Alumnus Award 2013

New Alumnus Award winner
We are delighted to announce the winner of the University of Brighton’s Alumnus Award 2013 as Graphic Design alumnus (1984) Chris Riddell.

Chris is a British illustrator and writer of children's books and a high profile political cartoonist for The Observer. He has won two Kate Greenaway Medals, the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book,and two of his works were commended runners up. Books that he wrote or illustrated have won three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes and have been silver or bronze runners up four times.

Chris was one of the first alumni to join the university’s Alumni Advice Network and has given his time and talents repeatedly to support the work of the university. In 2010, Chris was guest speaker at the launch of the university’s Brighton Futures student engagement programme. He has also given talks at the Grand Parade campus on numerous occasions.

In 2011, the university approached Chris to advise on the creation of a more engaging widening participation character for local primary schools. Chris’s response was to design the new character himself, as well as fully illustrate and provide the typography for the information booklet. He made himself available for the launch and visited local schoolchildren to support the project. In 2012, Chris presented the ‘graduation certificates’ to some of Professor C Gull’s newest cohorts.

As a prolific and high profile illustrator, Chris has lent his talent and expertise to the university on numerous occasions. His creation of Professor C Gull saved the university a substantial sum of money and provided an impactful figurehead for the university’s widening participation project. Chris showed great commitment to the programme to encourage children from non-traditional backgrounds to consider a university education.

The success of the Alumni Advice Network depends on the goodwill of alumni like Chris and given the calibre of his expertise and reputation, his input contributes significantly to the student experience and the wider aims of the university in making education accessible to all.

Chris has often visited schools and bookshops to read his books to local children. He is an inspiring example of the impact of his education as well as a fantastic supporter and ambassador of the university’s widening participation project.

We also offer our congratulations to all the nominees for this prestigious award. These nominees have shown either: