List of University of Edinburgh people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of notable graduates as well as non-graduate former students, academic staff, and university officials of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. It also includes those who may be considered alumni by extension, having studied at institutions that later merged with the University of Edinburgh. The university is associated with 19 Nobel Prize laureates, three Turing Award winners, an Abel Prize laureate and Fields Medallist, two Pulitzer Prize winners, three Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, and several Olympic gold medallists.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.

Government and politics[]

Heads of state and government[]

Gordon Brown
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Leader State/Government Office
Hastings Banda  Malawi President of Malawi (1966–1994)
Sir Robert Black Singapore Colony of Singapore Governor of Singapore (1955–1957)
 British Hong Kong Governor of Hong Kong (1958–1964)
Gordon Brown  United Kingdom Prime Minister (2007–2010)
Chang Taek-sang  South Korea Prime Minister of South Korea (6 May 1952 – 6 October 1952)
John Crawfurd East India Company Colonial Singapore Resident of Singapore (1823–1826)
Sir Gilbert Elliott Corsica Anglo-Corsican Kingdom Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom (1793–1796)
East India Company British India Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William (1807–1813)
Julius Nyerere  Tanzania President of Tanzania (1964–1985)
Lord John Russell  United Kingdom Prime Minister (1846–52 and 1865–66)
Viscount Palmerston  United Kingdom Prime Minister (1855–58 and 1859–65)
Sir Charles Tupper  Canada Prime Minister of Canada (1 May 1896 – 8 July 1896)
William Walker  Nicaragua President of Nicaragua (1856–1857)
Yun Posun  South Korea President of South Korea (1960–1962)

United Kingdom[]

  • Douglas Alexander, former Secretary of State for International Development
  • Michael Ancram, 13th Marquess of Lothian, former Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, former Governor of Bengal and Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • David Campbell Bannerman, former Conservative MEP
  • Colin Boyd, Baron Boyd of Duncansby, former Lord Advocate for Scotland
  • Henry Brougham, former Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and co-founder of the University College London
  • Joanna Cherry, current Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh South-West
  • Colin Clark, current Conservative MP for Gordon
  • Benjamin Constant, writer and politician
  • Robin Cook, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • James Cropper, Liberal Member of Parliament
  • Ruth Davidson, former Leader of the Scottish Conservatives and MSP for Edinburgh Central
  • Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, statesman
  • Nicholas Fairbairn, former Conservative Member of Parliament for Perth and Kinross
  • Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
  • Christine Grahame, current Scottish National Party MSP and Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
  • Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, British Liberal and Labour politician
  • Douglas Henderson, influential former Scottish National Party member
  • Charles Hendry, Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012
  • Tessa Jowell, former Minister for the Olympics
  • Jennie Lee, Labour Minister for the Arts (1964–1970) and founder of the Open University
  • James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, former Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
  • Margaret Hope MacPherson, crofter, politician, and activist
  • Sir James Marjoribanks, orchestrated Britain's successful application to join the European Community in 1967
  • Callum McCaig, former Scottish National Party MP for Aberdeen South
  • Stuart McDonald, current Scottish National Party MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
  • Anne McIntosh, current Conservative member of the House of Lords, former Member of Parliament and Member of European Parliament
  • John P. Mackintosh, Labour politician and proponent of Scottish devolution
  • Catherine McKinnell, Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne North
  • David McLetchie, former leader of the Scottish Conservative Party
  • David Mundell, current Conservative MP and Secretary of State for Scotland
  • Ian Murray, current Labour MP for Edinburgh South
  • Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • Amber Rudd, current Conservative MP
  • David Steel, former leader of the Liberal Party and first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
  • Jim Wallace, former Deputy First Minister of Scotland

United States[]

