The University of Plymouth 2025 Alumni Awards

The University of Plymouth 2025 Alumni Awards have quickly become a highlight in our calendar – a moment for us to celebrate the incredible achievements of our alumni community. 

These awards honour individuals who exemplify excellence across various domains: as ambassadors, entrepreneurs, achievers, contributors to social impact, and those who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments, whether recent or over a lifetime.

The awards provide a platform for alumni to shine, by either nominating themselves or being nominated by students, staff, fellow alumni, and members of the public.

The response for this year's awards was nothing short of extraordinary: we received nearly 200 nominations! Each application was a testament to the remarkable talent, dedication, and impact of our alumni.

Our distinguished judging panel, which included Dindu Okechukwu, SU President, Rachel Brown, Head of Development and Alumni Relations, and John Curnow, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, faced the challenging task of narrowing down the nominees to a final shortlist. 

After their careful deliberation, the final decision was placed in the hands of the public to decide our winners.

Professor Richard Davies Vice Chancellor stated I’d like to thank all 24 nominees for being fantastic ambassadors for Plymouth. From our home in the sunny Southwest, our university now has 190,000 alumni in 158 countries. That’s something we can all be proud of – an incredible statistic for a modern university that reflects our diversity and strength as an institution

The University of Plymouth Social Impact Award winner for 2025 is: -

Ian Sherriff B.E.M.MA. DMS. CQSW. Dip Cll Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia Primary Care Group Faculty of Health University of Plymouth

Ian is a Social Work and Management Studies graduate who is well known throughout the University and further afield, as a champion of compassionate, individualised social care for those with dementia plus their careers. 

He is a much-loved ambassador for Plymouth, who represents the University locally, nationally, and internationally, spearheading numerous initiatives and contributing to research and policy to improve social care in the community.

A British Empire Medal holder, Ian has worked with several Prime Ministers and is currently working with the UK government and four countries in Africa and a Ukrainian dementia charity to help rebuild the war-torn country’s care services in Urban and Rural communities. He has also highlighted that Dementia in China poses a growing public health challenge with implications for care systems, families, and communities. His drive and energy have led to a M.O.U between the University of Plymouth and Nanfang College China. The M.O.U recognize the need for cross-national collaboration to develop culturally responsive research and community initiatives aimed at improving the lives of people living with dementia in Rural and Urban Communities.

This partnership builds on existing academic strengths and mutual interests in dementia research, healthcare innovation, Rural and Urban community development, and international collaboration.

Ian Sherriff B.E.M. October 2025