As well as the 20,000 graduates crossing the stage this summer we were also delighted to present Alumni Laureate Awards (ALAs) to our most recent recipients!

Since 2007 the university has presented ALAs to recognise alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their community, stimulated new ideas and shown exceptional dedication, creativity, or leadership.

Here are the 2020 winners who were presented with their awards during graduation – and keep an eye out later this autumn, as we relaunch our ALAs, for information on how you can nominate a worthy recipient.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam MBE (Medicine, 1987)

We recognised JVT’s many talents long before the pandemic, with our 2020 recipients being chosen before Covid-19 was in the public consciousness.

But if we needed reminding, his career spans across academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and the public sector, including roles as Head of the Pandemic Influenza Office, Chair of the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control, and serving on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) before becoming one of the most senior advisors to the Government during the pandemic, regularly presenting at the Government’s national briefings – becoming something of a national icon in the process.

We’re of course delighted he returned ‘home’ in May, to take up the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences.

Special Excellence Award

Anmarie Spaziano (Sociology, 2002)

Better known to you and I as ‘Annie’ of Annie’s Burger Shack, Anmarie moved to the UK from Rhode Island in the USA in her 20s, having first studied to become a pre-equine vet before her Sociology degree here at Nottingham.

Having grown up just down the road from the first ever traditional US diner, she was determined to bring a slice of authentic Americana to the Midlands and opened the original Annie’s Burger Shack in 2009. People fell in love with her tasty cooked-to-order burgers, and after moving to The Navigation Inn, queues would form with up to a three hour wait for food. In 2014 the first independent Annie’s Burger Shack restaurant opened in the Lace Market, where it remains one of Nottingham’s most-visited eateries.

Richard Wardlaw OBE (Production Engineering, 1991)

Joining the Army after graduation, Richard has over 28 years’ service around the globe in Hong Kong, Brunei, the Falkland Islands, Germany, and the UK – and operationally in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 2007 and 2009, he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) following his tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

As Chief of Defence, Logistics and Support, Richard currently holds the rank of 3* General, placing him among the most senior soldiers in the Army. Within six months of appointment, Richard’s team was actively engaged in providing vital strategic logistic advice to the Government response to Covid-19 and thereafter played a pivotal role in planning and distributing vaccines to UK forces around the globe and the populations of the UK’s Overseas Territories.

His team’s strategic logistic planning and coordination has also been in significant demand in responding to the more recent fuel distribution crisis, the evacuation from Afghanistan and of course in marshalling the military support required by the people of Ukraine. 

Steve Cliffe (Electrical Engineering, 1985)

Steve is currently Chairperson of University of Nottingham spin-out BlueSkye AI and previously held the role of CEO and President of Ultraleap for eight years, a world-leading technology company which combines 3D hand tracking with haptic technology to create the sensation of touch in mid-air.

Cutting edge engineering is in Steve’s lifeblood and over previous decades his work in the field of semiconductors has prompted advancements in technology which we all take for granted today – mobile phones, fibre-optic communications, and other computing technology.

Recent Graduate Award

Olivia Swift (Midwifery, 2015)

Swift by name, swift by nature. Midwife-turned-entrepreneur Olivia Swift wasted no time in establishing her own award-winning business, Lotus Maternity, from scratch after graduating from Nottingham in 2015.

The business provides products and services to support and empower mums as they navigate parenthood. It was during her training as a midwife, seeing the challenges faced by new mums, especially breastfeeding in public, that inspired Olivia to start the business. During the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the support offered through her business, Olivia returned to midwifery on Nottingham’s maternity wards to help during the crisis.

Two further alumni were recognised with Recent Graduate awards in 2020 and will receive their awards at a later date: Emily Seto (Clinical Microbiology, 2016) and Madeline Pizzoni (Nursing, 2013).