  • Alexander J. Dallas, served as the 6th US Secretary of the Treasury and briefly as both Acting Secretary of War and Acting Secretary of State under the fourth U.S. President, James Madison
  • Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., 21st governor of Virginia
  • Benjamin Rush, signatory, United States Declaration of Independence[1]
  • Ike Skelton, former U.S. congressman from Missouri
  • Arthur St. Clair, Scottish-American soldier and politician, 7th President of the Continental Congress
  • Mike Synar, former U.S. congressman from Oklahoma
  • James Wilson, signatory, United States Declaration of Independence[2]
  • John Witherspoon, signatory, United States Declaration of Independence, President of Princeton University from 1768 to 1794[3]

Africa[]

  • Joseph Ukel Abango, Minister of General Education in South Sudan
  • Herbert Bankole-Bright, doctor, politician and newspaper editor in Sierra Leone
  • Yusuf Dadoo, South African doctor, anti-apartheid activist and secretary of the South African Communist Party
  • Moses Da Rocha, Nigerian doctor, journalist and politician
  • Unity Dow, former Motswana judge and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
  • Kesaveloo Goonam, South African doctor, Indian nationalist and anti-apartheid activist
  • Monty Naicker, anti-apartheid activist and leader of the South African Indian Congress
  • Frederick Nanka-Bruce, Ghanaian doctor, journalist and politician
  • Bandele Omoniyi, Nigerian law student and political activist
  • Benjamin Quartey-Papafio, first Ghanaian doctor and member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council
  • John K Randle, West African doctor and politician
  • Richard Akinwande Savage, Nigerian doctor, pan-African politician and newspaper editor
  • Noah Wekesa, Minister for Forestry and Wildlife in Kenyan

Asia[]

  • Hsu Hsin-liang, former Chairman of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, former Magistrate of Taoyuan, former Senior Advisors to the Office of the President of the Republic of China
  • Sir Reginald Johnston, Puyi's tutor and advisor, last Commissioner of British Weihaiwei
  • Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
  • Lim Chong Eu, former Chief Minister of Penang
  • Bhagvat Singh, former Maharaja of the princely state of Gondal

Canada[]

  • Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia
  • Kirsty Duncan, MP of Etobicoke North in Canada and Minister of Science of Canada
  • Robert James Manion, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 to 1940

Caribbean[]

  • John Alcindor, Trinidadian doctor and politician
  • Edgar F. Gordon, doctor and trade union leader in Bermuda
  • David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead, Grenadian politician, the first person of African descent to stand as an MP (in Britain), the second person of African descent to sit in the House of Lords

Middle East[]

Oceania[]

  • Sir Thomas Brisbane, former Governor of New South Wales
  • Sir Michael Cullen, former Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

Royalty[]

  • Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, head of the House of Thurn and Taxis
  • Lady Amelia Windsor, a relative of the British royal family
  • Margareta of Romania, head of the House of Romania
  • Princess Mako of Akishino, member of the Imperial House of Japan
  • Princess Raiyah bint Hussein, member of the House of Hashim
  • Princess Salha bint Asem, member of the House of Hashim
  • Princess Tsuguko of Takamado, member of the Imperial House of Japan
  • Prince Pavel Mikhailovich Dashkov

Judges and lawyers[]

Robert Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir
  • Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn, former Solicitor General for Scotland
  • Sir David Edward, former judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities
  • Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, former senator of the College of Justice, former judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland
  • Charles Erskine, Lord Tinwald, former member of the Faculty of Advocates, former Member of Parliament, former Lord Advocate, former Solicitor General for Scotland, former Lord Justice Clerk
  • Patrick Hodge, Lord Hodge, current Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
  • Brian Gill, Lord Gill, former Lord President of the Court of Session
  • Charles John Guthrie, Lord Guthrie, former member of the Faculty of Advocates
  • Arthur Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, former Lord President of the Court of Session
  • David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
  • Frank Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, senator of the College of Justice, former Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland
  • Ronald King Murray, Lord Murray, Scottish Labour politician, former senator of the College of Justice
  • Sir Alan Stewart Orr, former Lord Justice of Appeal[4]
  • Michael Ramodibedi, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Swaziland
  • Robert Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir, current President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
  • Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, former President of the European Court of Justice
  • , British professor of law

Natural sciences, engineering and medicine[]

