Artists and designers, business leaders, a racing driver and a weightlifter to collect honorary degrees and awards from NTU

Charlie Martin is a British racing driver and LGBTQ+ activist. She has raced successfully in multiple disciplines including single seaters, prototypes and GT cars. In 2020 she made LGBTQ+ history as the first ever transgender driver to compete in the ADAC TOTAL 24hr Nürburgring-Rennen, where she finished 4th in class racing a BMW M240i.

Charlie has featured in Vogue Magazine and was listed in the Vogue 25, a celebration of inspiring women shaping the World in 2021 and beyond. She was also included in the Pride Power list, OUT Magazine 100 and Attitude 101.

Charlie graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2004, with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design.

Victoria Van Garrett is currently QA Project Lead for PlayStation, a role she has newly joined. Previously, she was QA Lead for Riot Games where she managed quality assurance activities for multiple ‘character skins’ strike teams. She also managed test activities between third-party vendors and international partners worldwide.

Victoria is a graduate of Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies where she studied a Foundation Degree in Science for Games Technology.

Julie Taylor MBE is Assistant Head of Vocational Education at Ashfield School, where she leads a team of teachers to deliver and assess Level 1-3 qualifications. She has also held the post of Post 16 Inclusion Specialist at the School, where she was responsible for ensuring an accessible and diverse curriculum for all.

Julie graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BA (Hons) in Education, followed by a Masters Degree in Education.

Dr Rachel Bolton-King

Rachel is an Associate Professor of Forensic Science at Staffordshire University and Editor-in-Chief of the Science & Justice journal. Her research interests lie in the manufacturing and imaging of ammunition and firearm components with a specific focus on advancing the forensic identification of firearms through the investigation of chemical and physical manufacturing processes.

Rachel graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BSc (Hons) in Forensic Science. She then completed her PhD in Forensic Firearms Identification and Imaging also at NTU.

Bernadette Stocks (Bernie) is an NHS leader with 29 years’ NHS experience plus five years in the private sector. She is currently Commissioning Manager Highly Specialised Services for the NHS, where she is commissioning lead for 23 national highly specialised rare disease services in the Women and Children Programme of Care including neurology, neurosurgery, foetal medicine, paediatric medicine and surgery and cancer.

Bernie graduated from Trent Polytechnic Business School with a BA (Hons) in Business studies, and also gained a Master in Business Administration from Nottingham Trent University. Bernie became an Alumni Fellow at NTU in 2017.

Daniel Parker is a Men’s Performance Analyst for The Football Association, supporting the analysts and coaches for the Men’s Senior Team for over 65 matches including the World Cup, Nations League, and Euros.

Daniel began his sports career after graduating with a BSc in Coaching and Sports Science from NTU, where he took on a placement with the first team staff at Notts County FC.

Barrie Pierpoint FCIM is Managing Partner and founder owner of bp Management and Marketing Services, a business and management consultancy. His 30 years’ Boardroom level experience has led to a continuous track record of performance improvements and achievements, turning around loss-making businesses and building revenue streams.

He is also a Director and part owner of Morgan Lawrence Publishing Services Ltd, which specialises in producing former professional football player and manager autobiographies. He himself has written a book about his success story at Leicester City FC transforming it from a bankrupt business to a profitable organisation, ‘Minding My Own Football Business’.  He has also recently been appointed as the part time Chief Executive of Kings Lynn Town FC.

Barrie graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1974 with a degree in Business.

Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis are the founders of Amazing If, an award-winning company with a mission to make careers better for everyone. They are the co-hosts of the UK’s no.1 careers podcast, Squiggly Careers, which has had more than 2m downloads and their TEDx talk ‘The best career path isn’t always a straight line’ has been watched by over 1.5m people.

Together they are also the authors of two Sunday Times bestselling books ‘The Squiggly Career’ and ‘You Coach You’.

Both Helen and Sarah graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2004 with a BA (Hons) in Business Management.

Christine Tomlinson currently holds a senior role at HMRC leading on talent, leadership and culture.

She graduated with an MA in Human Resource Management from De Montfort University in 2003 after gaining an Occupational Health and Safety Management CERT from NTU in 1996. Her studies at NTU began with gaining a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Management post-graduate Diploma in 1991.

Christine has held senior HR roles in Boots, Hardys & Hansons, a Nottingham based regional brewery as well a role with Jaeger Knitwear.

Christine is an Alumni Fellow and mentor at Nottingham Business School.

Dafe Oboro is an artist working predominantly in photography and film. Dafe has taken on the roles of casting director, producer, director, and photographer, embracing a multifaceted approach to storytelling.

Dafe was the 2020 recipient of the film prize in The Future Awards Africa. The artist was one of the 2020 nominees for Dazed and Confused magazine’s Dazed 100 list of people shaping youth culture.

Dafe’s film work has been screened at various venues in London (V&A Museum, 2021), Lagos (Art X Live, 2019), Milan (Fashion Film Festival Milano, 2019), and Eindhoven (Dutch Design Week, 2019).

Dafe holds a BA (Hons) in broadcast journalism from Nottingham Trent University.

Simon Masserella is a Justice of the Peace and National Digital Lead for the Magistracy.

He studied an HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Trent Polytechnic (now NTU) and was a Chief Flying Instructor for the RAF before spending the remainder of his career in Information Technology and Systems within the steel, water, power, nuclear, telecommunications, finance and stock broking industries.

Currently Simon answers to the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales and deals with all digital matters on a national basis, having been appointed in late 2018.

Simon is an Alumni Professional Mentor and helped create the now well-known ‘Employer Challenge’ for Nottingham Law School, which is written into NTU’s 2nd Year Courses for Law.

Simon was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year’s Honours in 2022 for Services to the Administration of Justice.

Neil Chattleis the head of Rolls-Royce Corporate Heritage and the Chief Executive of the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust. He manages the company’s heritage activity as well as promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) engagement with young people. He has been a STEM Ambassador for over twenty years and in 2020 was awarded the Outstanding STEM Ambassador Award at the UK STEM Inspirational Awards.

Neil has a first-class BEng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering from NTU and was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Frederic Barnes Waldron Prize and School Prize as best engineering student on the BEng Course.

He is an Alumni Fellow of Nottingham Trent University Business and Science and Technology Schools.

Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, said: “Our Honorary Graduates and award-winning alumni always inspire me every year with their achievements and the life-changing contributions they have made to society.

“In welcoming them to NTU to receive their prizes, they also share their stories with our graduates. It is really motivating for them to see what can be achieved in your career and in your life.”