25 amazing achievements from our alumni community in 2025

1. International recognition for Law graduate’s expertise in AI governance and healthcare law

In spring 2025, we were thrilled to see Class of 2010 graduate Dr Barry Solaiman win the Science and Sustainability Award at the British Council Study UK Awards in Qatar.

Newcastle Law School graduate Barry has played a pivotal role in shaping the ethical and regulatory landscape for emerging healthcare technologies. Currently serving as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs & Assistant Professor of Law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar, his work focuses on ensuring the responsible development of AI, balancing innovation with ethical and legal safeguards.

2. Alumni couple donate $1million Singaporean dollars to support aspiring students on our international campuses

We are so grateful to Newcastle graduates Dr Choo Chiau Beng (MSc Naval Architecture, 1971) and Dr Eileen Lim (MBBS, 1972), who this year generously chose to give Newcastle University $1,000,000 (SGD) to create a permanent endowment supporting the next generation of students at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) and Newcastle University in Singapore (NUiS).

The new Choo-Lim Scholarship Fund will help future medics and engineers at these campuses to access an exceptional education, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

3. Former junior doctor makes shortlist of Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize

Class of 2018 Newcastle Medical School graduate William Rayfet Hunter celebrated being one of six authors shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025, for his novel Sunstruck.

Having won the #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize in 2022, a prize awarded to unpublished works of fiction, Sunstruck was released in May 2025 and was the book of the summer.  The novel tells the story of one young man becoming enveloped in the lives of a wealthy family and deals with the dizzying highs and devastating lows of young obsessive love.

What’s even better is that the central friendship group in Sunstruck is made up of Newcastle graduates, and so the plot features lots of Easter eggs that alumni readers will enjoy!

4. Team of Newcastle graduates and friends take on world’s biggest half-marathon for student community

It’s an event that is synonymous with our city, and this year a dedicated team of runners united at the Great North Run start line and pounded the pavements to raise £15,000 for the Newcastle University Student Fund.

Every step they took from Newcastle to South Shields went towards supporting young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education on campus, with the money raised providing scholarships and bursaries, hardship funding, food supplies, course materials and much more.

5. North East born screenwriter completes ‘the triple’ in trophy cabinet

In March, Class of 1994 English graduate and Conclave screenwriter Peter Straughan won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, completing the trio on his awards shelf, which already housed a BAFTA for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and a Golden Globe, also for Conclave.

Peter has worked as a screenwriter since the early 2000s, with notable film and TV credits including the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall starring Damien Lewis; Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People; The Men Who Stare at Goats starring George Clooney and John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

6. Three scientific trailblazers elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society

Three researchers from our alumni community were amongst 90 trailblazers to be recognised by the Royal Society this year for their contribution to scientific discovery and education. They are:

Dr Andrew Singleton (PhD in Neurology, 1999), former Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias in the US’s National Institute on Aging.
Dr Anthony Wood (BSc Chemistry, 1987; PhD, 1990), one of the world’s pre-eminent medicinal chemists who invented the anti-HIV drug maraviroc.
Professor Mohamed Hassan (BSc Pure Science, 1968), President of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences.

7. Annual NCL in Action programme launches globally to unite alumni community in facing the 'rifts and shifts' of the world together

This Autumn we have united Newcastle University alumni, colleagues, students and partners around the world to deep dive into the rifts and shifts facing society in 2025 and beyond.

Over 400 alumni, students, colleagues and friends helped us launch this year’s NCL in Action programme, with jam-packed events in Newcastle, New York, London, Singapore and Malaysia.

More events are running throughout the 25/26 academic year, with thought-provoking lectures, an accredited three-part workshop on debating and communicating with confidence, and networking events for our alumni in India to name just a few!

8. Blue plaque honouring medical graduate installed at former Easton Halls student accommodation in Jesmond

Over the summer, Class of 1944 alumna Dr Irene Ighodaro MBE, who was a social reformer and Sierra Leone’s first female doctor, became the first woman of African descent to be recognised by Newcastle City Council with a blue plaque.

