In July, as the University oversaw its biggest graduation celebration ever, over 170 guests joined us for our first Vice-Chancellor’s Celebration Dinner, an event held to celebrate all that is outstanding about the University of Southampton – its people and the impact our education and research have on the world.
The evening, hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education and Student Experience) Deborah Gill, brought together key figures from the local community and the national stage.
Our Vice-Chancellor, Mark E. Smith, said: “I was delighted to welcome many esteemed guests to St Mary’s to celebrate all the remarkable people that make Southampton a truly world-class institution. The dinner provided an excellent opportunity to progress relationships with civic leaders from Southampton, Winchester and Eastleigh, research partners, corporate contacts, alumni & donors.”
The event featured our inaugural Outstanding Alumni Awards to recognise the successes of Southampton’s talented alumni across the world.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for an alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution to their field and to society went to asylum barrister Dr S Chelvan, the UK’s leading expert on LGBTQ+ asylum law and newly appointed Visiting Adjunct Professor at the Research Centre for International Law and Globalisation.
The Rising Star Award for an alumnus who graduated from Southampton no more than five years ago and has achieved great success in that time, went to Dr Kizanne James-McCarthy, for her remarkable leadership and advocacy in the field of women’s reproductive health.
Two Alumni Service Awards were presented, one to James Vernon in recognition of his exceptional philanthropy and his equally generous giving of time, expertise and energy to help develop volunteering, mentoring, advocacy, enterprise and engagement in support of our students, research and infrastructure. The other was awarded to Jim and his late wife Monica Hubner, for their lifetime of dedicated support of the University, helping to build strong alumni networks, serving on Council and donating towards Southampton’s student support and research priorities.
A number of our Honorary Graduates also joined the celebration and were recognised during the evening with a special address by our Chair of Council, Philip Greenish and reply from Professor Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician and Honorary Doctorate recipient.
We also shared our ‘A furnace of possibility’ video with attendees: