The Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year Award

Removed from school at 15, estranged abroad at 16 with no legal guardian or contactable family, while experiencing poverty and domestic violence, Lauren worked three jobs to save up for a flight home to the UK.

On returning to Britain, Lauren contacted the only family members she had left, her uncle and his family, and began working as a healthcare assistant in a care home, enrolled on an NVQ Level 2 in Care, and was able to complete her GCSEs. She then came to Keele to study Biochemistry and Medicinal Chemistry but fell pregnant with her son during her foundation year. Determined to provide for her family, Lauren cared for her newborn while studying, working in NHS trauma care, and looking after her other child, yet still managed to increase her grades every year. In November, Lauren's uncle passed away suddenly and she also now cares for his children.

For the last two years, Lauren has volunteered at her local church, become the voluntary Safeguarding Officer for St Giles Parish Church and implemented its first Equality and Diversity Policy, and supported the congregation and Keele students on placement to feel safe, all alongside her studies, caring for her family, and working as a healthcare assistant.

Ryan came to Keele as a ski racer on the Talented Athlete programme, but sadly a major ACL injury prevented him from pursuing a potential professional career in snowsports. He then joined the Snowsports Society, working his way up to become President, and was recently named Sportsperson of the Year at the AU Awards. Under his leadership, the first team has consistently qualified for the King’s National Finals, positioning Keele alongside leading universities.

The society has more than doubled in size over the last academic year and Ryan has been instrumental in shaping the club’s growth and competitive success. He has created an inclusive environment for members of all skill levels to engage, build friendships, and find a sense of belonging within the Keele community, and played a key role in developing first-time competitors, offering guidance and practical advice. This increase in participation has put the society in its strongest position to date and Ryan has created a solid foundation for future cohorts.

He has also led several charity fundraising initiatives, including working with our Oddballs ambassador on the ‘dip for donations’ scheme, manning a 24-hour spinathon with Movember ambassadors which raised more than £750, and contributing to Keele’s most successful Movember campaign post-Covid.

The Business Management and Data Science student has also maintained high performances across his studies and secured a graduate role at The Bank of New York.

During her time at Keele, Aliya has balanced her studies in Biochemistry and Neuroscience alongside wide-ranging extracurricular and volunteering roles and the diagnosis of a chronic life-changing condition.

Aliya has used her illness as a catalyst to perform to the best of her ability and applied the insights it has given her to help improve the lives of others. She has taken part in research looking at health equity, exploring neurodegenerative disease in ethnic minority communities, and participated in hackathons addressing inequalities in cervical screening uptake. Her interest in health equity has also seen her learn Spanish to better engage with diverse patient populations.

Aliya has also completed an internship in Business Transformation at the General Medical Council where she contributed to a regulatory fairness review aimed at reducing bias in decision-making and strengthening regulations in patient safety.

Aliya has supported fellow students across academic, social, and pastoral contexts through her roles as a Student Ambassador, SU Hub Adviser, Resident Adviser, and Students’ Union Commercial Host. She has carried out welfare checks, supported students in crisis, organised initiatives to build a community within Halls of Residence, and provided guidance and signposting for students navigating challenges. 

Following a cancer diagnosis at 14 and undergoing 18 months of treatment, Ellie Waters-Barnes decided she wanted to pursue medicine and help other young people fighting cancer, creating YouTube videos to document her journey and sharing advice with other cancer sufferers.

Ellie actively raises awareness of childhood cancer and the realities of life after treatment, working with healthcare professionals and supporting charities and research initiatives in the field. She has spoken at conferences, on the news, and on campus to spread cancer awareness. This year marks 10 years since Ellie's diagnosis, and she wanted to mark the occasion by spending the year fundraising. In February, Ellie raised more than £700 for the Alice's Arc charity by running a 'Take Me Out' fundraiser that was held in the SU Ballroom on Valentine's Day. She has also recently completed a half marathon to raise further funds.

