1990 to 1999

It’s the 20th anniversary since we met at FNO (Friday Night Out) and a foam party! We met through friends. We returned to campus with our children in May and took this photo to remember it by.

Shant and Tom graduated from the BSc Retail Management course in 1999 and now run their own online furniture retail business, Greenway Furniture.

Read a full interview with Shant and Tom and find out more about their business.

After graduating I worked within the Criminal Justice System. In my time as a probation officer, I spent three years in a young offenders prison in Dublin, running groups and working individually with offenders. It was here that I got hooked on the power of the one-to-one session, seeing time and time again how people could transform their lives if they had somebody supportive to listen to them. I re-trained and was awarded a first class Masters in Counselling from University College Cork in 2001.

I have worked within the health and wellbeing sector ever since. I ran my own private practice but realised the stigma of seeking therapy still either put some people off or made some people feel ashamed. I now offer a spectrum of mental wellbeing services including mindful walks, growth mindset, after school clubs and coaching. My mantra is that we seek support if our bodies are sick or we want to get fit; we should periodically do the same with the most complex organ in our bodies - our brain!

I am currently working as a training and liaison officer at the Defence Training Association Finland. I got my doctoral degree 2018 from the National Defence University on Military Economics. Without my Surrey experience and degree my career in academia and research would have not been possible. Surrey forever!

I have founded and run an ICT company in the fields of systems integration, network infrastructures and security.

I have a penchant for absurdity, so I was somewhat amused to learn that PhDs are apparently read by an average of 1.5 persons (BBC QI)! This did not bode well for a thesis entitled Portfolio of Compositions with Supporting Materials. Nevertheless, this PhD has had a positive impact on my career in music: two of the submitted compositions, Undertones and Island in particular have reached rather larger audiences than the BBC QI statistic, including, curiously enough, the BBC itself, which subsequently commissioned Strata, a large-scale orchestral piece. Thanks to British Library’s EThOS and Surrey University’s SRI facility, there have to date been no less than 229 downloads of the PhD and other research. So there is hope after all for those of us who fear that the results of our toils are merely gathering dust!

I divide my time between London and southwest France.

While working, I took up a MBA with Surrey and completed it at 27 years old. I could not pursue my studies further due to a demanding work life.

Fast forward to 23 years later, I am pursuing a DBA with Heriot-Watt, also a Director of a Medical IT business, a lecturer and a father of two.    

Immediately after finishing my PhD, I was assigned as an academic member of the Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Tehran University of Medical Sciences.I achieved my Professorship in 2006. I have supervised 44 MSc and PhD theses in my scientific field and has published more than 160 scientific papers in reputed national and international journals as well as 12 scientific books with the academic levels. I have participated in more than 90 international and national conferences and presented scientific papers. I am an editorial member of nine journals.

Now starting my final one 10th (1/10) of academic works at Tehran University of Medical Sciences since (my graduation year). So, about 3 years left to be retired! Still enjoying the scientific field that Dr Derek Stevenson supervised me at Robens Institute the place has been unfortunately disappeared at Surrey!!! It seems that, the University Publicity Machines trying to avoid Health and Medical matters, and alternatively they are strengthening the Engineering parts of the University. Am I right? I am in doubt whether they settle and develop this parts of the sections at University again which is not good (in my opinion). However, there is still connection between me and Derek especially at every Christmas Occasion which is so memorable time for me. I have published lots of scientific papers, more than 200, having about 2500 citations and h-index 21 which is distinguished among the national Occupational Health Experts.

Moved to Scotland, got involved in acting on Edinburgh Fringe. Then photography. Collaborating with Greek ballet dancer Kalliopi Venieri in artistic project called VENIVINCE. 5 Exhibitions in Greece and U.S. Performed in Delphi and Athens: Philhellenes -  English poets who loved Greece. Currently working on a dance movie: Life Story.

I am married and the first successful Sickle Cell stem cell transplant performed in the UK. I am the author of Creative Endeavour for the Logical Mind and I am a successful entrepreneur and business owner, and speaker, both online and off. I work all over the world providing solutions to companies and teaching people how to start up their business online in their own specific niche. Plus I specialise in the mindset based on my experiences.

