Principal's Medals

The Principal awards approximately five medals annually to students and staff who have delivered exceptional service in supporting and serving the University or the wider community, and demonstrated strong alignment to the University’s values.

2022 Principal's Medal winners

Lianne Henry - Head of Student Allocations, Accommodation, Catering and Events
Lesley Penny - Director of Bioresearch & Veterinary Services
Stav Salpeter - recent graduate from the School of Social and Political Sciences & the Law School
Karen Riddell and Rebecca Whitefield, Protocol Team - joint winners
Student Counselling Service - accepted by Ronnie Millar, Director, Student Counselling Service on their behalf

Further information on the 2022 winners

2021 Principal's Medal winners

TestEd Team - acccepted by Tim Aitman, Chief Investigator for the TestEd Programme and Director of the Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, on their behalf
Linda Bauld, Bruce and John Usher Professor of Public Health and Head of the Centre for Population Health Sciences
Paul Gorman, Deputy Head of Help Services, User Services, Information Services Group
Lauren Hall-Lew, Reader, based in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
Dr. Emma Wild-Wood, Director of Postgraduate Studies, and Dr. Sara Parvis, Director of Postgraduate Taught Masters, in the School of Divinity - joint winners

Further information on the 2021 winners

2020 Principal's Medal winners

Given the extraordinary events of 2020, the decision was made to increase the number of awards this year to enable the recognition of individuals, teams and departments from our University community who have played a critical role in how we have responded to the Covid-19 crisis.

There was only one category this year: the Principal’s Medal for Exceptional Contribution.

Principal’s Medal winners 2020

Prior to 2020 the Principal awarded two Medals annually; the Exceptional Service Award (recognises a staff member or team who delivered exceptional service by devoting time and energy beyond what is expected of their position to supporting and serving the University community and mission) and the Contribution to the Community Award (staff or students who have played a key role in a project to the community they’ve worked, lived in or contributed to).

2019 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Professors Harry Campbell, Igor Rudan, and Harish Nair, The Usher Institute
Contribution to the Community: Dr Adam Budd, School of History, Classics and Archaeology

2018 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Professor Helen Sang, Dr Vicky MacRae and Ms Catherine Eastwood, The Roslin Institute
Contribution to the Community: Bharat Chaturvedi, undergraduate in the School of Social and Political Science

2017 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Professor Aziz Sheikh, Director of the Usher Institute
Contribution to the Community: Alexandros Angelopoulos and Sam Kellerhals, undergraduates in the School of Geosciences

2016 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Amy Woodgate, Project Manager - Distance Education Initiative & Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and the MOOCs Team
Contribution to the Community: Colin Adams, Director of Commercialisation

2015 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Máire Cox, Communicator at OPENspace Research Centre
Contribution to the Community: Dr Andrew Gardiner, Senior Lecturer at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

2014 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Johanna Holtan, International Engagement Coordinator, Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA)
Contribution to the Community: Nicholle Bell, PhD student, School of Chemistry

2013 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Professor Scott Murray, St Columba’s Hospice Chair of Primary Palliative Care, Centre for Population Health Science; Also recognised: Dr Elizabeth Grant, Dr Kirsty Boyd and Dr Marilyn Kendall in Professor Murray’s Primary Palliative Care Research Group
Contribution to the Community: Rebecca MacKenzie, Pro Bono Coordinator and Senior Teaching Fellow, Centre for Professional Legal Studies, Edinburgh Law School

2012 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Dr Jane Haley, Scientific Manager, Edinburgh Neuroscience
Contribution to the Community: Ms Sharon Douglas, Administration Assistant, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility Education Programme; Ms Dee Isaacs, Lecturer in Music, Edinburgh College of Art

2011 Principal's Medal winners

Exceptional Service: Ms Karen Bowman, Director of Procurement; Mr Jake Broadhurst, International Projects Manager, Global Academies
Contribution to the Community: Dr Chris Speed, Reader in Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art

2010 Principal's Medal winner

Principal's Medal: Mr Paul Nisbet, Senior Research Fellow, School of Education; Joint Coordinator of Communication Access Literacy & Learning (CALL) Scotland

2009 Principal's Medal winner

Principal's Medal: Ben Miller, Edinburgh graduate and Fairtrade campaigner

2008 Principal's Medal winners

Principal's Medal: Lesley Forrest, Senior Administrative Assistant, Financial Accounting; Grant Guthrie, English Literature graduate and charity worker