The finalists for the 2016 awards were announced on January 11, 2016, and the honorees were announced at a gala event on March 3, 2016. Distinguished guests at the gala included Matthew Rycroft (Ambassador and Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the UN), Paul Smith (Director USA, British Council), Gretchen Dobson (Global Strategist, Gretchen Dobson LLC), Mitch Robinson (2015 Professional Achievement Award honoree), Chandler Robinson (2015 Entrepreneurial Award honoree), and Ruthe Farmer (2015 Social Impact Award honoree).
Professional Achievement Award
- Honoree: Richard Burgess, CEO, American Association of Independent Music (University of South Wales)
Richard Burgess is the CEO of the American Association of Independent Music, which helps to move independent music genres into the global music market. He is the author of two of the most successful music production textbooks to-date, and the former head of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, one of the nation's oldest and most successful independent music labels.
- Ruth Massingill, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Mass Communication at Sam Houston State University (Teesside University)
- Eric Scott Sills, Medical Director at the Center for Advanced Genetics (University of Westminster)
Entrepreneurial Award
- Honoree: Alison Sawyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Rebellion Photonics (University of Leeds)
Alison Sawyer is the CEO and co-founder of Rebellion Photonics, an advanced optics company focused on oil and gas safety with their Gas Cloud Imaging camera for continuous monitoring. She has been listed on Inc. Magazine's '30 under 30' list in 2012 and Forbes' '30 under 30' in Energy in 2014, and Rebellion Photonics was named Wall Street Journal's 'Start-up of the Year' in 2013.
- Clifford Gross, CEO of TekCapital (University of Oxford)
- Rick Ifland, Chair of Econ & Business Department and Director of the Eaton Program for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Westmont College (University of Oxford)
Social Impact Award
- Honoree: Patricia Nagi Mechael, Principle and Policy Lead at Health Enabled (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
Patricia Nagi Mechael is the principal and policy lead at HealthEnabled, an Africa-based not-for-profit that helps governments integrate life-saving digital health solutions into their health systems. She has a PhD in the field of mHealth, and is on faculty at Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Columbia University.
- Morgan Davison, External Engagement Adviser for the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign (Keele University)
- Andrew Shaughnessy, Manager of Public Policy at Promo (University College London)
- Peter Williams, Founder and Executive Director at ARCHIVE Global (University of Oxford)