The Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO) has awarded a Fellowship to its past Chair, Les Allan, to mark his service and contribution to the global education security sector. The award was presented to Les at the annual AUCSO Awards 2025 Ceremony during the annual conference, hosted at the University of Warwick.
Les Allan has been an integral part of AUCSO for over a decade, serving as Regional Chair for Scotland, Vice-Chair, and most recently as Chair from April 2021 to 2023. With a career spanning more than 50 years in senior security and safety roles within the police, the Scottish Government, and Higher Education, Les was Director of SafeGuarding Services at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, during his tenure as AUCSO chair. In his two years he fostered international collaboration through partnerships with such bodies as the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM), IFPO, the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS), HEBCoN (the network for business continuity in the Higher Education sector in the UK and Ireland), and the Campus Protection Society of Southern Africa.
Les also played a key role in organising AUCSO’s first in-person conference after the covid-19 pandemic. His accolades include the Security Commonwealth Dave Clark Award, and the 2023 INTERSEC show’s ‘International Leader of the Year’ award. He’s pictured centre; also pictured from left are Julie Barker, COO at AUCSO; Hannah Booth of Heriot-Watt; Martyn’s Law campaigner and AUCSO patron Figen Murray; and Geoff Brown of the University of Leeds, AUCSO’s new chair having taken over at the Warwick event from Ollie Curran, whose term came after Les’s.
Julie Barker added: “It was a great honour to present Les with this award at the recent Annual Awards Ceremony. This fellowship recognises not only a distinguished career, but also Les’s transformative impact on AUCSO and his dedication to elevating security standards across the Higher and Further Education sector globally.”
