Colleagues and students recognised at President’s Distinguished Achievement Awards
04 Jul 2025
Winners from across the University were celebrated at a prestigious Award Ceremony in the Whitworth Hall
The President’s Distinguished Achievement Awards took place on Thursday 3 July and recognised colleagues and students for their outstanding contributions from across the University.
President and Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison opened the ceremony in the prestigious Whitworth Hall. He was joined by Hannah Rundle, Director of Faculty Operations (Humanities), Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility, Professor Melissa Westwood, Associate Vice-President for Research, and Dr Jen Bride, Academic Lead for Teaching Excellence and Quality.
Duncan Ivison said: “The awards bring together colleagues, students and supporters to celebrate people who’ve gone above and beyond and represent the very best of what Manchester is about – whether in research, teaching, professional services or our cultural institutions.”
The winners each received a medal that is engraved with a different face, depicting individuals with their own strong records of distinguished achievement.
Nominations for next year’s Distinguished Achievement Awards will open in the Autumn. Look out for further details on StaffNet and in local newsletters.
The 2025 winners
Professional Services and Cultural Institutions
Team Winners:
- PGT Admissions Team: Heidi Page and Alexandra Quigley
- The Marsham Team, Unsworth Park: Rebekah Brown, Martin Costa, Eleanor Ender, Rhutvij Gholap, Sethupathi Rangaraj
Individual Award Winners:
- Peter Liddell, Furniture Store Supervisor, Directorate of Estates and Facilities
- Nicola Prior, Student Support and Wellbeing Administrator, School of Mathematics
- Lee Barlow, Finance and Administration Manager, Directorate of Estates and Facilities
PS Individual – Highly Commended:
- Ayoola Johnson, Access and Success Team
General Distinguished Achievement Award
- Dr Hamied Haroon, Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences
Researchers of the Year
- Professor Tim Brown, Biology, Medicine and Health
- Professor Radha Boya, Science and Engineering
- Professor Melanies Giles, Humanities
Postgraduate Research Students of the Year
- Dr Jennifer Davies, Biology, Medicine and Health
- Gillian McArthur, Science and Engineering
- Naimh Cashell, Humanities
Undergraduate Students of the Year
- Nadin Hawwash, Biology, Medicine and Health
- Yuchen Liu, Science and Engineering
- Roan Goulden, Humanities
Teachers of the Year
- Polly Turner, Biology, Medicine and Health
- Salman Shahid, Science and Engineering
- Ali Owrak, Humanities