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Welcome from the Vice-Chancellor
It is a pleasure to welcome you to this month’s alumni e-newsletter. Over the past few months, I have been very pleased to hear about the increasing numbers of our alumni who are giving their time to share their expertise with our students. Your input really does make a difference to our students’ experience here and their employability beyond University so many thanks to you all for your continued support of your alma mater.
As you may have seen in the media, the Higher Education sector across the UK is facing unprecedented financial challenges, and many universities are now implementing significant cost-saving measures, including Bangor University.
Factors contributing to this are the freezing of undergraduate home fees with no adjustment for inflation, the increase in operational costs and recent changes to the UK Government immigration policy which has led to the decline of international student enrolments. These factors, beyond our control, have made it necessary to take action to align our costs with the reduced income that we anticipate in the years ahead.
In response to these pressures, the University has made significant progress in reducing the original savings target from £15 million to approximately £5.3 million. This regrettably involves reducing staff costs equivalent to around 78 full-time roles. As part of a broader cost-reduction strategy, the University has launched a consultation on the proposed changes and re-opened a voluntary severance scheme in an effort to avoid compulsory redundancies.
Whilst this is not a step I had hoped to take, it is essential that we meet our savings target to ensure the University's financial sustainability. I fully appreciate the concern and uncertainty this situation brings, and I want to reassure you that these decisions are being approached with care and consideration.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge our staff for their continued engagement, professionalism and commitment during this challenging time and the support given to us by so many of our alumni.
As we work through these challenges, we continue to look forward to some of the exciting projects ahead. The development of the Albert Gubay Business School, supported by the landmark donation of £10.5 million from the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation, will elevate Bangor University’s reputation as a centre of academic excellence and I look forward to providing you with updates on this and other projects in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Edmund Burke
Vice-Chancellor
BANGOR UNIVERSITY NEWS
BUILT 2025 Programme finale
Last month saw the final of the Bangor University Innovation and Leadership Training (BUILT) award, the success of which was again made possible due to alumni and supporters of Bangor University.
This year, the ‘Sustainable Grub’ project focused on new approaches to sustainable farming in North Wales, particularly the potential integration of insect farming.
Teams of students participated in the 12-week programme of lectures and activities designed to inspire and inform creative, commercially viable responses to sustainable agriculture. Ten alumni mentors were on hand throughout to help guide the students with their ideas, nurturing their emerging concepts and advise them on any issues faced.
Local investor and entrepreneur Nick Pritchard generously donated the prize fund of £5,000 and, as Head Judge for the evening, presented the winners, LarvaLux, with their prize.
London Bangorians
Established in 1901, the London Bangorians was set up as the London branch of the Old Students Association (OSA) for alumni of Bangor University (then UCNW). The society provides a social network for alumni based in and around London, to share members’ interests, to celebrate Welsh heritage and culture in London and to maintain links with Bangor University.
As London Bangorians approach their 125th anniversary, with the help of the Development and Alumni Relations Office and members of the Alumni Advisory Board, the group have developed a new schedule of events and are welcoming new members with open arms!
An annual subscription to join London Bangorians is £20 (with concessionary rates available) and will provide invitations for you and your friends/family to all social events for a year, a report of their year’s activities and copies of the AGM papers.
The group held an informal meeting in Mabel’s Tavern, near King’s Cross in London on 29th May and were pleased to gather a crowd of current and new members, recognising each other thanks to London Bangorians’ President James Tute’s Bangor scarf! They will be meeting again in Mabel's Tavern at 7pm on 16th July and you're very welcome to join them.
Event dates and details on how to join
Alumna receives MBE
Bangor Alumna, Emily Cunningham has been awarded an MBE in the King's New Year Honours List 2025 for services to marine conservation and coastal communities. She received her MBE from HRH The Princess Royal at an Investiture at Windsor Castle in April.
Emily (MMBiol Master of Marine Biology, 2012) has worked in ocean conservation for over a decade, both in the UK and overseas. She is currently Global Lead for river dolphin conservation at WWF International and was recently appointed as an Honorary Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.
Emily is a Co-Founder of the #Motion4theOcean – the world’s first Local Government Ocean Recovery Declaration – enacted so far by 34 UK councils, together serving over 4.5 million residents. Emily has raised over £5m for projects that work with underserved coastal communities and she was named a Global 30 under 30 Environmental Leader in 2020.
