List of University of Birmingham people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of notable alumni and staff of the University of Birmingham:
Contents |
[edit] Staff
- Sir Robert Aitken - Former Vice-Chancellor who helped set up the University of Warwick
- Sir Melville Arnott - Former William Withering Chair in Medicine
- George Augustus Auden - Former School Medical Officer and Lecturer in Public Health
- Professor Rupert E. Billingham - Former Chair in Zoology
- Dr Stewart Brown - Reader in African Literature and Director of the Centre of West African Studies
- Anthony Burgess - British novelist who lectured on phonetics in the late 1940s
- Sir Dominic Cadbury - Current Chancellor
- Professor John Churton Collins - Former Professor of English Literature
- Dr Reginald Cline-Cole - Senior Lecturer at the Centre of West African Studies
- Professor Thomas Diez - Professor of International Relations Theory and Head of Department in the Department of Political Science and International Studies
- Sir Edward Elgar - Former Professor of Music
- Professor Stuart Hall - Former Director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
- Professor Richard Hoggart - Founder of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and former Assistant Director-General of UNESCO
- Mervyn King - Former Professor in the Faculty of Commerce and current Governor of the Bank of England
- Sir Michael Lyons - Professor of Public Policy from 2001 to 2006
- Professor Anand Menon - Professor of West European Politics and Director of the European Research Institute
- Professor Allardyce Nicoll - Head of the English Department and founding director of the Shakespeare Institute
- Sir Marcus Oliphant - Former Professor of Physics, played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb and radar
- Arthur Peacocke was a lecturer in chemistry and biophysical chemistry, before he went to Oxford University in 1959
- Professor Rudolf Peierls - Former Professor of Physics
- Sir Nikolaus Pevsner - Art historian who held a research post at the university for a number of years
- Canon Dr Terry Slater - Reader in Historical Geography
- Professor Aaron Sloman - Former Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science
- Professor Ninian Smart - Former Professor of Religious Studies
- Professor Michael Sterling - Current Vice-Chancellor and Principal
- Professor Stanley Wells - Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies and former Director of the Shakespeare Institute
- Dr Tony Wright was a lecturer in politics from 1975 until 1992, before being elected Labour Member of Parliament for Cannock and Burntwood
[edit] Alumni
[edit] Academia
- Dr Robert Beckford - leading UK theologian, academic, and film-maker, completed his PhD at Birmingham and was also a research fellow at the university
- Dr Harry Boot - co-developer of the war-winning cavity magnetron
- Dr Desmond Morris - zoologist
- Sir Ernest Titterton - nuclear physicist involved in the development of the atomic bomb
- Professor Margaret Mullett OBE - Professor of Byzantine studies and director of the Institute of Byzantine Studies at the Queen's University of Belfast
- Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick - activist for higher education of women, Principal of Newnham College and sister of a British Prime minister
[edit] Actors/directors
- Madeleine Carroll - actress
- Tim Curry - actor and musician
- Matthew Goode - actor
- Dale Kedwards - head of RSC Local Division 2003-2006
- Phyllida Lloyd - director
- Tamsin Greig - actress (star of Green Wing, Black Books and Love Soup, "Debbie Aldridge" in The Archers), studied drama and theatre arts
- Norman Painting - actor ("Phil Archer" in radio series The Archers)
- Jane Wymark - actress, studied drama and theatre arts
- Fielder Cook - Emmy Award-winning director and producer
[edit] Armed forces
- General Sir Mike Jackson KCB CBE - former Chief of the General Staff, the most senior officer in the British Army
- Captain Adrian Nance OBE - Commanding Officer, HMS Ark Royal
[edit] Entrepreneurs and business
- Tony Hayward - chief executive of BP
- Matthew Key - chief executive of O2
- Dr Adam Osborne - founder of the Osborne Computer Corporation
[edit] Law and order
- Sir Michael Davies - one of the first judges to specifically handle defamation cases
- Professor David Pearl - lawyer and member of the judicial appointments commission
[edit] Media and journalism
- Kay Alexander - TV presenter[1]
- Professor Michael Aston - TV archaeologist (as "Mick Aston")
- Ellie Crisell - journalist, TV presenter
- Alex Deakin - BBC weatherman
- Philippa Forrester - TV presenter
- Lizo Mzimba - journalist, TV presenter and former editor of Redbrick[2]
- Fiona Philips - GMTV presenter
- Ben Shephard - TV presenter
- Chris Tarrant OBE - TV presenter
- Brian Whitaker - journalist
[edit] Musicians
- Simon Le Bon - lead singer of Duran Duran
- Neil Arthur - lead singer and guitarist of the synthpop group Blancmange
- Ayalah Bentovim, a.k.a Sister Bliss - founder member of the band Faithless
- Spencer Davis - 1960s pop star
- Wally Francis - deputy chairman of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
[edit] Nobel Prize recipients
- Francis Aston FRS - chemist and physicist: 1922 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Maurice Wilkins CBE FRS - physicist: 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (discovery of DNA)
- Sir John Vane FRS - pharmacologist and: 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Sir Paul Nurse FRS - biochemist: 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
[edit] Politicians
- The Rt Hon Baroness Amos - first black woman to sit in the British Cabinet
- Dr Kenny Anthony - Prime Minister of St. Lucia
- The Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong MP - former cabinet minister
- Baron Bhattacharyya - sits on the Labour bench of the House of Lords
- Bob Blizzard - Labour MP
- John Butcher - former MP
- Neville Chamberlain - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1937-1940
- David Drew - Labour MP
- Richard Edwards - Welsh Labour Party politician
- Patrick Hall - Labour MP
- Dr Richard Hu - former Singapore Minister of Finance
- Lynne Jones - Labour MP
- Chen Liangyu - former CPC Shanghai Committee Secretary
- Basil McCrea, UUP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
- Jessica Morden - Labour MP
- Andrew Turner - Conservative MP
- The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe MP - former government minister
[edit] Royalty
- Prince Seeiso of Lesotho - Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho
[edit] Sport
- Joey Barrington - squash player, son of Jonah Barrington
- Tom Bertram - England hockey player
- Lisa Clayton - first British woman to sail single-handed around the world
- Julie Crane - Commonwealth Games silver medalist in the high jump
- Allison Curbishley - Olympic 400m athlete
- Naomi Folkard - British archer
- David Gill - Chief Executive of Manchester United Football Club
- Rachel Heal - racing cyclist
- Paul Manning - professional track cyclist
- Simon Mantell - England hockey player
- Baz Moffat - rower
- Shelley Newman - retired discus thrower
- Phil Pask - rugby union player and physiotherapist
- Adam Pengilly - British skeleton racer
- Nick Smith - Olympic canoeist
- Frank Tickner - cross country runner
- Victor Ubogu - former Bath and England rugby union player
- Chrissie Wellington - first British athlete to win the Ironman Triathlon World Championship
[edit] Writers and artists
- Chris Addison - writer/comedian
- Professor Walter Allen - novelist and literary critic
- James Clavell - novelist and screenwriter
- Roy Fisher - poet
- Dr David Lodge - novelist
- Dr C. J. Sansom - crime novelist
- William P. McGivern - crime novelist and scriptwriter
- Henry Treece - poet and novelist
- Victoria Wood OBE - writer/comedian
- Francis Brett Young - novelist and poet
[edit] Health
- Professor Sir Liam Donaldson - Chief Medical Officer for England
- Barry Cockcroft - Chief Dental Officer for England
[edit] Others
- David Kelly CMG - UN weapons inspector
- Dr Rodolfo Neri Vela - Mexican astronaut
- Patrick Head - Co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team