Astronomy[]

  • Mary Brück, astronomer, astrophysicist and historian of science
  • James Lind of Windsor (1736-1812), natural philosopher
  • John A. Peacock, astronomer, Shaw Prize laureates in 2014[5]
  • Anneila Sargent, astronomer
  • Charles Piazzi Smyth, astronomer

Chemistry[]

James Dewar
Joseph Black
  • Thomas Anderson, discoverer of pyridine
  • Polly Arnold, Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry
  • Paul Attfield, Professor of Materials Science
  • Joseph Black, discoverer of carbon dioxide, latent heat and specific heat
  • Eleanor Campbell, Professor of Physical Chemistry
  • Neil Campbell, chemist and amateur athlete
  • Archibald Scott Couper, proposed an early theory of chemical structure and bonding
  • John Davy, discoverer of phosgene
  • Sir James Dewar, inventor of the Dewar flask
  • Narayan Hosmane, cancer researcher, BNCT
  • David Leigh, Forbes Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh from 2001 to 2012, Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology winner in 2007
  • Guy Lloyd-Jones, Forbes Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh (2012–)
  • Christina Miller, synthesized phosphorus trioxide
  • Sir Geoff Palmer, Jamaican-born scientist, brewing researcher and activist, first black professor in Scotland
  • Sir Dai Rees, CEO of the Medical Research Council from 1987 to 1996
  • Prafulla Chandra Roy, distinguished chemist and founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
  • Daniel Rutherford, discovered nitrogen while he was studying at the University of Edinburgh in 1772
  • Sir James Fraser Stoddart, supramolecular chemist, Nobel laureates in Chemistry in 2016
  • Lesley Yellowlees, first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Vice-President of the University of Edinburgh

Geology[]

James Hutton
  • Robert Bell, geologist
  • Sir John William Dawson, geologist
  • Archibald Geikie, geologist
  • James Hector, geologist
  • James Hutton, "father of modern geology"
  • Robert Jameson, naturalist and mineralist
  • Sir William Edmond Logan, geologist
  • Robert Cameron Mackenzie, geologist
  • Stan Paterson, glaciologist
  • Anya Reading, geophysicist
  • Justin B. Ries, American biogeochemist and inventor known for discoveries in the field of global oceanic change (attended 1996)

Informatics[]

  • Samson Abramsky FRS, computer scientist
  • Malcolm Atkinson (e-Science)
  • Pat Ambler (Freddy II)
  • Christopher Bishop, computer scientist, Assistant Director of Microsoft Research, Cambridge
  • Andrew Blake FRS, computer scientist
  • Bob Boyer, computer scientist, mathematician, philosopher
  • Alan Bundy CBE, FRS, FREng, FRSE, mathematician and artificial intelligence researcher
  • Peter Buneman MBE FRS, computer scientist
  • Rod Burstall (Programming Languages)
  • Luca Cardelli FRS, computer scientist, Assistant Director of Microsoft Research, Cambridge
  • Ian Clarke, computer scientist
  • Paul Dourish, computer scientist, ACM Fellow
  • Wenfei Fan FRS
  • Michael Fourman (Computer Systems—Software)
  • Carla Gomes, computer scientist, Director of the Cornell University Institute for Computational Sustainability
  • Andrew D. Gordon, British computer scientist
  • Michael J. C. Gordon, British computer scientist, FRS
  • Igor Goryanin (Systems Biology)
  • Richard Gregory FRS, cognitive scientist
  • Pat Hayes
  • Matthew Hennessy
  • Jane Hillston (Professor of Quantitative Modelling)
  • Geoffrey Hinton FRS FRSC, informatician, winner of the Turing Award
  • Xuedong Huang, Computer Scientist, CTO of AI at Microsoft
  • Mark Jerrum, now professor at the University of London
  • Philipp Koehn (Machine Translation)
  • Robert Kowalski, logician, computer scientist
  • Leonid Libkin (Foundations of Data Management)
  • Lǐ Wèi, mathematician and computer scientist, President of Beihang University
  • Christopher Longuet-Higgins FRS, cognitive scientist
  • Donald Michie, FRS, FRSE, artificial intelligence pioneer
  • Robin Milner FRS, computer scientist, winner of the Turing Award
  • Eugenio Moggi
  • Faron Moller
  • Johanna Moore, computational linguist
  • J Strother Moore, computer scientist
  • Stephen Muggleton, computer scientist
  • Jon Oberlander (Epistemics)
  • Michael O'Boyle (Computer Science)
  • Timothy O'Shea, computer scientist; principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh
  • Gordon Plotkin FRS, computer scientist
  • Robin Popplestone (COWSEL, POP-2)
  • Davide Sangiorgi
  • Don Sannella
  • Nigel Shadbolt, computer scientist, Chairman of the Open Data Institute
  • Alistair Sinclair, now professor at University of California, Berkeley
  • Aaron Sloman, philosopher, cognitive scientist
  • Mark Steedman FBA (Cognitive Science)
  • Keith Stenning (Human Communications)
  • Austin Tate (Knowledge-Based Systems)[6]
  • Melissa Terras, digital humanities
  • Chris Tofts
  • Mads Tofte
  • Leslie Valiant FRS, informatician and computer scientist, winner of the Turing Award
  • Sethu Vijayakumar FRSE (Professor of Robotics)
  • Phil Wadler (Theoretical Computer Science)
  • David H. D. Warren (Warren Abstract Machine)
  • Wenfei Fan (Web Data Management)
  • Peter Dayan (Computational Neuroscience)

