Manchester City's 115 alleged breaches of Premier League rules. “Some journalists enjoy writing about live sport or reviewing music or restaurants,” he says. “For me, the buzz was always about breaking news, and that’s still what I really like about the job.”
Tackling inequalities in cancer
Dr Sigourney Bonner (Human Physiology 2014) established Black in Cancer to tackle inequalities in both cancer research and treatment. “Black people are under-represented in research and overrepresented in cancer mortality,” says Dr Bonner, now a postdoctoral associate at the University of Cambridge.
Encouraged by her lecturers, when she graduated from Leeds, Sigourney wanted to progress into medical research. The loss of her aunt to cancer made her more determined to change lives.
She ticked all the boxes for postgraduate research – a top degree from a Russell Group University, a year in industry, summer placements, a scholarship award for top performing undergraduates. Yet she wasn’t accepted onto PhDs, while fellow graduates with similar experiences were enrolled by the next term. It took another four years before Sigourney was successful.
Black in Cancer aims to expand knowledge of the disease within the black community and increase the number of black scientists in the field: “Until I started my doctorate I’d never met a black woman with a PhD,” she says.
At the same time, research has shown significant inequalities in treatment, with black patients typically receiving later diagnoses and poorer care than their white counterparts.
Double win for Leeds comedy stars
Two Leeds graduates have taken the top awards at the 2024 Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Amy Gledhill (Performance and Cultural Industries 2009) won best show at the awards, which takes place over the course of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She had been nominated previously for her stand up and as part of the comedy sketch duo The Delightful Sausage. But her winning performance was for her stand up show Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, where she explored her self-esteem.
And Joe Kent-Walters (Performance and Cultural Industries 2020) won the best newcomer award as his alter ego, seedy working men’s club proprietor Frankie Monroe. Joe also won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2023.
Director of the awards, Nica Burns, said: “Our two winners this year share one thing: funny bones. They have a gift for comedy and have honed how best to use it. Their comedy speaks to everyone – they are both clearly on their way to major stardom. I predict in a few years’ time they will be household names.”
Previous winners of the Edinburgh Comedy Award include Steve Coogan, fellow Leeds alum The League of Gentlemen, Hannah Gadsby and Jenny Eclair.
Joe Kent-Walters (left) and Amy Gledhill (right) with fellow winner Rob Copland and presenter Richard Osman at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Joe Kent-Walters (left) and Amy Gledhill (right) with fellow winner Rob Copland and presenter Richard Osman at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Simrun Punjabi (left) and Husain Alogaily with Compost-it volunteers Orla Smith and Katherine Mustard.
Simrun Punjabi (left) and Husain Alogaily with Compost-it volunteers Orla Smith and Katherine Mustard.
Putting their energy to waste
Simrun Punjabi (Environment and Business 2020; MSc Sustainable Food Systems 2023) has been honoured for her work preventing food waste from going to landfill.
Alongside Husain Alogaily (MSc Sustainable Food Systems 2023) Simrun leads local action group Compost-It. Their service, which began in Roundhay and is spreading to other parts of Leeds, collects waste such as fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells and scraps of bread, which then go to farmers and gardeners who turn it into compost.
Simrun was a winner in the 25 Under 25 Global Legacy Awards, run by leadership organisation Common Purpose. The awards celebrate young people making a transformative difference in their communities.
Anna’s Blurred memoir
A coming-of-age novel by BBC World Service Digital Editor Anna Doble (Broadcast Journalism 2001) is an alternative history of the Britpop years, charting her time at University while writing music reviews for Leeds Student newspaper (now The Gryphon).
It is 1994. In a loft bedroom in North Yorkshire, fifteen-year-old Anna sits on the carpet immersed in the pages of Smash Hits, listening to cassette tapes that she keeps in a shoebox. She is dreaming of living inside the songs. The very same year, British music is about to be transformed and will leap from pop to rave to Britpop.
This new universe which will change Anna's life, is charted in her new novel.
‘Connection is a Song: Coming Up and Coming Out Through the Music of the '90s’ is available through Amazon and other booksellers. “These are not the ’90s you see in those countdown shows on TV at Christmas,” she says. “I was never in the Groucho Club drinking champagne with Alex James, because I was in the Old Bar drinking Lemon Hooch.”
