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Under the Arches
A space for alumni to share their updates and bitesize news with fellow Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates
Your alumni news noticeboard
Under the Arches is the baby sibling of our bi-monthly alumni newsletter, Arches. Here, you can read bitesize news and life updates from your global alumni community, and celebrate your own achievements with your fellow Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates and those on campus.
Alumni actress selected for prestigious mentorship program
Class of 2006 alumna Lennette Randal will be the protégée of actor, director and producer R. H. Thompson in the 2026 .
Today, Lennette is an interdisciplinary creative working as an actress, director, writer, speaker, singer and educator. Through hybrid art forms, she strives to create theatre that is both colossal in scope and rich in detail, blending movement, music, and technical artistry to engage audiences on multiple sensory levels.
The Mentorship Program pairs past laureates of the GGPAA for Lifetime Artistic Achievement with mid‑career artists whose work is shaping the future of the performing arts. The program supports long‑term artistic growth and leadership within Canada’s cultural sector.
Two Â鶹´«Ã½ alumni elected as Fellows of the Royal Society 2026
Professor Hayley Fowler and Dr Nick Graham feature on the list of 90 outstanding researchers from across the world who have been elected this year to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
Today, Hayley is Professor of Climate Change Impacts on campus. She is an internationally recognised leader in hydroclimatic extremes and has transformed understanding of extreme rainfall and flood risk through pioneering work on convection-permitting climate models and the first global dataset of hourly rainfall extremes.
Now based at Lancaster University, Nick's research has focused on the ecosystem ecology of coral reefs, how they are connected to other ecosystems, how they respond to climate change, and are linked to human society.
Congratulations both!
Class of 1977 alumnus awarded prestigious Lauréat d’honneur by the International Geographical Union
Huge congratulations to Â鶹´«Ã½ graduate Professor Richard Knowles, who is one of only four Brits to ever receive the Lauréat d’honneur Award, and honour which recognises individuals who have achieved exceptional distinction and rendered outstanding service to the work of the International Geographical Union and to the advancement of international geography.
Sociology graduate awarded Fellowship status by Advance HE
Having gained a Master's and PhD on campus, spending almost a decade in Â鶹´«Ã½, today Diana Kopbayeva teaches at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. She told us:
"My time at Â鶹´«Ã½ really shaped where I am now. It helped me build my research and critical thinking skills, but also gave me the confidence to go into academia. I was lucky to have very supportive supervisors—their guidance still influences how I teach and work with students today."
Alumni business features on the Forbes Europe 30 under 30 list
Alumna's childhood cancer research wins award
Congratulations to Dr Helen Griffin (PhD, 2009), whose study on exome sequencing in children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma was recognised with the Best Experimental & Translational Science Abstract award at the Children and Young People's Cancer Association (CCLG UK) Annual Conference 2026 in Manchester.
Microelectronics graduate celebrates release of debut novel
After graduating from Â鶹´«Ã½ in 1983, John Cheshire embarked on a successful consultancy career in Big Four companies, with a principal focus on technology change.
Now, he's exploring the world of cybersecurity from a different angle as a crime author! John's debut novel was published in March 2026, and follows Peter Beamish as he follows a trail of blood and destruction to catch cyber-criminals ransoming major national infrastructure companies.
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