Emily says "I'm truly honoured to be awarded an MBE for my services to marine conservation and coastal communities. Marine conservation is more than just my job, it has been my life, passion and mission for more than 20 years. It can be a tough and thankless task given the scale of the challenges facing our ocean, so to be recognised in this way means the world! Studying marine biology at Bangor University really set me up for the successes of my career and I'm ever grateful that I chose to do my degree there. Through my work, I meet people all around the world who say 'I went to Bangor too!' - it's amazing to be part of such a global community of Bangor Alumni."
Alumni inspire students to explore careers in wildlife media
The Student-led Employability Working Group (SLEWG) at the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences hosted an alumni-led seminar on nature and wildlife photography recently. The seminar, part of an ongoing employability initiative, was delivered in collaboration with the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Office.
The seminar featured alumni Jake Davies (Applied Marine Biology, 2018) and Donovan Lewis (Marine Vertebrate Zoology, 2016), who shared insights from their careers in wildlife media. They provided practical guidance on entering the sector, discussed the dynamics of freelance versus contracted work, and introduced key equipment and software used in the field.
The seminar aimed to highlight non-traditional career routes and strengthen student employability by linking environmental storytelling with professional practice. Following the talk, students took part in a hands-on editing workshop in the JP New Media Suite, where they were introduced to Adobe Lightroom Classic and received individual feedback on image composition and editing.
Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, describing the event as informative, inspiring, and highly relevant to their career development. Many highlighted the value of hearing directly from alumni and appreciated the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools.
Alumni star in Welsh-language podcast
A brand-new podcast - Bangor be wedyn? – was launched last month, supported by the Bangor Fund, which is made up of donations from Bangor University’s alumni.
Over five episodes, alumni share how they have benefited from studying a subject or module through the medium of Welsh at University, and how that's helped their careers. Well-known Welsh-language alumni who have contributed to the podcast include BBC journalist Liam Evans (Cymraeg, 2018) (left), football presenter Sioned Dafydd (Welsh and Media Studies, 2017), Welsh band Fleur De Lys member Huw Harvey (Welsh Creative Writing and Music, 2017) as well as rugby player Teleri Davies (Law, 2018).
The aim of the Welsh language podcast is to use the alumni’s experiences to encourage sixth form and university students to see the benefit of following courses and modules through the medium of Welsh.
In conversation with Sir Terry Waite and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius
The Bangor University’s Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Cantorion Menai and the choirs of the Liverpool Welsh and Bangor Cathedral will perform one of Edward Elgar’s masterpieces, The Dream of Gerontius, under the baton of Gwyn L. Williams in Bangor University’s Prichard-Jones Hall on Sunday, 8th June. Tickets: £25
Prior to the concert, we’re honoured to be joined by Sir Terry Waite who will be in conversation with Bangor University’s Chair of Council Marian Wyn Jones for a pre-concert talk on ‘The Power of Music’. The Dream of Gerontius was the first piece Sir Terry heard as a hostage in the Lebanon after four years of solitary confinement and held great significance for him as a powerful source of comfort and inspiration. The talk will be held in the Eric Sunderland Lecture Theatre of the Main University Building at 5.45pm. Concert ticket includes admission to the pre-concert talk.
It promises to be a memorable occasion.
For further information and to book your tickets, please see our website.
Literature Wales Book of the Year shortlist
We’re delighted to see a number of Bangor University staff and alumni included on this year’s Literature Wales Book of the Year shortlist.
Angharad Price, Professor of Welsh and Creative Writing, and Gwenno Gwilym, who graduated in 2022 with an MA in Creative Writing and is Web Content Officer in the Brand Marketing Department, both feature in the In the Welsh-language shortlist for the Fiction award.
Angharad’s novel, Nelan a Bo, starts in 1799 and follows the lives and loves of people wandering through the great social changes that came with the approaching industrial revolution. Gwenno’s debut novel, V + Fo, has been described as ‘a unique and funny novel which jumps between two people and two languages.’
Alumni from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are also amongst those shortlisted: Katrina Moinet (Creative Writing (English) MA, 2023) appears in the English language shortlist for the Poetry award; Sioned Erin Hughes (Ysgrifennu Creadigol, 2021) for the poetry award; and Llŷr Titus (Cymraeg PhD, 2018) in the Children and young people award.