Mathematics, physics and engineering[]

Alexander Graham Bell
David Brewster
James Clerk Maxwell
Robert Stephenson
  • Alexander Aitken, mathematician, worked in Hut 6 Bletchley Park decrypting the ENIGMA code, known for the Aitken's delta-squared process
  • Sir Michael Atiyah FRS, mathematician, Fields Medallist in 1966, winner of Abel Prize in 2004 (Maths' equivalent of the Nobel Prize)
  • Charles Glover Barkla, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1917) for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays)
  • Thomas Bayes, mathematician, known for Bayes' theorem
  • Sir Thomas Hudson Beare, engineer
  • George Thomas Beilby, chemical engineer
  • Alexander Graham Bell, engineer and inventor of the telephone
  • Isaac Lowthian Bell, metallurgist, businessman and politician
  • George Parker Bidder, engineer and calculating prodigy
  • James Blyth, electrical engineer and pioneer of wind power generation
  • Max Born, Nobel laureate, pioneer in quantum mechanics, Tait Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from 1936 to 1953
  • David Brewster, scientist and inventor
  • J. W. S. Cassels, mathematician
  • Cheng Kaijia, physicist and pioneer of nuclear technology in China
  • William Fothergill Cooke, engineer, founder of Electric Telegraph Company
  • Janette Dunlop, physicist and teacher
  • James Alfred Ewing, physicist and engineer
  • Klaus Fuchs, theoretical physicist and spy[7]
  • Lewis Gordon, civil engineer[8]
  • Marion Cameron Gray, mathematician[9]
  • Peter Higgs, Nobel laureate, theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor of Physics and discoverer of the Higgs Mechanism
  • W. V. D. Hodge, mathematician
  • Archie Howie, physicist
  • Charles Hutton, mathematician
  • James Jardine, civil engineer
  • Fleeming Jenkin, engineer, inventor of telpherage
  • Mujahid Kamran, theoretical physicist and the current vice-chancellor of the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan[10]
  • Philip Kelland, mathematician
  • Tom W. B. Kibble, theoretical physicist, Sakurai Prize winner in 2010
  • Alexander Carnegie Kirk, marine engineer
  • Sir John Leslie, mathematician and physicist
  • Colin Maclaurin, mathematician
  • James Clerk Maxwell, physicist, "father of electromagnetism"
  • James Newlands, civil engineer
  • John Playfair, mathematician
  • William John Macquorn Rankine, engineer and physicist, early contributor to the development of thermodynamics
  • George Rennie, engineer
  • John Rennie the Elder, civil engineer[11]
  • Marion Ross, physicist
  • John Scott Russell, civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder
  • John Shepherd-Barron, inventor of the automated teller machine (ATM)
  • Robert Stephenson FRS, railway engineer
  • Robert Stevenson, civil engineer
  • Alan Stevenson, lighthouse engineer
  • David Stevenson, lighthouse designer
  • Thomas Stevenson, lighthouse engineer
  • Charles Alexander Stevenson, lighthouse engineer
  • David Alan Stevenson, lighthouse engineer
  • Robert Stirling, inventor of Stirling engine
  • William Symington, engineer and inventor
  • Peter Guthrie Tait, physicist
  • Sheila Tinney, mathematical physicist[12]
  • Maria Watkins (née Marja Ludwika Ziff) first woman to study electrical engineering there, president of the Women's Engineering Society
  • Edmund Whittaker, mathematician