Quite a lot has happened since graduation – Visiting Research Fellowship at Harvard; Curating an exhibition at the National Library of Scotland (on John Slezer); 20 years teaching at Camberwell; 12 years as Information Officer at the National Gallery, and, in what Miss Prism calls "My few unoccupied hours," working on a catalogue of dance prints 1670-1836 to compliment my M.Phil Thesis - the 40 'usual suspects' has now grown to over 400. Semi-retired (though still available for teaching and conference papers), I now deal in theatrical prints, drawings, and paintings – I’m shown here with my newly-discovered portrait of the dancer Giovanna Baccelli (one of two!). My calling card now reads 'Consulting Iconographer' and I spend my time hunting down pictures for institutions, for private clients, and for myself – it’s more fun than I can say!

After leaving Surrey, I went to Jamaica (I’m Grenadian) for three years and began my hotel career with Marriott. I was then transferred to St Thomas USVI where I continued with that company for another three years.

From there I joined a group of boutique hotels with headquarters in Barbados but I was based in Antigua for two years. I was then transferred back to Barbados and worked with those small hotels and catering for 13 years. I left there for Hilton Barbados in 2013, spent five years there, and am now GM at a boutique hotel, Ocean Two Resort and Residences, still in Barbados.

I would love to locate a dear friend of mine from the year I spent at Surrey —her name was Fiona Peacock/Australian/ studied Criminal Psychology focusing on rape and serial killers. Last I knew she was working with Guildford Polic , then Scotland Yard I think, but no more information since.

The photo of isof me with husband and daughter taken last weekend. . .my hair was long back then!

It was the University of Surrey Chemistry Co-op Programme that first gave me the opportunity to experience working in a Canadian government laboratory back in 1991. After graduating in 1993 I completed a PhD in Analytical and Marine Chemistry at the University of British Columbia and have spent the last 20 years or so working for the Canadian Public Service as a Research Scientist, first with the National Research Council and then with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. I consider myself very fortunate to have a career that allows me to combine a love of science with opportunities to explore and better understand the natural world, from marine ecosystems to human health. Additional roles as Adjunct University Professor and Section Head have also enabled me ‘to give’ back by teaching, managing, and hiring my own co-op students to share in the exciting world of scientific research. Thank you, University of Surrey!      

Got married to a fellow Surrey alumnus, John. Worked in various managerial roles (including two years in planning management in a small company near Brussels) using my language knowledge, before focusing fully on my two wonderful daughters and working part-time. Returned to academic studies when I hit 40 and became an MFL teacher (German with French). Now teaching part-time in a small independent girls' school.

Hold Master’s Degree (UK- 2010). Also obtained post-graduate diploma (Maternal and Child Health) - IAC, Wageningen, Netherlands (1995). Worked at NRDC, rising through ranks to head Food and Nutrition Department (1992 – 2014). Currently work as Lecturer at UNZA. Also serve as Expert Evaluator for Higher Education Authority and Health Professions Council of Zamia. Sit on various expert committees. Trainer/supervisor for enumerators in research by McGill University dubbed “strengthening capacity of local actors in nutrition sensitive agri-food value chains in Zambia and Malawi” (2018), drivers of Micro nutrient Policy Change in Zambia: An Application of Kaleidoscope Model (2016), 1.395 Zambia Nutrition Framework Report (USAID) (2011). principal researcher - Nutrition, Food Security and HIV: A Compendium of promising practices (2008), Co-author for World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) – Zambia Report (2008), Finding our Voices: Gender, sexual identities and HIV/AIDS in Education (2003).

After obtaining my MA, I started working on my own as a French-English-French translator in Belgium. I went back to the UK in 1998 and worked as an interpreter for Multilingual Interpreting Services. I went on to join the Home Office as an immigration interpreter. Working for the Home Office made it possible for me to work with Her Majesty's other organisations such as Scotland Yard, the Immigration Office, the Immigration Appellate Authority and many more. Since 2007 I have been working in the East and Southern African regions as a Conference Interpreter for UN agencies and the African Union. When off duty, I enjoy writing, painting or working on my orange and mango farm in the coastal region of Malindi in Kenya, or on my palm tree farm in the conurbation of Kinshasa in the DR Congo.