Film makers, musicians, athletes, actors and TV presenters to collect honorary degrees and awards from NTU

A list of film-makers, musicians and leaders in business are set to collect honourary degrees and awards from Nottingham Trent Univesity. The list for degrees or awards also includes athletes, actors and TV presenters.

Here is the list of those collecting honourary degrees and awards:

Hamish Anderson is an insolvency lawyer working for Norton Rose Fulbright LLP currently as a Consultant and previously as a Partner. He is an Honorary Professor of Nottingham Law School at NTU.

Nick Beighton is Chief Executive Officer at MATCHES, one of the biggest global destinations for online fashion. As a founding trustee of the ASOS Foundation, Nick has helped to raise £10m and to break down barriers for young people working in the fashion and technology industries.

Rosalie Craig is an English actress, writer and performer with a distinguished career in musical theatre, stage and television. Since securing her first leading role in the stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, she has become a mainstay of the West End and National Theatre.She is currently filming the second series of The Serpent Queen alongside another of Nottingham’s finest, Samantha Morton.

Anne Davies is a highly distinguished journalist and broadcaster, most recognised as the face of BBC East Midlands Today. Working as a journalist and presentation coach both within and outside the BBC, in 1993 Anne launched the ITV breakfast programme GMTV where she spent 8 years presenting the news, Lorraine and many special projects.

Carolina Giammetta is an award-winning actor, writer and director. She has directed many high-profile television drama series including episodes Casualty, Agatha Raisin and Vera.

Dr Clea Harmer MBE is the Chief Executive of Sands, the UK pregnancy loss and baby death charity. She is also currently the Chair of the National Bereavement Care Pathway, Co-Chair of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group, Chair of the Baby Loss Awareness Alliance, and Chair of the Pregnancy and Baby Charity Network. In the late Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Clea was awarded an MBE for services to the baby loss community.

Charlotte Henshaw MBE is one of the world’s leading Paracanoe athletes and 4 x Paralympian across two different sports. She is a 7 x Paracanoe World Champion and won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the KL2 200m. Charlotte began her sporting journey as a Para swimmer during which time she competed at three Paralympic Games, winning silver at London 2012 and bronze at the Rio 2016 Games respectively.

Seckou Keita is an award-winning and multi-talented kora player, singer, percussionist, producer and composer. Since arriving from Senegal in 1999, Seckou has established himself as the UK’s foremost kora player. His accolades include three Songlines Music Awards, and several BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including Musician of the Year.

Andy Rubin is Deputy Chair of the Pentland Group, a UK based private family-owned company operating in sports, outdoor and fashion. An Enterprise Fellow of the Prince’s Trust, Andy is also an ambassador for Leaders Quest and served on the Board of In Kind Direct, the UK’s leading redistribution charity, for over 20 years.

Arooj Aftab is a fashion creative and brand consultant who has been breaking down barriers in the quest for inclusivity within the fashion industry. Recently named in the inaugural Vogue Business 100 Innovators list, Arooj is recognised as an industry tastemaker and poses important questions about the language we use to promote real and meaningful diversity.

Dr Michael Auer is a statistician and psychologist. He completed Masters Degrees in Psychology and Statistics at the University of Vienna, Austria. He then undertook a PhD in Social Sciences with Professor Mark Griffiths at NTU. Dr Auer has published more than fifty peer-reviewed articles in the area of online gambling on topics such as limit setting, personalised feedback, self-exclusion and pop-up messages.

Zoë Ayres is an analytical scientist and Head of Laboratory Facilities at The Open University. Having studied Forensic Science at NTU, Zoë then undertook a Masters Degree at the University of Warwick where she specialised in using analytical instrumentation from UV-Vis to mass spectrometry.

Adam Burgess is a C1M British slalom canoeist who has competed at international level since 2008. Adam graduated from NTU in 2015 with a BSc in Sport Science Management.

He represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, finishing in fourth place at just 0.16 seconds off receiving a bronze medal. He is also a three-time World Championship Finalist, Vice-European Champion, U23 World Champion, Multiple World Cup Medallist, four-time British Open Champion.

Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis are the founders of Amazing If, an award-winning company with a mission to make careers better for everyone. Together they are also the authors of two Sunday Times bestselling books The Squiggly Career and You Coach You. Both Helen and Sarah graduated from NTU in 2004 with a BA (Hons) in Business Management.

Alex Goulding has extensive forensic and voluntary work experience in diverse criminogenic, psychological and sociological based environments. Currently, he is Community Wellbeing Champion/Social Prescriber for Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, connecting those who are struggling to access services/activities based in the local community.

Akil Hunte is a trainee solicitor, public speaker, socially conscious entrepreneur, consultant, author and motivational influencer. Akil graduated from NTU with an LLB (Hons) in Law and will be joining PPL as a Legal and Business Affairs Executive in August 2023.

Oliver Jacobs is an entrepreneur from North London. He is the co-founder and CEO of UniTaskr, a job marketplace platform that connects students and businesses for a wide range of tasks. Oliver’s entrepreneurial journey started while he was pursuing his Degree in Architecture at NTU.

Uzair Merchant is a multiple award-winning filmmaker, designer, and the founder of bKreativ productions. He is believed to be Hollywood’s first film production designer from India. He studied BA (Hons) Design for Film and Television at NTU.

With 15 years in the film business, working in various countries on projects ranging from features and TV series, including Star Trek Beyond, Fast and Furious 7, Skyfall, Superman and Lois.

Rehannah Mian is a globally successful children’s author and storybook podcaster, with 3 million subscribers in over 200 countries. She graduated with an MA in Television Journalism at NTU’s Centre for Broadcast & Journalism. Rehannah also featured as a presenter on a local history programme Nottingham Now and Then.

Daniel Pikett is a career development practitioner and professional - working closely with schools and businesses, helping them recognise and address professional development and assessment needs regarding access to employment to improve equality, diversity, equity and inclusion.

James Wells is a senior business professional, public speaker and former international athlete. During his final year studying Broadcast Journalism at NTU, James was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. Less than six months after battling blood cancer, James was representing Great Britain on the world stage; at the World Karate Championships in Las Vegas. As a highly successful martial artist, James is a double World Heavyweight Bronze medallist and a multiple English and British champion.

The University’s Awards for Outstanding Alumni Fellow will be awarded to:

Rebecca Bull is a Chartered Fellow CIPD member who founded MyHR Hub in 2016, driven by a strong desire to support SMEs with their unique HR and business needs.

Rebecca graduated from Nottingham Business School in German, Business and HR in 2001, and completed a PG Diploma in Personnel Management in 2002. Rebecca’s hard work and passion won her the coveted East Midlands Women in Business Award in 2018, while MyHR Hub has also received several awards from partners as well as Small Business of the Year in 2022 - Women in Business Awards East Midlands.

Rebecca Cassidy is a creative and solution focused practitioner providing personalised mental health support for children, young people and adults in both an online and face to face settings across the voluntary, charitable and business sectors for the past 13 years. Rebecca graduated with a BA (Hons) in Youth Studies from NTU in 2015 and received the Outstanding Contribution to the Wider Community Award.

Fiona Duncan-Steer describes herself as a conversation starter, introducer, facilitator, trainer, qualified coach, writer, speaker, storyteller, creative thinker. She has a creative background, having studied for a BA (Hons) in Theatre Design at NTU (2000-2003).

Brian Fairchild has over twenty-five years of experience in the training industry. He is currently a Business and Career Coach at The Beeston Coach, providing training and coaching services to individual and corporate clients.

Brian has worked in a variety of roles in the private sector, civil service, voluntary sector and for both Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. Since 2015, he has been an Alumni Fellow at NTU.

Emrys Robinson-Green has worked in leadership and influencing roles for over 15 years. Currently Emrys is Director of Cloud Artisans Ltd – a consultancy-led digital and engagement agency. Emrys graduated from NTU with a BA (Hons) in Business Management and returned to complete an Executive MBA

Nadina Wallis is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience as a finance professional with a background of turnaround, merger and de-merger, integration and growth. Nadina graduated from Trent Polytechnic in 1982 with a BA (Hons)