Over the last four years, Ellie has also been part of the MedPath Society, working her way up to become President of the club. The student-led widening participation initiative supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds aspiring to work in healthcare and has supported more than 300 students. Ellie has delivered teaching sessions that introduce students to healthcare topics and raise awareness of careers across the sector. Ellie's work has helped to reduce disparities in access to medicine and inspired the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Ellie has also led a team in organising and running the annual in-person mock Multiple Mini Interview circuits for Keele's Steps2Medicine students. This involved her contacting schools across Staffordshire to promote the event and find participants, designing interview stations with standardised feedback, and arranging the venue, resources and interviewers.

After experiencing an assault in the final year of her A-levels, Christina was forced to withdraw from her course to receive treatment for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. At the time, pursuing higher education seemed incredibly unlikely, but after engaging with one of Keele’s Open Days, she enrolled on our International Relations programme with an integrated foundation year.

Christina credits our supportive campus environment with allowing her to excel in her course and volunteering goals. In her second year, she began volunteering at the Glo Café at YMCA Cheshire supporting staff with customer service and training. She then joined in with the Starting Point initiative; a weekly social group for refugees and young unaccompanied asylum seekers.

Through her volunteer work, Christina identified a significant gap in disadvantaged and displaced youth accessing higher education, and after consulting Higher Horizons, she developed an Access to Higher Education project and designed a bespoke open day to try and improve access opportunities. In November, out of more than 100 branches, Christina won the Young Volunteer of the Year award at the YMCA England and Wales Youth Matters Awards.

Alongside friends and fellow International Relations students, Christina set up the Keele Model UN Society to give all students interested in foreign policy and international affairs the opportunity to engage with the society and it was nominated for the New Society of the Year award in 2024. Christina has also acted as the International Relations Student Voice Representative for the second and third year cohorts, engaging with other students and lecturers to provide feedback.

The award is open to applications from all final year undergraduate students who meet the following criteria:

Outstanding academic excellence / achievement together with outstanding achievement / contribution as an individual to student life and/or the University.

(i) To meet the criteria for outstanding academic excellence / achievement, applicants should demonstrate any one or a combination of:

• An expectation at the time of the application to obtain First Class Honours in class mark aggregate
• A Distinction, or equivalent exceptional achievement, in a major piece of examined independent work such as a project or dissertation

and

(ii) To meet the criteria for outstanding achievement / contribution as an individual, candidates should demonstrate any combination of the following:

• An achievement or contribution which has made a difference to the life of the University community (this could include work on or off campus, such as volunteering)
• An achievement or contribution specifically connected to a sport or sporting activity
• Overcoming hardship, disability, or other personal adversity

Application

Applications for the Student of the Year Award are now open! You can apply for the award online using the application form link above. Applications will close on Friday 10 April 2026 at 5pm. We are unable to accept late applications, so please apply as early as possible.

Please ensure that you have read through the application guidance in full prior to starting your application.

Supporting statement

As part of your application you will be asked to upload a supporting statement. Your supporting statement should be no longer than 500 words, and should outline how you meet the eligibility criteria and why you deserve to win the award. Please ensure that you have written your supporting statement prior to starting your application. Your supporting statement must either be in a Word or PDF format.

References

Applicants must ensure that TWO signed references are provided to support their application from both:

1) An appropriate academic referee (e.g. Head of School, Programme Director)

AND

2) An appropriate referee for personal achievement (e.g. SU Elected Officer, SU Activities and Volunteering Representative, Personal Tutor)

It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that references are provided by the closing date, either within the initial application or by email to student.services@keele.ac.uk with the subject line "Student of the Year".

Nominations from staff

Nominations by academic staff must be submitted on the Student of the Year nomination form above. The closing date for nominations is Friday 10 April 2026. As part of the online form, you will be asked to upload a nomination statement (which will become the student's academic reference).

Academic staff are encouraged to nominate any student they feel is academically outstanding.

Student nominees must complete an application with their supporting statement and provide a non-academic reference by the closing date.

Interviews

The award panel may invite shortlisted candidates for interview. Invitations will be sent out as early as possible, but candidates are advised that they may be given relatively short notice of an interview.

Interviews are expected to take place on Thursday 28 May 2026.

