University of Brighton Alumni Association

Alison’s leading role for the Fringe

University of Brighton graduate and recipient of an honorary doctorate degree, Alison Lapper MBE, has been chosen as Freedom Season Ambassador for the Brighton Fringe Festival. The Freedom Season was created in 2018 as a way for disabled, neuro-diverse, deaf and hard of hearing audiences and artists to access the festival more easily. The season…

International Experience Fund winner Chloe Morel visits South Africa

Chloe Morel recently visited South Africa as part of her International Experience. The International Experience Fund is an annual programme, kindly supported by Santander Universities, and other generous donors, which exists to help eligible undergraduate students take advantage of opportunities overseas, such as work placements, volunteering or studying abroad. Enabling students to access such opportunities…

How Dumbo inspired top fashion designer

Walt Disney’s big-eared elephant Dumbo is the inspiration for the latest collection from one of the UK’s leading fashion designers, Brighton-based Ong Oaj Pairam. Ong, who graduated from the University of Brighton with a BA(Hons) in Fashion and Business in 2008, is famed for his luxury women’s wear designs including his film premiere creation for…

Business School alumna lands the top role at Costa Coffee

A University of Brighton graduate has been appointed CEO of the US-owned coffeehouse chain Costa Coffee. Jill McDonald, who graduated in 1986 with a first in Business Studies BA(Hons), has enjoyed a meteoric career rise: she was Chief Executive of McDonald’s fast food chain, Head of Global Marketing for British Airways, Chief Executive of Halfords…

Graduate’s ‘Naked Truths’ chosen for national exhibition

A University of Brighton graduate has been selected to exhibit her work in FBA Futures 2020, the annual survey of contemporary figurative art being produced in UK art schools. Miranda Forrester, who graduated this year in Fine Art Painting, created ‘Naked Truths’ which will feature in what is the UK’s largest annual survey of its…

Painting Oxbridge’s first female professor

A Brighton graduate has been commissioned to create a portrait of the first female Oxbridge professor. Sara Lavelle was selected by a management committee at The University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research to paint pioneering archaeologist Professor Dorothy Garrod. The painting, which is on display at the Institute, marks the 80th anniversary of…

United Nations appoints Brighton graduate

A University of Brighton alumna has been appointed United Nations Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All. Damilola Ogunbiyi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency, has also been selected as Co-Chair of United Nations-Energy which promotes “coherence within the UN family of organisations in the energy field”. The appointments were…

The rise and rise of a Brighton graduate

A TV producer and director behind some of the UK’s biggest shows revealed today how his “invaluable” time at the University of Brighton helped kick-started his meteoric career journey. Winston Gallagher graduated with a Media degree in 2003 and has since worked with the likes of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and on some of…

The Brighton Effect: Serge Attukwei Clottey

Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey’s performance installations highlight Ghana’s soaring levels of pollution and help draw attention to social injustice… In Ghana, jerrycans play a vital role in transporting water in times of drought but leave behind an environmental catastrophe, lying discarded by the side of the road, on city dumps and beaches and clogging…

The Brighton Effect: Hair of the Dog

Textiles graduate Jade Evans reveals how she’s creating home furnishings from dog hair as told to Alice Leader. “I grew up with long-haired German Shepherd dogs for pets and I remember their hair being everywhere. When you brushed them you’d end up with these massive bundles of hair. I’ve never forgotten that image, so when…