Classes of the 80s

Siobhan MacAndrew's life took an unexpected turn when, at 58, she was made redundant from her academic job. Losing her academic career, income, and sense of identity left her facing uncertainty. Then on the day of her final redundancy paycheck, Siobhan found a lump in her breast. Despite the challenges of navigating a lifelong bipolar disorder, her cancer journey unexpectedly became a source of remarkable strength. She gained a renewed sense of purpose and, for the first time, a feeling of control over her health.

After surgery and radiotherapy, Siobhan experienced an 18-month bipolar episode triggered by the cancer medication. Support from Macmillan's Improving Cancer Journey programme in Dundee helped her navigate the benefits system and manage her mortgage.

Now in remission and with her mental health on the mend, Siobhan uses her experience to advocate for better understanding and integrated care for people who are managing both cancer and mental health conditions.

Siobhan is also an advocate for storytelling and a graduate of Your Voice, Your Story, The Scottish Book Trust's digital storytelling course that helps people share the experiences that have mattered most in their lives.

"I graduated with a BSc Hons in physics in 1985. It was the time of Spear and Lecomber and amorphous silicon. They instilled a curiosity in me about transistors.

"After graduation I applied for a job with Philips Research in Eindhoven, The Netherlands to do silicon chip technology R&D. This year marks my 40th year in the semiconductor industry.

"After 9 years in Eindhoven and meeting my future wife Luciane who also worked for Philips, we moved to Mountain View, Silicon Valley in California. We came here before Google and Meta started. We have two grown “kids” born here. I have worked in several Valley companies and even have my own startup.

"I remember with great fondness my time in Dundee and visit whenever I can. The funny thing is that I was homesick on arriving at Belmont Hall in September 1981 despite my hometown being just 20 miles away across the Sidlaws: Blairgowrie."

I founded Loch in 2007 with a simple belief: business success is powered by people, strengthened by strategy, and protected by sound judgement. Today, I am proud to lead an organisation that is a member of the UK200Group and recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers, and personally noted as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500.

I regularly share insights on leadership, employment law, and organisational strategy for organisations, and across media and professional networks, and contributed book chapters on bias in law firms and on business development. Achievements such as Lawyer of the Year (Dynamic Awards) and Best Businesswoman in Legal Services (Best Businesswoman Awards) reflect innovation, purposeful leadership, and building a talented and collaborative team.

Professor Leung has been appointed Foundation Head of the new School of Dentistry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medicine and Health Sciences (RCSI).

With the support of the Irish Government, Albert leads RCSI in delivering a new BDS degree, which welcomes its first cohort of students in September 2025 and becomes the first community-based dentistry programme in Ireland.

Albert was formerly Professor and Programme Director of Restorative Dental Practice at University College London Eastman Dental Institute. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry RCSI.

A few years after obtaining a PhD in Law and as he approached his 70th birthday, Haward was appointed an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Leicester. Since retiring in 2014, he has spent his time split between travelling the world, watching cricket, managing the block of flats he lives in, in Leicester, and academic research.

This year, it will have been 50 years since he arrived at Dundee to start studying law at what was then the Law Faculty in Bell Street. Haward still keeps in touch with a number of fellow law students and many others from his time in Dundee. He said, “The tolerance that was extended to me back in the day is, I fear, a long one. I was allowed to politic, to idle, to spend time in the Ladywell Tavern and ignore my studies. I was lucky to have decent understanding lecturers and friends.”

Andrew found his graduation tickets and accompanying booklet from his graduation ceremony in the Caird Hall way back in 1988. He has kept them in pristine condition! Although our booklet and ticket design has come a long way since then, we are still celebrating our students' successes in the Caird Hall to this day!

From operating minicomputers in 1979 to coding in 1980, Paschal earned his degree at Dundee in 1984 and spent decades crafting custom mobile software solutions for industries worldwide, even patenting the bilingual CEO-Match Business Simulation Game for leadership training.

Now, in his “white-haired wisdom”, he blends AI tools with ancient natural healthcare research to simplify life and share free, practical health tips from herbal remedies to joyful aging on his website Flora Healthy and on TikTok @white.hair.38. Paschal says, “Let’s stay curious, healthy, and tech-savvy together!”