The plaque was installed on Irene’s former student accommodation on Eskdale Terrace in Jesmond, where she lived while she was studying at Newcastle Medical School. Having supported the war effort at the RVI during her studies, Irene went on to lead her own medical practices in England and Nigeria, as well as having a vital role in establishing the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

9. Blue plaques are like buses; you wait forever for one, then two come at once!

Dr Irene Ighodaro wasn’t the only Newcastle graduate to be remembered with a prestigious blue plaque in our region this year. In October, South Tyneside Council erected a blue plaque in honour of Geology graduate Professor Paul Younger, who was Newcastle University’s first Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Engagement, in his hometown of Hebburn.

Regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts in the remediation of pollution associated with mining, Paul was the driving force behind the bid to make Newcastle a City of Science and Technology and led the pioneering research to drill for geothermal energy in the heart of our city. Highlights of Paul’s career included leading the research team which won Newcastle University its first Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2005 and being appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2007.

10. Blue Star Club making every stroke count

It’s been another successful year for Newcastle’s alumni rowers! In June, Will Stewart (MPhys Physics, 2019), Lola Anderson MBE (BA English Literature, 2019) and Dan Graham (BA Ancient History, 2020) basked in glory rowing for Great Britain’s Senior Team in the European Rowing Championships and World Cup 1.

Just a few months later, Dan competed at a senior world championship for the first time – and came home with Gold! He was part of the Team GB coxless four that beat Romania and the Netherlands to top the podium in Shanghai.

11. The Sewing Bee champions with a common thread of campus

Alumni fashion fans were treated to not one but two fellow Newcastle University graduates in BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee this year.

Following a ‘seamless’ display, both Kit Giroux (MMath Hons Mathematics, 2022) and Yasmin Proctor-Kent (PhD, 2021) made it to the final four of the competition, now in its eleventh series.

12. Brother sister alumni duo complete first-of-its-kind British Isles triathlon for farming mental health charity

In September, Mechanical Engineering graduate Hugh Addison and Law graduate sister Alex tackled an epic endurance challenge in aid of The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), farming’s oldest charity working across England and Wales. 

From a farming family, the pair have seen first-hand the need for better mental health support in rural communities. Their challenge saw them cycle 400km across Northern Ireland and Scotland, swim the length of the Irish Sea and run along Hadrian’s Wall in just four days to raise over £18,000.

13. Royal seal of approval for inspirational alumni

Over the course of the year, 32 Newcastle University graduates and colleagues have been named in King Charles III’s New Year and Birthday Honours, acknowledging their dedication and success in their respective fields.

This year’s honourees have made a remarkable impact spanning many fields, including advancing healthcare, championing education, protecting regional heritage and winning Olympic medals!

14. A pearly partnership: Celebrating 30 yearsof Loyola study abroad programme

Over the past three decades, Newcastle University has welcomed over 800 students from across the Pond to study on our campus and enjoy the Newcastle experience. Students from Loyola University Maryland spend a semester or a full year at Newcastle University, joining our alumni community and broadening their horizons.

In May 2025, we united these alumni in Maryland to officially mark 30 years of transatlantic partnership between the two institutions. The event was attended by graduates spanning from the Class of 1997 to Class of 2025, as well as Newcastle University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Chris Day, and was filled with nostalgic reflections and positive aspirations for the future.

15. ’Hundy’ honorary grad makes it to first Celebrity Traitors finale

The nation was hooked to the dramatic first celebrity iteration of BBC’s The Traitors – and we were keeping it Faithful ‘til the very end supporting social historian and 2025 honorary graduate, Professor David Olusoga OBE!

Social historian David grew up just over the river from campus in Gateshead and is best known for presenting documentaries on important parts of our history, including Empire and Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners, for which he won a BAFTA in 2016. He was made an honorary Doctor of Civil Law by Newcastle University earlier this summer.

16. Alumna gifts new graduates a helping hand into the music industry

Newcastle alumna and academic Dr Jane Nolan MBE is supporting the next generation of graduates on campus to help get their creative careers off the ground.  The inaugural Dr Jane Nolan Innovation and Enterprise Awards have provided funding to three 2025 graduates to further develop their own music projects. These are:

Luis Schmidt, founder of the symphony orchestra Capella Edina, Edinburgh’s first resident professional symphony orchestra since 1937.