Award

The final decision will be confirmed after the final examination results are known, and the successful applicant notified within seven days of the results being published in June.

The award will be presented at the Summer Degree Graduation Ceremonies. The Student of the Year may be invited to attend the Vice-Chancellor's Graduation Dinner.

The name of the successful candidate will be recorded in an appropriate Roll of Honour to be established by the University.

2025: Giselle Pearson

Giselle studied Computer Science and Mathematics at Keele before undertaking a PhD in 2025/26, studying dyslexia in computer interaction design.

Giselle had a difficult journey to university, experiencing a serious mental health crisis when sitting her A-levels, which was triggered by undiagnosed autism. She has worked tirelessly to overcome her difficulties and pursue higher education.

Giselle spent two years as the Mature Students Delegate and founded the Keele Aerial Dance Society during her foundation year, growing the society to over 100 members. The society has received multiple awards, and Giselle secured several different grants to increase the options of different aerial arts, enabling members to compete in inter-university, national, and international competitions. Personally, Giselle has won a number of national and international aerial dance competitions. 

Giselle also received Committee Member of the Year, President of the Year, the Society Legacy Award, and Swan Master from the Students' Union.

2024: Charlotte Kirkham

Charlotte studied Criminology and Psychology, and later progressed to study a Masters degree at Keele.

During her studies, Charlotte completed an international year at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she was invited to join the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in recognition of her academic achievements. On returning to Keele, Charlotte volunteered with the University’s Global Opportunities team as a Peer Advisor, inspiring and guiding fellow students to pursue opportunities to study abroad. She supported Global Opportunities drop-in sessions by answering questions, advising on applications, and providing reassurance to students interested in studying abroad. Charlotte also chaperoned visiting international students and staff, supporting their arrival and departure, providing a welcoming atmosphere, and overseeing visits to the local area. 

Alongside this, Charlotte also acted as a Lead Student Voice Representative for her School and was involved in working groups across the University in relation to improving student voice opportunities. Within this role, Charlotte lobbied for clearer assessment feedback and restructured research methods. In addition, Charlotte acted as an ambassador for the School on University Open Days, and shared her experiences on the course with prospective students and applicants. 

Charlotte led the Keele Panthers Cheerleading Club as Vice-Captain and, through this, raised approximately £4,000 for Team England’s adaptive abilities cheer team to support initiatives to promote inclusivity in sport. Further to this, in her first year, Charlotte led a group of students to found the KeeleSU Make a Smile charity-affiliated society. Society members volunteer their time to dress as fictional princesses and princes to provide happy experiences for children with disabilities and illnesses. In total, Charlotte logged over 800 volunteering hours across her endeavours. 

2023: Harriet Scott

Harriet studied Medicine at Keele and earned merits for both knowledge and practical assessments. Throughout her course, Harriet was a member of Keele’s Talented Athlete Programme, balancing her studies with her professional and international football career.

Prior to studying at Keele, Harriet was selected to play professional football for Birmingham City (BCFC). When offered a place on Keele's Medicine course, she took the decision to pursue both careers concurrently. This involved balancing studies, exams, and placements with training, matches, and international tournaments.

Harriet played professionally in the highest club league with BCFC, but also internationally as a defender for the Republic of Ireland, achieving 22 international caps and winning the Senior Women’s International Player of the Year. 

Alongside her studies and football career, Harriet was also an ambassador for the Red Cross UK and British Heart Foundation charities and was able to use her growing social media presence to promote other important healthcare education topics, such as raising awareness of breast and menstrual health. Harriet used sport to engage and encourage women to talk about their health, and used her platform as club captain at BCFC to advocate for improved standards, professionalism, and opportunities for women, and to inspire future female players.

2022: Lincoln Gombedza

Lincoln studied Learning Disability Nursing, and his passion for his work was demonstrated by his continued voluntary involvement with a number of workstreams, some of which were at a national level.

Lincoln undertook Resilience Base Clinical Supervision, commissioned by Health Education England, to support the health and wellbeing of learners. From this, he was invited to become a Subject Expert with the Florence Nightingale Foundation, which highlights the importance of clinical supervision for nurses and midwives at a national level.