Dr Aled Llion Jones, Head of the School of Welsh, said, "We are incredibly proud of our talented colleagues and alumni who have achieved recognition in the Wales Book of the Year shortlist. Their inclusion is a testament to their exceptional literary contributions, and the strength and influence of the School’s Creative Writing BA, MA and PhD courses. We congratulate them on this remarkable achievement."
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Cardiff on Thursday evening, 17 July.
Alumnus organises Kuwait’s first pickleball Tournament
Kuwait held its first official pickleball tournament on April 18, 2025, at The British School of Kuwait in Salwa, thanks to Bangor alumnus Hani Haidar (Electronic Engineering MSc, 2024). Hani is the founder of Pickleball Kuwait and hopes to grow the game across the Gulf through regional cooperation and continued outreach.
Hani discovered the sport while studying at Bangor University. Knowing he would return to Kuwait in late 2023, Hani enrolled in the Pickleball Leaders Certification program in the UK to prepare for teaching the sport back home.
He said, “When I got back, I told my friends that we should start a club. Over the past two years, we’ve done a lot of classes for kids, and we are offering school visits to teach students about pickleball. We are working with the kids, the adults, and encouraging seniors as well.”
Hani was thrilled by how successful the first tournament turned out. Sixty players of different skill levels joined the one-day event, which was supported by 10 sponsors and welcomed around 100 spectators. He said, “Every court was full with players. It was an amazing day. This is only the beginning and I see a strong future for the sport, both in Kuwait and across the Gulf.”
Bangor team's Real Ice machine featured as part of global initiative
A North Wales company led by alumni of Bangor University, has invented a revolutionary ice-making machine powered by renewable energy to replenish melting polar ice caps in the battle against climate change.
The project has caught the attention of the United Nations Development Programme and the prototype, developed by Real Ice, is being sent out to be tested in the icy wastes of Northern Canada.
Real Ice’s Managing Director is Bangor alumnus Cian Sherwin (Zoology, 2017) who heads a team of graduates and students from the USA, France and Finland. The ice-making machine itself is predominantly the work of alumnus Nick Penny (MEng. 1993), who has carried out much of his research at the University’s School of Computer Science and Engineering, in collaboration with engineering students undertaking their team projects.
Cian and the core team of seven have also been developing the project with the help of an advisory team including experts from the North Wales Business Academy.
Have you heard about the Graduate Outcomes Survey?
Graduate Outcomes is the UK’s largest social survey, designed to capture the perspectives and current status of recent graduates.
If you’ve completed a higher education course in the UK, you’ll be invited to take part 15 months after finishing your studies.
This survey explores whether you’re in employment, further education, or pursuing other opportunities—and examines how your qualification has shaped your journey.
Keep your contact details up to date to make sure you receive your invitation to complete the Graduate Outcomes survey.
You're invited! Biblical Landscapes Evening Conference
Date: Tuesday, 10 June
Time: 6pm – 9.30pm
Venue: Prichard-Jones Hall, Main Arts Building, Bangor University
You’re invited to join us for an inspiring evening of exploration and reflection on the Biblical Landscapes of Gwynedd and Wales. Co-organised by the National Centre of Religious Education for Wales and the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates, this unique event brings together scholars, artists, musicians, and the public to explore the deep connections between the Bible, landscape, identity and Welsh culture.
All are warmly welcome to this event which is free of charge.
You're invited! Launch of Bangor Business School's Business Clinic
When: Monday 14th July 2-3pm
Where: MS Teams (online)
We’d like to extend a warm welcome for you to join us in celebrating the launch of our new Business Clinic.
The Business Clinic is a new initiative within the Business School that aims to bring real life industry experience to our students alongside offering expert advice and guidance to businesses. Join us at this event where we’ll tell you more about how the Business Clinic works and the benefits for both students, businesses and the wider community.
Medics learn Welsh as a clinical skill
Bangor University’s first full cohort of medical students, nearing the end of their first year of studies at the North Wales Medical School, were commended recently for their efforts in learning Welsh and engaging with the linguistic context in which they will be working.
Bangor Business School helps drive engagement strategy for Anglesey landmark
A project team from Bangor University Business School has published three key recommendations designed to enhance visitor engagement at the Tŵr Marcwis Anglesey Column Site Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll.
The project team lead by Professor Michael Butler, Director of Centre for Sustainable Regions and Economies, recommended the creation of a sensory trail, a heritage recipe, and a comprehensive marketing report. These three suggestions will hopefully attract more visitors to the historic monument.
