On the evening of Thursday 18 June 2026 UCL’s Laidlaw scholar alumni and current scholars came together to celebrate 10 years of the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Programme at UCL.  Over this period the programme has helped 270 undergraduate students towards their aim of becoming the Leaders of the Future. 

We heard from Angharad Milenkovic, UCL Vice-President (Advancement) who thanked the Laidlaw Foundation for the incredible support they have offered to UCL students, and from Susanna Kempe, CEO of the Laidlaw Foundation, who emphasised the breadth of the UCL scholars’ achievements. 

Three highly-impressive alumni shared how the programme had helped them as young leaders.  Joshua Zhou has set up Atelier Three, Georgina Sanchez Moles has become a Food System Analyst, and Marcellus Augustine demonstrated his dedication to medicine and medical research.

In his closing speech by video, UCL President and Provost Dr Michael Spence spoke of the unique place the Laidlaw Programme holds at UCL.  The video of his speech can be found below.

After the formal part of the evening was finished, the networking between scholars began with generous amounts of refreshments – and the volume in the room increased a lot!  Despite the heat, the room was still full right up to the end.   Thank you to our two excellent Laidlaw scholar hosts, Amanda Andersson and Carlos Rangel Outeda for making the event such fun, and to Diana Scott for her organising skill.  It was a truly happy event, and a fitting tribute to a much-loved collaboration which has already enhanced the future of a generation of UCL students.