Lincoln was a member of both the NHS Digital Shared Professional Decision-Making Council and the Learning Disability Nursing National Shared Professional Decision-Making Council, representing people with Learning Disabilities across the UK by sharing his ideas of new ways of working clinically and operationally with regards to the benefits of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

Lincoln joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards Development Group, setting out how nursing and midwifery courses should be delivered to ensure that programmes leading to registration are fit for purpose. He was also appointed Communications Lead for the Chief Nursing Officer’s Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Strategic Advisory Group, focusing on the governance of issues affecting BME staff and patients within the NHS.

Lincoln is a NextGen Nurse Learning Disability Ambassador with the NHS where he talks to secondary school and college learners to encourage them to consider a career as a Learning Disability Nurse.

 2021: Jenna Volpert

Jenna joined Keele's Talented Athlete Programme and in 2017 was selected for the English Universities Hockey team. Jenna was the highest capped women’s hockey player in the programme and also held the role of Vice Captain. During her time at Keele, she captained both the Women’s first XI and the Medics hockey team, whilst also helping with coaching and mentoring younger players over the years. Jenna was recognised for her sporting efforts by winning the AU’s ‘Female Sportswoman of the Year’ award. 

Jenna is passionate about equality and held roles such as President of ‘Students for Global Health’, founder of ‘Women in Surgery Keele’ and as a student ambassador on the Medical School Exclusivity Committee. She also organised workshops with local charities to help medical students feel more empowered to contribute to improving health inequalities. 

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jenna organised an informational event run by SFGH Keele in collaboration with Public Health England. Over 100 students and staff attended followed by PHE ‘Covid – A year on’ follow-up event, analysing what we had learnt and lost. When Jenna’s medical placements were cancelled, she worked as a medical assistant on the front-line, filling in shifts at her local hospital suffering from staff shortages.

2020: Euan Malpas-Vernon

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Euan studied Geoscience, which required not only extensive laboratory classes, but extended periods of fieldwork, which can be challenging and exhausting for most students. Euan suffers from chronic pain syndrome, and had his right arm amputated due to cancer. He also underwent more than five major operations during his time at Keele, all of which required long periods of recuperation.

As a result, Euan took strong pain medication that had adverse effects on his concentration, daily energy levels, and mobility. Despite this, Euan remained cheery and positive, determined to get a good degree and go on to a PhD in Palaeontology at the University of Manchester.  

Independently of his degree, Euan wrote several scientific papers for future publication in journals. He won the 2018 Jones-Fenleigh award for Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, where his research was presented at the International SVPCA conference. Euan is the only undergraduate to ever win the award, and had to compete with other candidates - all of whom were at MSc level or above.

Beyond Euan’s studies and the University, he was chosen to be a part of the Paralympic Great Britain pistol shooting team.

2019: Alice Gwyn-Jones

Alice was the Chair of the Keele Trauma Course Society and an active committee member for several years prior. The Society was responsible for organising an extremely successful one-day trauma course for around 100 medical students, junior doctors, and allied health professionals. Alice was instrumental in the organisation, building links with partner organisations and writing the course manual.

Alice studied Medicine at Keele after already completing an undergraduate course. Despite the demands of a busy medical course, she was also on the committee for the successful second Keele Anaesthetics and Critical Care Conference in 2018.

For four years, Alice was a member of the Keele Community First Responders (CFR), a charity that attends 999 calls in the local community to reduce pressure on the ambulance service. Through this charity and running the pre-hospital emergency medicine society, Alice organised and was a part of multiple sessions teaching university staff and students, the local parish, and primary school children basic life support and CPR.

Alice was also a Resident Adviser, working for Student Services in the evenings supporting students who live on campus with a range of issues and providing advice and guidance to them.

2018: Lauren Mullan

Lauren studied Psychology, showing drive and resilience throughout her education due to becoming estranged from her family at a young age and taking on the caring responsibilities of her now late grandmother.

This drive propelled Lauren into succeeding academically, reflecting a combination of sound intellectual ability, self-discipline, and time-management. This was also shown in her non-academic work, progressing from working in the SU bar as a member of staff, to bar manager and then duty manager.

