Each year, we recognise the exceptional achievements of our School of Management alumni through the School of Management Alumni Awards. On 30 January, this year’s winners were formally presented with their awards at a celebratory dinner held at the Royal Society, hosted by the Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University, Professor Sir Peter Gregson, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Cranfield School of Management, Professor David Oglethorpe.
In his opening words, Professor Oglethorpe said: “Alumni lie at the heart of the future of the School of Management. This is a time for entrepreneurial and agile responses - our exceptional and outstanding alumni are something that can play a major role in that.” The evening not only provided an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate those exemplifying the values of the school – it also provided an opportunity for members of our alumni community and Cranfield School of Management faculty to connect, network and share ideas.
Alumni Service Award: Christopher Ballnath (MSc Finance and Management 2006)
First on the agenda was the Alumni Service Award, presented to Christopher Ballnath by Andy Hunter (MBA 1987) – Cranfield School of Management Alumni President and 2019 Alumni Service Award winner. The Alumni Service Award recognises individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the School in a volunteer capacity.
Christopher has received this award in recognition of the work he has done to bring together our alumni community in Russia. In 2013, he started and led the Cranfield Alumni Network for Russia, bringing together over 80 alumni and making Russia one of the most active alumni groups in the world. Christopher then went on to found the organisation “Alumni of Leading Graduate Schools of the World” in 2014, connecting alumni from the world’s leading business schools.
In his acceptance speech, Christopher highlighted the dedication and support that our Russian alumni community can offer: “When I started the Russian alumni association, there wasn’t much of a focus on the alumni... now we’re the number one network so please continue that support. Whenever I talk to them there’s a lot of dedication there, they’re always interested in what’s going on at Cranfield - they are very loyal to the bond with the University.”
Excellence in Achievement Award for Recent Graduates: Lucie Basch (MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management 2014)
The Excellence in Achievement Award was presented by Professor David Oglethorpe, and was accepted on Lucie’s behalf by Professor Melvyn Peters, Professor of Supply Chain Practice and Director of Education at Cranfield School of Management.
The award recognises those who have made significant progress in their careers within ten years of graduating from the School. After witnessing the scope of food waste in the food-processing industry, Lucie Basch joined forces with a couple of entrepreneurs to launch Too Good to Go – an initiative that helps citizens to fight food waste. Lucie successfully launched the initiative in France in 2016 and since then over 29 million meals have been saved in 14 countries. Lucie was unable to attend the awards evening to accept her award, as she was in New York to launch Too Good to Go USA!
Entrepreneur Alumnus of the Year Award: Eyal Ben-Cohen (MBA 2004)
Next up was the Entrepreneur Alumnus of the Year Award, presented to Eyal Ben-Cohen – Founder and CEO of Verifile – by Dr Stephanie Hussels, Director of the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Eyal Ben-Cohen developed the idea for Verifile, a technology-led background screening company, while he was studying for his MBA at Cranfield. Sixteen years later, Verifile has shown excellent growth and won many awards – most recently a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Innovation – while implementing socially responsible employment practices and benefitting the local economy.
On accepting his award, Eyal stated: “If my story can help or inspire students to look at a Cranfield MBA in a different lens, maybe not just consider the corporate ladder but also do something for themselves - create a business, and employ people - that would be something that I would feel really proud of.”
Eyal Ben-Cohen will be sharing his experiences of entrepreneurship and leadership at the Bettany Centre Entrepreneurship Speaker Series event being held on campus on Thursday 20 February. Visit the websitefor further information.
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award: Dr Adesola Adeduntan (MBA 2005)
The final award of the evening was presented by Professor Sir Peter Gregson, FREng, MRIA, DSc – Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University. The Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award represents the School’s highest honour and recognises those who have achieved significant success within their industry while upholding the highest standards in business practice.
Dr Adesola Adeduntan is Chief Executive Officer of the FirstBank Group in Nigeria – having held several leadership roles in the banking sector, with distinctive national and international experience, in a career spanning over 25 years.
During his acceptance speech, Dr Adeduntan credited both the rigorous academic teaching at Cranfield and the strength of the Cranfield alumni network: “I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I have done today, without the rigours, without the knowledge and without the network that I acquired while at Cranfield - I remain eternally grateful to the university for giving me the opportunity to learn, not just from the lecturers but also learn from equally distinguished students that attended the university.”
It was fantastic to have the opportunity to celebrate the far-reaching achievements of our School of Management alumni. Keep an eye on our social media channels for our ‘Getting to know you’ videos to learn more about this year’s winners and make sure you update your details on the Alumni Portal to hear when nominations for our 2021 awards open. Who do you think deserves your nomination?
A big thank you to all of our alumni community for your ongoing support – and congratulations again to our 2020 School of Management Alumni Award winners!
Got a success story to share? We’d love to hear from you. Email our alumni communications team.