southampton

The University of Southampton has a rich history of nurturing talent and sending graduates into the world who achieve greatness in their chosen fields.

The University takes great pride in its alumni and their achievements. Here are some of the ways in which our outstanding alumni are recognised.

Find out more:

Outstanding Alumni Awards
British Council Study UK Alumni Awards
India UK Alumni Achievers Honours
Our honorary graduates

Outstanding Alumni Awards

The Outstanding Alumni Awards provides an opportunity to celebrate and champion our alumni's achievements in their field or society. Our commitment is to celebrate and represent the rich diversity of our community and showcase Southampton’s talented alumni across the world and the ongoing contribution they make to the University’s reputation as ambassadors and exemplars for our students.
 

Award Categories

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises an individual who has demonstrated exceptional accomplishments and made lasting contributions in their field or society over an extended period. This award honours alumni in the latter stages of their career or celebrates a lifetime of achievements after retirement.

The Civic Award is for alumni who have made an outstanding impact and contribution to the economic, social or cultural success of our local region, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This includes working with local government; arts, cultural, education or heritage groups; environmental groups; within regional business, industry or enterprise, and local communities or charities.

The Rising Star Award recognises an individual who has graduated within the last ten years and is making a difference in their careers or to society. This award highlights alumni with exceptionally bright futures, acknowledging their early achievements and potential for continued impact.

The Alumni Service Award is for an individual who has shown dedication to promoting the University’s values through volunteering, transformative philanthropy and/or supporting students, the wider University and alumni communities.

Outstanding Alumni Award Winners 2024

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jayanti Shah MBE, BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1971   

Jayanti has been an anti-racism campaigner in Southampton since 1968. In 2020, he received an MBE for services “to promote anti-racism in Southampton and Hampshire”.

Jayanti has held prominent voluntary positions in the Southampton Race Equality Council and contributed to the work of the city's race sub-committee in the past. He is currently Director of Positive Message, co-founder of Black History Month in Southampton and trustee of Artswork. Jayanti was a city ambassador for 2025 City of Culture bid. He continues with the same message, “People are People” and in 2022, his TEDx talk was entitled “Anti-racism - when there is only one human race”. He is also an engaged member of Southampton’s alumni community, driving forward the Southampton Alumni Society.

Civic Award

Veronica Gordon, BSc. Social Policy and Administration, 2005

Veronica Gordon is a broadcast journalist turned social entrepreneur who uses her media skills, knowledge and insight to empower Black and underrepresented communities. She is the founder of Our Version Media (OVM), a Southampton-based social enterprise leveraging digital media for social good. Veronica combined her 15 years of journalism expertise (ITV regional news, BBC local radio, Unity 101 Community Radio, and digital media) with her 15 years of community activism to create OVM. Its mission is to amplify Black voices and tackle the harmful narratives perpetuated by traditional media. Veronica is also an award-winning radio personality and founder of Vibrant Vibes, Southampton’s leading African, Caribbean, and Black British community radio show.

In 2024, Veronica joined the Code Committee for Impress, the UK’s independent press regulator, to contribute to a more trustworthy, fair, and representative media landscape.

Rising Star Award

Dr Jahangir Alom BEM, BM6 Medicine, 2018

Jahangir graduated with the Dean's Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Faculty of Medicine. During his time at Southampton, he set up the Widening Access to Medicine Society (WAMSoc), working with over 1,000 school pupils in Hampshire. He was also the MedSoc President in 2016.

Jahangir was National Clinical Lead for the Staff COVID-19 Vaccine Programme at NHS England, leading the engagement strategy that saw 147,000 of the most hesitant healthcare workers get vaccinated. Jahangir is the Programme Director of an international charity, Selfless UK, which delivers evidence-based global health projects in rural Bangladesh.

Jahangir is a School Governor at Stepney All Saints School, a board member at the Institute of Public Policy Research and a full time emergency medicine doctor.

He received an NHS Parliamentary Award and British Empire Medal for services to tackling health inequalities in the King’s New Years Honours List 2024. Jahangir is an expert in health inequalities and has provided commentary on the BBC, SkyNews, Channel 4 and CNN. 

Alumni Service Award

Chris Spackman, BSc Maths and Computer Science, 1981

After graduating from the University, Chris started work at Honeywell writing software for power station control systems. He then led a team introducing ‘chip and pin’ cards into the UK with Barclaycard. This led him into a career in computer security and resilience with American Express and then advising on complex outsourcing deals with major multinational companies.

Chris has volunteered for several national and local charities helping young people to reach their potential and older people stay independent. In 2016 he helped establish the University’s FutureWorlds start-up accelerator and remains a volunteer business mentor, helping researchers and students bring their innovations to the market. He’s also worked with the Ignite programme to support its work helping undergraduates overcome challenges to thrive.

Pascal Ezeabasili, BEng Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2020

Pascal joined the University in 2016 from Seven Kings High School in Ilford and spent four years taking advantage of all the opportunities Southampton had to offer: teaching English as a foreign language in China, completing internships both at the University and in China with technology giant Huawei, and volunteering for the Engineering Society as Vice President for two years.

Upon graduating in 2020, Pascal was among the first volunteers to take part in the University’s Graduate Ambassador Scheme, a programme that helps new graduates connect with current students to offer advice and support recruitment and employability at Southampton, stepping up to serve as a lead Graduate Ambassador in 2022. Pascal's personal journey resonates profoundly with aspiring students facing similar challenges. He has run several networking workshops for students, contributed to focus groups and panels and provided particular support to the University’s widening participation agenda, through initiatives like the Ignite Programme and presentations to partner schools.