Best in class! Law department scoop University’s ‘best lecturer’ award for second year running

A Senior Lecturer from the University of Northampton’s Law department has won the ‘Outstanding Lecturer of the Year’ accolade in the STAR Awards, organised annually by the Students’ Union. This is the second year running that a member of the Law team has won the highly acclaimed prize, which is voted for by Northampton students.

Previously called The Student Led Teaching Awards, the STAR Awards event is a way for students to show their appreciation to lecturers as well as rewarding them for their hard work and efforts. This year’s award was won by Dr Simon Sneddon, who received his gong from Vice Chancellor Nick Petford in front of a packed audience at Northampton Guildhall.

On receiving his award, Simon exclaimed: “I am really flattered to have been awarded this accolade, and it is even more flattering that this is an award given by the students themselves. Students are at the heart of what we do here, and to see so many staff nominated across the categories is a clear sign that the students value and appreciate what we are doing. “

Simon joined Northampton from the University of Cambridge in 2000. Programme Leader for LLM International Commercial Law, LLM International Criminal Law and Security and LLM in Legal Practice, Simon is also leader for several law modules including Environmental Law, Organised Crime, Terrorism, International Organised Crime and International Corporate Crime.

Head of Department, Mike Sumpter, commented: “Congratulations to Simon on his well-deserved achievement. I’m delighted that he’s followed in Brendan’s footsteps, and that his efforts have been recognised by the people who matter most. The fact that this award has now gone to a Law tutor for two years in a row reflects well – not just on Simon and Brendan, but also on the efforts of the Law team as a whole, and I know that both Brendan and Simon would be the first to recognise and acknowledge the support of their colleagues.”

This year’s STAR event featured five categories in total; Support Staff member of the Year (won by Gemma Smith), Innovative Teaching Award (won by Kyffin Jones), Pastoral Support Award (won by Claire Allen), the NILE Award (won by Roy Wallace) and the hotly contested Outstanding Lecturer of the Year prize. Last year’s ‘Outstanding Lecturer’ award was won by Brendan Greene, also a Senior Lecturer in our Law department.

The University of Northampton offers several Law courses, for details visit our Criminology, Law and Policing pages.