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York student wins Undergraduate of the Year award

York student wins Undergraduate of the Year award

Posted on 28 April 2016

A University of York student has won national Male Undergraduate of the Year at the annual TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards.

Left to right: Cris Burson-Thomas, IMC Director at L'Oreal, Lewis McDowell and Fiona Bruce

Lewis McDowell, a second year Management undergraduate, beat off competition from 10 other finalists at the event, hosted in Canary Wharf by BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce.

Sponsored by L'Oreal, Lewis’ winning prize is a 12 month placement at the company, including a week at L'Oreal Paris HQ and two days with the senior management committee.

Lewis was one of 120 undergraduates invited to the final after getting through a series of online tests, application forms, interviews and assessment centre exercises.

With a role at the University’s Careers service and Brand Manager for ProperCorn, Lewis is a BA Management Course Representative and Vice President & Events Co-ordinator for the University’s Bloggers’ Society.

Lewis is also a Young Enterprise finalist for his self-founded clothing business. In his spare time, he competes within college football and is an aspiring singer and actor with experience on stage and on camera.

He said: “To represent the University of York on such a high level and prove that our students compete with the best out there is something I feel tremendously proud of. Although the process was extremely difficult, I’m elated at having received the award and hope that I can use my experience to motivate other students to apply in the future.

“I am extremely excited to start my story at L'Oreal and hope to continue to represent why York is a brilliant university.”

The Male Undergraduate of the Year award was one of twelve presented on the day, with each award sponsored by top graduate recruiters Mars, Laing O’Rourke, E.ON, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Gazprom, Rolls-Royce, L’Oreal, ACCA, Mayer Brown, The Bank of England, Expedia and Civil Service Fast Stream.