Sam Alexander, founder of Aurella, is a next-generation music ecosystem platform using AI to support and empower independent artists and managers.

And Keane Baldwin, who has developed the Electronic Press Kit to support other independent musicians.

17. A summer of friendship: alumni reunions on campus

This summer we’ve been thrilled to help so many alumni celebrate special university anniversaries and organise reunions with their former classmates, including a weekend-long celebration of 60 years since one group first arrived on campus as Freshers!

Reuniting groups returned to their former home city to reminisce on their student days, explore the changes that Newcastle and the campus have experienced over the decades and most importantly – have fun!

18. Go Tigers!

Class of 2025 Sport and Exercise Science graduate Hermione Farmer signed for the Leicester Tigers women’s rugby team as a flanker over the summer, following four years representing Newcastle University in our 1st XV team. She made her Premiership debut for the team in a match against Saracens in November 2025.

19. Royal recognition for 30 years of dementia research

In November, we shared the story of alumnus Nigel Thomas, whose life as a dementia sufferer has been transformed by pioneering research done on campus.

Nigel has been diagnosed with Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, affecting around 130,000 people in the UK. For the past 30 years, Newcastle University researchers have worked to distinguish this from other dementia diseases and to improve diagnosis and treatments, and it is for this work that the university was recently awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education.

20. Chemical Engineering graduate brings chess back to our TV screens

In March, chess was broadcast again on TV in the UK for the first time in 30 years with the BBC’s Chess Masters: Endgame. Hosted by Sue Perkins, the show saw 12 amateur chess players battle it out to be named champion – and alumna Deema Khunda was amongst them!

‘Patient Predator’ Deema was eliminated from the competition in episode six, just missing out on a spot in the finale!

21. Microbiologist named in prestigious Forty Under 40 list

Newcastle graduate (twice over!) Dr Alan Koh was recently recognised in the prestigious UK Forty Under 40 Awards for his contribution to science.

Alan’s research focuses on behavioural science using the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as bacterial antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases, areas that have broad implications for global health and future therapeutic innovation.

22. Dominating in dodgeball

Three current and former Newcastle Kings dodgeball players competed in this year’s European Dodgeball Championships, which were held in Limerick, Ireland, from 26 – 29 June 2025.  

Class of 2025 graduate Fak Faisal brought home the title in the Men’s Cloth category, representing Northern Ireland and stepping onto the international stage for the first time. He was joined by fellow graduate James Ingoe (MEng Chemical Engineering, 2023), who captained Newcastle University’s team in the 2022/23 season and represented Wales at the tournament, and current student Zsofia Simon, representing Hungary.  

23. International recognition for alumna’s potential in ageing research

Huge congratulations to recent graduate Maria Kyriazi (BSc Biomedical Genetics, 2021; MRes Ageing and Health, 2022) who received the Young Star Award at the fourth annual Greek International Women Awards in Athens this November.

Maria is a doctoral researcher in Molecular and Cellular Medicine focusing on how cells change with age and how understanding this process can identify strategies to delay the onset of age-related diseases – including osteoarthritis which affects over 500 million people worldwide.

24. 2024 graduate celebrated for climate resilience research

Dr Kristina Wolf (MRes Geospatial Data Science, 2020; PhD, 2024) won the Excellent Young Researcher Award at the International Climate Resilience Conference in Munich in October 2025.

Now a researcher at our School of Engineering, Kristina focuses on public safety and disaster risk management, from exploring the impact of extreme weather on mass participation events - like the 2023 Great North Run - to monitoring water quality in Ethiopia.

25. And finally… connecting our global 280,000-strong alumni community

Did you know Newcastle University’s alumni community includes 280,000 graduates based in over 180 countries worldwide?

Each year, the university and our Alumni Networks host events and activities for graduates to reconnect with each other and their alma mater, and this year we’ve held over 90 events in the UK, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China and Taiwan!

These events range from social catch ups, professional development webinars, lectures, lunches and reunions. What connects them all is creating a little pocket of Newcastle around the world for our alumni to enjoy.