Could wool be peat’s livesaver?
Ruth Lindsey is pioneering the use of wool to prevent vital peatlands from being eroded
Ruth Lindsey is pioneering the use of wool to prevent vital peatlands from being eroded
Ruth Lindsey (Textile Management 1988) is pioneering the use of wool logs to prevent vital peatlands from being eroded. Peatlands play a crucial climate role by storing huge amounts of carbon, but many have become damaged and eroded, allowing heavy rain to wash peat away and the peatlands to release carbon dioxide.
Coconut fibre logs have been used in the past, but now textiles entrepreneur Ruth is testing the use of Swaledale sheep wool, sourced from local farmers at market price. The 1-3 metre long logs are being tested in the Dales, North York Moors, Dartmoor, High Peak and the Cairngorms National Park both to prevent peat erosion and reduce flood dangers downstream.
Triumph and disaster
Author Adam Higginbotham (History 1990) has been awarded the prestigious Kirkus Prize for his latest book Challenger, which catalogues in forensic detail the 1986 Challenger space shuttle tragedy. Adam is a former US correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph magazine, and his previous work, Midnight in Chernobyl, told the tale of the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Conferred annually by US literary publication Kirkus Reviews, the award is worth $50,000 to winners in fiction, non-fiction and young readers categories.is post.”
Friend of the forest
John Ward (Civil Engineering 1969) has been awarded an MBE for services to the New Forest. John pioneered new planning policies for the Forest, helped establish a housing association to provide local social homes, then became the new National Park’s Strategy and Planning Director. In retirement he chaired the ‘Friends of the New Forest’ campaigning charity for 10 years, stepping down in April, and was awarded life membership of the Campaign for National Parks.
Screen sports star
With TNT Sports increasing their coverage of Premier League and European football in the UK, Lynsey Hipgrave (Broadcast Journalism 2001) is an increasingly familiar face on our TV screens – and one of the most prominent women in this male-dominated field.
Working alongside former Saturday morning host Danny Baker on BBC Radio 5 Live gave Lynsey an early exposure to live broadcasting, and in 2010 she switched to Al Jazeera Sports, presenting their Champions League coverage alongside Gary Lineker.
After working with ITV4, BT Sports and ESPN, covering both football and tennis, the lifelong Newcastle United fan is now a key figure in TNT’s presentation teams, anchoring their coverage of some of the biggest nights in European football.
Chipping in
Anthony Zupnik raised almost £8,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust on his tour of Wimpy fast food restaurants
Anthony Zupnik raised almost £8,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust on his tour of Wimpy fast food restaurants
Lifelong Wimpy fan and cancer survivor Anthony Zupnik (MPhys Physics 2011) spent July visiting all 61 UK branches of the fast food chain while raising almost £8,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. His 2,400-mile tour took in branches from Dorset to Scotland and saw him try every item on the menu. He says the charity was a huge help after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at 22: “At my lowest points, the support I received from nurses and youth workers was invaluable.”
Helping sick children get home from hospital
Led by Nicky Bowie (nee Catcheside) (Law 1998), Australian organisation Hospitals United for Sick Kids is on a mission to reduce the impact that being in hospital can have on sick children and their families.
Hospitals United for Sick Kids is the only national alliance of children’s hospitals and foundations with partners in every state and territory. The organisation raises funds across the country to invest in urgent projects, equipment and cutting-edge research that help children to get home from hospital to the things they miss.
Nicky has almost 25 years’ experience in large commercial roles with companies such as Kellogg’s and Unilever across Australia and the UK. She says: “It’s extremely motivating to be leading a team dedicated to improving health outcomes for children across Australia.”
Fashion model
Imogen Matanle has created a new model for sustainable fashion
Imogen Matanle has created a new model for sustainable fashion
Clothing brand Batch LDN offers a new model for sustainable fashion.
Run and part-owned by Imogen Matanle (Graphic and Communication Design 2021), the London business allows shoppers to buy affordable made-to-order garments. After customers place their orders, these are held before being batch-ordered from a London manufacturer; the four to eight week wait allows them to be sold at a fraction of the normal cost.
Imogen already has a number of high-profile customers including comedian Romesh Ranganathan, sports presenter Dan Walker and reality TV star Spencer Matthews.
