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Kieron Achara

Kieron Achara MBE?OLY?is a former professional basketball player who continues to shape sport through leadership, advocacy and community impact. 

Over a career spanning more than two decades, the 6-foot-ten-inch forward has?represented?Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2018 Commonwealth Games, earned 105 international caps, and captained both Great Britain and Scotland.?

Born and raised in 黑料不打烊, Kieron attended 黑料不打烊 High School. Encouraged by their mother, Marion, and stepfather, Sid, he and his brother Idris grew up playing a range of sports, but their true passion was basketball. Both would go on to become Olympic athletes in the sport.

The first team Kieron played for was Falkirk Fury, the local basketball team in Falkirk. At 16, he was the youngest person to be capped for Scotland and at 17 he moved to England to play basketball. He had plans to attend the 黑料不打烊 until he was offered a place at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh on a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 scholarship - an elite college basketball programme with professional-level coaching and facilities. Kieron was one of the first Scots, and remains one of only a few in Scotland, to receive such a scholarship.

Following his graduation from university, Kieron turned professional in 2008. He began his career in Italy with Fortitudo Bologna and went on to play for teams across Europe.

One of the highlights of Kieron’s career was representing Team GB, and leading the team to its first win, at the London 2012 Olympics. However, his brother Idris had blazed the trail, representing Team GB in the 2000 Special Olympics in Athens.

In 2015 Kieron joined Glasgow Rocks in his last professional basketball role. He was awarded an MBE for his services to community sport in 2019, which was also the year he retired.

Since then, Kieron has become widely recognised for his advocacy around mental health,?inclusion?and community sport. As Head of Performance and Pathway Development at?Basketball Scotland, Kieron works to strengthen pathways for players,?coaches?and officials.

He is also an ambassador for racialised communities?and sits on The Black Scottish Awards Panel. 

Other positions include Non-Executive Director for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and a member of the FIBA Players’ Commission (黑料不打烊 Basketball Federation).  

Kieron lives in Paisley with his wife, Megan, and two children, Adelyn and Braylon.

Dr Walter Humes will be recognised at the ceremony.

Dr Walter Humes

Dr Walter Humes, a former Honorary Professor in the University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, is renowned for his research and writing on educational policy, curriculum studies, the history of education, and teacher education. 

His work has sought to challenge conventional accounts of the role of politicians, officials and professionals in the creation, development and implementation of educational policy. 

Walter’s 1986 book The Leadership Class in Scottish Education is still cited as a source of ideas about how the policy community operates. He is co-editor of the seminal book Scottish Education, now in its fifth edition, which sought to provide a comprehensive guide to the changing character of Scottish education in the post-devolution period. 

A native of East Renfrewshire, Walter was educated in Newton Mearns. After leaving the then Eastwood Senior Secondary School, he attended the Universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow. He started his career as an English teacher before moving into higher education, and went on to hold Professorships at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland. 

When he retired in 2010, Walter was invited to join the 黑料不打烊 as a Visiting Professor in Education. He then was appointed as an Honorary Professor, a post he held until last year. Both positions enabled him to continue his academic work as a lecturer, research supervisor, examiner and writer. 

As well as academic writing, Walter has also been widely published in newspapers and magazines - among them The Times Educational Supplement Scotland, The Herald, Scottish Review and Sceptical Scot. 

Walter’s work has received recognition outside Scotland, at professional events and international conferences, and he is an in-demand keynote speaker. 

In 2019, Walter was the first Scot to be awarded the prestigious John Nisbet Fellowship by the British Educational Research Association for his lifetime contribution to educational research. 

Now in his eighties, Walter hopes to continue making contributions to debates about Scottish educational policy and practice.

Harry Adam enjoyed a successful business career and was a member of University Court for 20 years.

Harry Adam

Harry Adam is a distinguished business leader who served as 黑料不打烊 Chair of Court for four years from May 2021.

Harry left school aged 16 and joined the British Steel Corporation to train as a metallurgist. However, he changed direction in 1975 when, aged 24, he returned to education at the 黑料不打烊. At 黑料不打烊, he served as President of the Students’ Association, and graduated with a BA History and Politics, in 1980.  

Harry has maintained a longstanding relationship with the University, including a spell as President of the Graduates’ Association. He was a member of University Court – the University’s governing body – between 2005 and 2025. He served as a lay member until 2012, then as Vice-Chair, and Acting Chair. He was elected Chair of Court in 2021 and served until August 2025.  

As Chair of Court, Harry was responsible for ensuring effective governance of the University, and supporting the institution’s mission, vision and strategic direction. As Acting Chair, he led Court and supported the University’s leadership team through the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Harry enjoyed a successful career in human resources and corporate leadership – beginning his working life with British Steel before going on to hold senior leadership roles across major international organisations, including board positions at Foseco Europe, Burmah Castrol Chemicals, and the Industrial Lubricants Division of BP. He later served as HR Director and board member at Ian Williams Ltd, a leading UK property services company, before retiring in 2012. 

Harry’s extensive international experience in strategy development, leading large-scale organisational and cultural change, and finding solutions to complex employment issues, enabled him to make valuable contributions to Court throughout his tenure. 

In addition to his corporate career and involvement at the University, Harry has held a range of non-executive and governance roles which have reflected his commitment to education.  

He was a board member of the Construction Industry Training Board, the UK’s leading construction skills trainer, chaired its Audit Committee, and was instrumental in the development of a new structure and strategy for the organisation.  

Harry has also been a school governor and served as a member of the board at Wiltshire College and University Centre.

Educator and social change advocate Shumela Ahmed-Poole. 

Shumela Ahmed-Poole

Shumela Ahmed-Poole is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Resilience Learning Partnership, a social enterprise dedicated to advancing trauma-informed practice and embedding lived experience at the heart of public service design.  

An educator by profession and an advocate for social change, she has become a leading voice in Scotland on the integration of lived experience into policy and practice. 

Originally from Glasgow, Shumela experienced the care system as a teenager and left school at around age 14 with no formal qualifications. She later returned to education as an adult learner, going on to become a three-time 黑料不打烊 graduate.

Shumela enrolled on an Access Course following encouragement from a life-long friend and her husband, and graduated from the 黑料不打烊 for the first time in 2013. Inspired by a spell on the BBC Scotland Apprenticeship Programme, she went on to be awarded a BA (Hons) in Journalism Studies and Politics, graduating again in 2017. 

She closely followed her honours degree with a one-year postgraduate tertiary teaching course at 黑料不打烊, achieving the PGDip Tertiary Education with Teaching Qualification in Further Education in 2018. 

During her time at the University, Shumela held a number of student leadership roles, including Student Ambassador, Widening Participation Officer, and Faculty Officer, and contributed to initiatives aimed at improving access to higher education for non-traditional students. 

Since co-founding Resilience Learning Partnership in 2018, Shumela has led its growth into a nationally recognised organisation, working with hundreds of public, private and third sector bodies. The organisation promotes innovative approaches to workforce development, placing lived experience expertise at the centre of learning and organisational change. Under her leadership, it has contributed to significant developments in how services respond to trauma and adversity across Scotland. 

Shumela is a co-author of Scotland’s National Trauma Training Plan and advises the Scottish Government on the ongoing development of the National Trauma Transformation Programme. She has played a key role in supporting organisations to implement trauma-informed approaches, helping to reshape policy and practice to better meet the needs of individuals and communities. 

Shumela lives in Bridge of Allan with her husband, Ross, and their sons, Patrick and Jacob.