Nominations open for WBS Alumni Awards 2024

Warwick Business School has launched its inaugural Alumni Awards to celebrate members of its global alumni community.

There are five categories, each of which will celebrate WBS alumni who represent the School’s CORE values of Curiosity, Openness, Restlessness, and Excellence and its Change Maker mindset.

Nominations for the annual awards are open until May 19 and winners will be presented with their awards at a gala dinner on July 20.

Sarah Pymm, Director of Global Alumni Engagement at WBS, said: “We are incredibly proud to have a global community of alumni who are using what they have learned at Warwick Business School to help them transform their companies, industries, and society.

“These awards are a wonderful way to recognise their achievements.

“It is also a great opportunity to celebrate those individuals who have made a valuable contribution towards building and sustaining that vibrant alumni network, which offers a lifetime of connections and support for all our alumni and students.”

Celebrating outstanding contributions to business and community

The categories for the 2024 Alumni Awards are:

The Alumni Leadership Award: This award recognises those who have helped to drive forward global alumni initiatives.

Nominees in this category will have held formal volunteer leadership positions within the WBS alumni community or made a significant contribution to WBS global alumni engagement activity.

Rising Star Alumni Award: This celebrates innovators, game-changers, leaders, and role models who have graduated in the last five years.

Nominees must demonstrate that they are relatively new to their area of expertise and are making significant contributions to advance their field.

Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Business: This award honours alumni who have demonstrated excellence in their personal or professional achievements in a business field.

Nominees should be able to demonstrate sustained excellence in their field over a period of at least five years, formal recognition from their peers or sector, and the tangible impact of the transformation or innovation they have made.

Business Entrepreneurship Award: This award is open to individual and group nominations and celebrates those who use their entrepreneurial mindset to make the world a better place.

Nominees must demonstrate that they have founded or co-founded one or more commercially viable companies, the growth and tangible achievements of those companies, external recognition from peers or the industry, and that they have inspired equality, diversity and inclusion in their company and sector.

WBS Community Empowerment Award: This award recognises those who use business as a power for good. This could include supporting equality, diversity and inclusion; promoting wellbeing; or from generating better social outcomes. It may have a global reach or a significant impact locally.

Nominees must demonstrate their commitment to positively influence society and business to achieve better outcomes and wider value, as well as evidence of the impact of their work.

Lifelong membership of a global community

WBS has a community of more than 59,000 alumni spanning 172 countries.

Andrew Lockett, Dean of WBS and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, said: “Our relationship with our students does not end at graduation.

“Our alumni become lifelong members of a global community that can provide them with continued career support, access to our award-winning Global Mentoring Programme, networking opportunities, and friendships.

“We are thrilled to be launching these awards to thank our alumni leaders and recognise the successes of our alumni.”

How to nominate a WBS alum

Nominations are open to all WBS alumni who have completed an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification.

They can be nominated by WBS staff, students, and fellow alumni, as well as friends and colleagues. Alumni can also nominate themselves if they provide a letter of support from an independent referee.

The deadline for completed nominations is May 19.