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AHSS Alumni

Alumni Anthologies Podcast headphones
Alumni Anthologies
Be inspired from those who went before you

Graduates from Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences have excelled in a vast array of diverse careers, both locally and internationally. Our alumni are part of a vibrant community who can provide inspiration and guidance to help our current students discover their future career path. Alumni Anthologies is a collection of stories from past students about their experiences from university and beyond.

Series 3
Episode 12: Rory Mackin

Public Relations Leader

Rory talks about working with the PR team in Deloitte, emphasises how transformational his year abroad studying in Spain was, and how learning languages trains us to pay attention, process information and connect. After graduating from Queen’s with a BA in English and Spanish, Rory started his career at Public Relations agencies in New York City, including global firms Hill+Knowlton and Weber Shandwick, before going in-house to a storied Private Equity firm, and then joining Deloitte.

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Episode 11: Meet Professor Evelyn Collins CBE

Honorary Professor and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Equal Rights Trust

Evelyn talks about her commitment to advocating gender equality, and how being adaptable and flexible led her from dreaming to be a pop singer at 15, to studying Law, and finally, her lifelong achievement as advocate of Equal Rights. Evelyn is an Honorary Professor at Queen’s School of Law and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Equal Rights Trust, with a long commitment as Equal Rights advocate, and more particularly Gender Equality.

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Episode 10: Meet Dr Michael Maguire

Honorary Professor

Michael shares how postgrad life in Queen’s changed him as a person, his proud mum’s moment of having strawberries and cream at graduation for the first time as he was the first of his family to go to university, and his passion for social change. Michael completed his PhD in sociology in 1985 and has led a very successful career, including serving as the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Chief Inspector of the Criminal Justice Inspectorate in Northern Ireland, and 10 years as a Partner in a global consulting firm specialising in strategy and organisational development.

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Episode 9: Meet Alice McFaul

Creative Producer and Assistant Director

Alice talks about how Queen’s offered her the “I’m a filmmaker!” realisation moment, gives advice on how to deal with difficult personalities on TV, and urges students to make connections earlier than later. Alice completed her degree in Film Studies in 2011 and has gone on to Produce and AD content for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Discovery and National Geographic.  Alice specialises in unscripted television and feature drama docs.  Recent projects include Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy and an upcoming Netflix series Exec Produced by Steven Spielberg.

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PHOTO: Jean Watt
My name is Jean Watt and graduated in Broadcast Production from Queen’s University, Belfast in 2023. My previous career in Marketing includes event management, communications, sponsorship, advertising and research. My most recent work include “Being Punk’ by All Nighter Productions as writer, researcher and producer. Interests include walking, sea swimming, all types of music, reading and watching movies. I was delighted to create series 3 of Alumni Anthologies and meet such inspirational alumni. Jean Watt
Broadcast Production
Series 2
Episode 8: Meet Manus Cranny

European Editor at Bloomberg Television

Manus completed his degree at BSc in Business Management at Queen’s and is now based in Dubai as an anchor and European Editor at Bloomberg Television. He talks about how his career path was shaped by the heady financial climate of the 1980s. In this episode, Manus shares why it’s important to take pride in your education, and has lots of good advice for students deciding on where to study and how to make those important first career choices.

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Manus Cranny profile and at Bloomberg
Episode 7: Meet Pete Dickson

Voiceover Artist

Peter Dickson is the UK’s most prolific voiceover artist. He has enjoyed a stellar career spanning almost 40 years. His unique and powerful vocal delivery is the choice of global TV entertainment mogul Simon Cowell. His voice has featured on “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor” in the UK. In a national poll, he was voted as one of the top three iconic UK voices of the decade. Peter gives us a fascinating glimpse into some career highlights, and speaks about how important it is to find a balance between living life to the full and following your heart while also maintaining discipline and focus at university.

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Pete Dickson Profile
Episode 6: Meet Marie Anderson

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Marie Anderson became the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in 2019 having gained a classification in Law at QUB. Marie reflects on how her background as a solicitor lead to her current role investigating complaints about public service providers here in Northern Ireland. In this episode, hear how an incident from her childhood lead Marie to develop a strong passion for advocating for justice. She reminds students that a university degree is a passport that can take you anywhere: “If you work hard you will succeed, you’re the only person who sets the boundaries.”

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Marie Anderson profile
Episode 5: Meet Mark Simpson

BBC News Correspondent

Mark Simpson started his journalism career when he left Queen’s and joined the BBC in 1988. With a career spanning over 30 years he has become a household name and a familiar face on our TV Screens. He describes his time at Queen’s as “an academic Disneyland” and speaks about the value of having a rough plan of what you want to do after education.

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Mark Simpson profile
PHOTO: Aisling Skillen
My name is Aisling Skillen and I am currently studying my third year of Broadcast Production at Queen's University Belfast. After the success of my own podcast series and the years spent enhancing my broadcast skills, I have grown a love of telling stories. Creating the next instalment of the Queen's Alumni Anthologies podcast has allowed me to explore the careers of past students, discussing their experiences and lives. Aisling Skillen
Broadcast Production
Series 1
Episode 4: Meet Sean Doyle

Director of Unscripted at The Walt Disney Company

Meet Sean Doyle. Hear about his incredible career journey from studying politics at Queens to becoming the Director of Unscripted at The Walt Disney Company. He tells us about how using unexpected free time to take advantage of work experience helped him break into the media industry.

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Episode 3: Meet Kelly Andrews

Chief Executive Women's Aid Belfast & Lisburn

Kelly is a woman of many talents. Hear about her incredible career journey including how getting involved in the Green Party while studying English and Politics at Queens and working as a part time hairdresser kick-started her career.

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Episode 2: Meet Matthew Thompson

Podcaster & Founder of 'Best of Belfast'

Meet Matthew Thompson. Writer, podcaster and founder of ‘Best of Belfast. Hear about the highs and lows of his career journey to date and how getting experience as a writer can come from the most unexpected places.

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Episode 1: Meet Rebecca McKinney

Radio Presenter & Stylist

Meet Rebecca McKinney. A popular and very successful radio presenter who now has her very own radio show on Cool FM. Rebecca is also a fashion stylist and blogger. Hear how she transitioned from studying Law at Queens into the successful business women she is today.

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PHOTO: Ryan Elliman
My name is Ryan Elliman and I'm an award winning journalist, film maker and student currently studying my third year of Broadcast Production at Queen's University Belfast. I've always had a passion for telling stories, no matter the form. After getting a H.N.D in Creative Media Production, I've honed my craft throughout my degree and was given the opportunity to highlight the lives, careers and experiences of Queen's Alumni in this Anthology collection Ryan Elliman
Broadcast Production
Made @ AHSS networking 2
Made@AHSS
Recognising and celebrating our alumni

Made@AHSS is a celebration of the achievements of our AHSS alumni. This gala event connects Alumni with our current students to inspire them for the future. AHSS Alumni represented were employed in a range of fields including creative arts, education, healthcare specialists, cyber intelligence, human rights and accountancy.

May 2019, A night to remember and celebrate
Staying connected with AHSS
Hannah Webb PwC profile shot
Hannah Webb, BA Joint Hons English and Drama

Hannah graduated in 2013 and currently works for PwC as a Student Recruiter. She share how has continued the connection to the School of Arts, English and Languages at QUB.

"I delivered a session for PwC to English students at QUB and it was great to have such a big turnout, all open to the possibility of a career that they might not have automatically considered when deciding to go down the route of an English degree. Many individuals (myself included) will not have a linear career path after university, so it was great to be given the opportunity to share our career stories with the students to show them that sometimes it does take a while to find your feet in the world of work. We were able to leave the students with some key pieces of advice, mainly that as long as they keep their options open, stay confident that they have the skills from their degrees that employers are looking for, and most importantly that they not afraid to try new things, then they will be very successful in their future careers!”

PwC English session Hannah Webb
PwC recruiter

Hannah analyses the value of arts and humanities graduates to corporate employers.

“English graduates, and more widely Arts and Humanities students, bring a wealth of skills to any organisation, such as communication skills (both written and oral), the ability to analyse large volumes of data, time management (reading on average 6 texts a week ranging from Medieval English to American Crime Fiction, is no mean feat!), thinking outside the box, creativity, and the ability to quickly build up a knowledge of different eras of history, politics, science, psychology, sociology (I could go on!) that form the backdrop of the texts we read and analyse - a skill that is valued in every workplace, but especially in a firm like PwC which operates within an ever changing business landscape.”

Meet Our Alumni
Tell us where AHSS has taken you
Share your story