Honorary Graduates

A recognised leader in the data industry, Natalie has been named in the Tech Women Celebration 50 2023, Twenty in Data and Tech 2023, the Data IQ 100 multiple times, and featured as one of 15 female leaders in the 300 Years of Leadership and Innovation publication. She is a partner at data and analytics consultancy JMAN Group and is also chair of Women’s Health at Women in Data and is on the Mayor of London's Data for London Advisory Board. 

Now Chairman of CWG, Sir Nigel joined Legal & General in 2009 as its Chief Financial Officer, and was Chief Executive from 2012 to 2024. A leading UK financial services group and major global investor, Sir Nigel managed assets worth $1.5 trillion was knighted for services to the financial services industry, regional development and sport in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. 

A successful producer and director,  Sarah-Jane specialises in science and wildlife storytelling within the specialist factual TV and film industry. She completed a PhD on the impact of climate change on coral reefs at Essex, before beginning her career working on the ground-breaking Planet Earth II, the most successful wildlife documentary in history, reaching over a billion viewers worldwide. 

Wali is a blind athlete, motivational speaker, and author. Originally from Afghanistan, he worked as a cultural advisor and translator with the British forces, where he was blinded by a roadside bomb explosion in 2009. Despite sustaining severe injuries, he never surrendered to his blindness and has won multiple medals in athletics, including four golds at the Invictus Games in Germany in 2023. 

Peter established The Anti Loo Roll Brigade (ALB) to support people during the COVID pandemic and is still helping the community five years on. What began as a grassroots initiative quickly became a vital community lifeline by organising prescription deliveries, supporting home education, mobilising transport for first responders, and providing over 15,000 masks to local care homes. Now a registered Community Interest Company, the ALB works hand-in-hand with the council, schools, police, and vital services across Colchester. 

A leading entrepreneur, Patrick graduated from Essex in electronics in 1979. He is Chairman of prominent biopharmaceutical company Essex Bio-Technology Limited. Through his work he has achieved many accolades and awards including the first KPMG Singapore High Tech Entrepreneur Award in 1990 and the DHL & Singapore Press Holdings Business Award for Businessman of the Year in 1994 and Le Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite which was conferred by the French President in 1996. 

Marcelle is a Syrian democracy activist who joined the revolution in 2011 and faced personal tragedy when her mother was killed by the Assad regime. She fled Syria, studied Human Rights and Cultural Diversity at Essex as a Chevening Scholar, and later co-founded civil society initiatives like Kesh Malek and Do Not Suffocate the Truth.