Recruiters’ top accolade
The founder of a social enterprise that helps disadvantaged people back into work has been recognised in a list of Europe’s top young entrepreneurs.
Alongside business partner James McBride, Lyndon Timings-Thompson (Geological Sciences 2016), picture left, has been named on Forbes’s 30-under-30 list of Europe’s brightest young entrepreneurs and leaders. Based in the University innovation hub Nexus, their business We Are Social Enterprise Recruitment finds employees for the construction industry, notably people who have been out of work for reasons including ill health, childcare commitments or being in prison.
Lyndon’s development as an entrepreneur was supported by the University’s business start-up service, Spark.
Supporting growth
Aviva chief executive Dame Amanda Blanc (MBA 1999) is advising new UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on the creation of a £7.3 billion national wealth fund.
Alongside former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and Barclays chief executive C.S Venkatakrishnan, she joins a project at the heart of the new Labour government’s industrial strategy. The fund will mobilise investment in clean energy and other growth industries.
During her long career, Amanda has held a number of senior roles with financial services giants including Zurich Insurance and Axa UK. She was the first woman to chair the Association of British Insurers and received a damehood in the 2024 New Year Honours List for her services to business, gender equality and net zero.
International recognition
The British Council’s Study UK Alumni Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of alumni around the world, recognising those who have used their experience of studying in Britain to make a positive contribution to their communities.
Linh-Chi Ngac (left) shares issues faced by vulnerable people to drive change, Savi Munjal (right) is an academic, philanthropist, entrepreneur and author
Linh-Chi Ngac (left) shares issues faced by vulnerable people to drive change, Savi Munjal (right) is an academic, philanthropist, entrepreneur and author
Linh-Chi Ngac (MA International Communications 2012) was among those recognised in the 2024 awards, for her work in Vietnam with vulnerable people, including disadvantaged children and victims of abuse and human trafficking. Chi uses impactful story-telling to share issues faced by the vulnerable, and draw in the support of Government and the private sector to drive positive change. “Studying in the UK taught me to believe in myself and the power of the wildest dreams,” she said.
Savi Munjal (PhD English Literature 2012) has been selected for the Culture and Creativity award in India. Savi is an academic, philanthropist, entrepreneur and best-selling author. She has taught at Delhi University and co-founded Bruised Passports, an organisation credited with revolutionising millions of people's approach to travel.
Charity leadership
With a daughter who has a complex and profound learning disability, Pete Richardson (MBA 1995) has experienced first-hand the myriad challenges faced both by individuals with learning difficulties and their families.
Pete is bringing this experience – alongside his track record in leadership roles in the NHS, international pharmaceutical and charity sectors – to his work leading UK charity the Fragile X Society. The society works to raise awareness of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) and support those with the condition. FXS affects around one-in-5,000 people and can cause a wide range of learning difficulties, as well as social, verbal, emotional, physical and behavioural problems.
Ilan’s live game
Film composer Ilan Eshkeri
Film composer Ilan Eshkeri
Thirty years of PlayStation gaming is being celebrated with a worldwide arena concert tour featuring music from many of their games.
Among those performing is film composer Ilan Eshkeri (English and Music 1999) who created the soundtrack to the Ghost of Tsushima game, which has sold more than 13 million units worldwide. PlayStation: The Concert begins in April in Dublin, followed by six UK dates, including at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
Ilan’s latest work includes the score for the documentary Super/man, which charts the life of the actor Christopher Reeve. It was named best score at the recent Critics Choice awards in New York.
A greener alternative
Jamie Walters - co-founder of Calyxia
Jamie Walters - co-founder of Calyxia
From oceans to farmland, plastic particles are found in alarming concentrations across all our ecosystems, posing a threat both to the environment and public health.
Technology company Calyxia, co-founded and led by Jamie Walters (Nanotechnology 2008), is tackling the issue head-on by producing high-performing, cost-effective and sustainable microcapsules, enabling manufacturers to replace microplastic ingredients in everything from laundry detergents to crop protection chemicals.
“Our customers are eager to reduce the environmental impact of their products, but often face trade-offs with performance and profitability,” Jamie explains. “Our solution eliminates those trade-offs, enabling manufacturers to adopt greener practices without compromising efficiency.”
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