Lauren was an advocate for students facing similar situations as herself and worked with Student Services to write a blog encouraging others to pursue university.

Through great personal adversity, Lauren responded in the best possible way. Whilst studying for her degree, she found a new and vibrant family in the Keele community and continued to contribute to the community when she took up her place on the Social Work Masters programme in 2018/19.

2017: Steph Lonsdale

Steph joined Keele as a mature student, returning to education after a 25-year break and with few qualifications.

Steph’s diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Condition gave her the inspiration to study Psychology, and after joining Keele, she dedicated a great deal of time and effort to supporting students and members of the community who share an autism diagnosis. Steph founded and was President of Keele SU’s Spectrum Society in addition to volunteering with the National Autistic Society. She also established new ties with LifeWorks Staffordshire, including fundraising and organising an outreach visit. Through her hard work, Steph helped improve the lives of individuals with autism and received an Autism Ally Award in 2017.

Steph received the highest mark ever given in the module Psychology and Community Action, going above and beyond in her work with a resident in a local-supported residence to produce a book for the “This is your Life” inspired module.

Steph also researched new and improved ways for staff and final year Psychology students to recruit participants for research. By linking up with the SU Volunteering scheme, research participants can now be rewarded for their time.

Steph won the runner-up award for Peer Mentor of the Year and also worked as an ambassador for the University.

2016: Adrian Craig

Adrian graduated in 2016 after studying Medicine. His time at Keele was a little longer than an average student; taking a year out to read for an intercalated Masters in Medical Ethics and Law.

Adrian volunteered with Marrow and Anthony Nolan during his time at Keele, eventually becoming National President and achieving outstanding results in signing up students and others for the bone marrow register. He also ran the London Marathon in 2016 with the aim of adding 34 new donors to the register.

Adrian was Captain of the Boat Club and helped them to become the AU Club of the Year for its charitable and sporting efforts. He co-led and delivered the Keele International Anaesthetics and Critical Care Conference which saw students from across the UK and some students from Europe come to Keele for a day of lectures and workshops. As part of his degree in Medicine, Adrian undertook projects outside of the curriculum to further his interest in anaesthesia. This resulted in him presenting at the World Airway Management Meeting in October 2015.

Adrian also volunteered with the Army Cadet Force and had done since before coming to Keele.

Neil Smith graduated from Keele in 1980 with a degree in Physics and Economics. Neil was President of the Students Union (1979), President of the Athletic Union (1978), and Speaker of the Union (1980). At Keele, he earned full colours in Rugby, Football and Cricket, ran the popular Keele five-a-side leagues, produced “Keele Over” on BBC Radio Stoke (before KUBE radio), contributed to Concourse, and was Honorary VP of the North Staffs Physically Handicapped. 

After graduating, Neil became a journalist with Thomson, freelancing with both the BBC and the Sunday Times. In 1982, Neil won a Knox scholarship to take an MBA at the Harvard Business School. He earned first-year honours and became the first British President of the HBS Student Association. 

After Harvard, Neil joined management consultants McKinsey in New York, where he met his wife Gina. In 1991 he bought Midlands-based Tudor Dairies, owners of the Loseley ice-cream brand, in one of the UK’s first leveraged buyouts. Neil later returned to the USA to found consulting firm, EHS Partners, with two former colleagues. In 2009, Neil joined the former US Comptroller of the Currency to found Promontory Growth and Innovation, which helps Chief Executives of Fortune 500 companies to dramatically improve performance. In 2012, PGI was credited with helping Bank of America improve profits by $8 billion a year - the same year Neil wrote his New York Times Best-Seller (co-authored with Keele graduate Rick Levak) – How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things. 

Neil was President of Keele in the USA, the organisation and network for American alumni of Keele University from the 1990's-2016. With his wife, he founded the prestigious Gina and Neil Smith Student of the Year Award which recognises Keele students for their outstanding achievements. 

Neil was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University in 2015.

Neil, Gina and their four children (Brianna, Alexander, Caroline and Charlotte) live in New York.