incredible Pearson stories, and counting…

Alumni Impact

Pearson College UWC is proud to have an alumni network of over 4400 changemakers all around the globe, each of whom are bettering the communities around them every day. Below are just a few of examples of where a Pearson education can take you.

Note on graduation year: we use a “Pearson Year” system to mark each graduating batch. The very first cohort of students graduated in 1976 and are known as Year 1, with the next cohort being Year 2, and so on…

Marianne Alto (Year 2/1977)

Victoria City Councillor; Principal of Azimuth Research and Consulting

First elected as a city councillor for Victoria, B.C. in 2010, Marianne is a Pearson alumna who still lives in the closest major city to campus. She values effective public involvement to make cities healthier, safer and happier environments by championing walking, cycling and public transit. Marianne says her Pearson experience helped her develop skills as both a councillor and a facilitator. More >

Dr. Evan Adams (Year 9/1984)

Canadian actor and Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia

Evan has worked in his current role since 2012 to support the development and operations of the First Nations Health Authority as well as reporting on the health of Indigenous people in the province. Across Canada he is also well known for his work as an actor. More >

Christina Foerch (Year 14/1989)

Founder of Fighters for Peace

Foerch engages ex-fighters from areas torn by civil war and violence – including Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Iraq – in peace projects to build lasting civil peace and true reconciliation. More >

Ramy Adeeb (Year 21/1996)

Founder/CEO of social curation platform Snip.it

Originally from Egypt, Adeeb founded Snip.it in spring 2011 while looking for a way to share relevant information regarding the Arab Spring uprisings. Snip.it gained more than 100,000 visitors. In 2013, Snip.it was acquired by Yahoo. More >

Robin Wettlaufer (Year 19/1994)

Canada's special envoy to Syria

In 2018, Wettlaufer spearheaded a successful Canadian rescue mission to evacuate 400 White Helmets members and their families from Syria. She worked closely with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, and UWC Adriatic alum, Chrystia Freeland. More >

Yuen Pau Woo (Year 6/1981)

Canadian Senator

Appointed to the Canadian Senate in November 2016 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Woo sits as an Independent representing British Columbia. He is a recognized expert in Canadia-Asia relations. More >

Meera Gandhi (Year 7/1982)

Founder and CEO of The Giving Back Foundation

Gandhi is the founder and CEO of The Giving Back Foundation, a foundation geared towards alleviating illness, poverty and suffering while also addressing education issues which affect women and children around the world. More >

Abiodun Williams (Year 4/1979)

Former President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice in The Hague, Netherlands

Williams is an academic in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and conflict management. Formerly he was a senior official at the United Nations, and former President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. More >

Todd Sampson (Year 14/1989)

Award-winning documentary-maker, television presenter and former CEO of Leo Burnett Australia

The Financial Review and News Limited ranked him as one of the most influential executives in Australia. He has won a CEO of the Year Award twice and has featured on the cover of BRW magazine. More >

Peter Sands (Year 6/1981)

Executive Director at Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria & former CEO of Standard Charter Bank

Sands is a British banker, and the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He was the chief executive of Standard Chartered from November 2006 to June 2015. More >

Anne Enright (Year 6/1981)

2007 Man Booker Prize-winning novelist

Enright is an Irish author. She has published novels, short stories, essays, and one non-fiction book. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, her novel The Gathering won the 2007 Man Booker Prize. More >

Lene Espersen (Year 9/1984)

Former Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister

Espersen is the current CEO at the Danish Association of Architectural Firms. She has also since 1 July 2016 been chairman of the board of Aalborg University More >

“Pearson College UWC has been essential in shaping who I am today. When I hear news of something happening somewhere in this world, faces of my Pearson family from those places come to my mind. Global issues are not just global issues anymore; they are about my best friends, they are about my Pearson family, and therefore global issues are my “personal” issues to be resolved.”

Kohtaro Kosugiyama, student at New York University

Year 41/2016, Japan

“Above all else, for me the years at Pearson opened my eyes, my mind and my heart. For these things I will always be grateful. I brought them with me to law school, in my theological studies, in my work in Northern Ireland, in West Dublin. in all the travels I have undertaken; in the many challenges I have encountered and also in my work as bishop in a minority community in Ireland.”

Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Year 3/1978, Ireland

“The wonderful privilege of experiencing the UWC education at Pearson College eventually led to a career in civil service, the Canadian Government and the UN.The humanist and inclusive vision that I first encountered at Pearson has been re-energized by the amazing people and communities that I have come across over the years and their belief that a better world is both possible and urgent.”

Jean-Marc Mangin, ED of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Year 8/1983, Canada-QC

Alumni News

Rinus Van Hall: From Painter to Coin Designer

By Heloise Nicholl When I first met Rinus van Hall (Year 35/2010, Netherlands) via Zoom, his occupation as a painter was evident. Canvases lit up the computer screen all around him. Surrounded by colourful paintings in a stylish gallery downstairs from his studio, the...

How To Build An Education: Lin Kobayashi Dances Her Way to Change

By Heloise Nicholl Lin Kobayashi (Year 18/1993, Japan) could never have known the twists and turns her life would take when she was accepted to a prestigious Tokyo high school in the summer of 1990. The smart girl from Tokyo had joined an institution that was famous...

Measuring Climate Change in Real Time: A Tribute to Geert Jan van Oldenborgh

With the recent passing of Pearson alum Geert Jan van Oldenborgh (YR 5/1980, The Netherlands) and the world’s attention on COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, we wanted to share an original and timely feature-length story about GJ’s work as a...