Medicine and biology[]

Main article: List of University of Edinburgh medical people
Charles Darwin
Joseph Lister
Sir James Young Simpson
  • Thomas Addis, pioneer in nephrology
  • Alfred George Barrs, physician
  • Nick Barton, evolutionary biologist, winner of the Darwin–Wallace Medal in 2008
  • Sir David Baulcombe, plant scientist, discovered SiRNA and its role in gene silencing in plants, winner of the Lasker Award in 2008
  • Sir John Beddington, population biologist, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser
  • Charles Bell, anatomist, surgeon
  • Joseph Bell, medicine
  • Seneka Bibile, influential Sri Lankan pharmacologist
  • Sir Adrian Bird, geneticist, discovered the protein MeCP2 involved in DNA methylation, Canada Gairdner International Award winner in 2011, Shaw Prize laureate in 2016
  • Clare Blackburn, embryologist
  • Alice Bloomfield, gynaecologist
  • Debby Bogaert, physician and Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
  • James Braid, surgeon, hypnotist
  • James A.C. Brown, psychiatrist
  • Robert Brown, botanist
  • Thomas Brown, medicine and philosophy
  • William Speirs Bruce, naturalist and oceanographer[13]
  • William Budd, physician and epidemiologist[14]
  • Keith Campbell, biologist, Shaw Prize laureate in 2008
  • John Murray Carnochan, neurosurgeon, performed first successful surgery for trigeminal neuralgia
  • Mona Chalmers Watson, physician and head of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps[15]
  • Brian Charlesworth, professor of evolutionary biology 1997–, winner of the Darwin–Wallace Medal in 2010
  • Deborah Charlesworth, professor of evolutionary biology 1997–, expert on the genetic self-incompatibility of plants
  • Eustace Chesser, psychiatrist
  • Virender Lal Chopra, geneticist and biotechnologist
  • Clara Christian, the first black woman to study at Edinburgh, medical student
  • Sarah Cleaveland, professor and veterinary epidemiologist[16]
  • Hugh Cleghorn, botanist and forest conservationist in India[17]
  • Matilda Clerk, second Ghanaian woman doctor
  • John G. S. Coghill, doctor
  • Richard A Collins, biochemist and author
  • Hilary Critchley, obstetrician and gynaecologist
  • William Cullen, physician and professor of medicine
  • Rafael Antonio Curra, Venezuelan ichthyologist
  • Charles Darwin, naturalist, author of The Origin of Species
  • Erasmus Darwin, physician and Enlightenment thinker
  • James Douglas, physician and anatomist; the Douglas pouch and Douglas line are named for him
  • Cuthbert Dukes, pathologist and author
  • Richard Eastell, professor of bone medicine
  • John Elliotson, physician, mesmerist
  • James Esdaile, surgeon, mesmerist
  • Emmanuel Evans-Anfom, Ghanaian doctor and vice-chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University
  • Ronald Fairbairn, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst[18]
  • Heather M. Ferguson,FRSE malaria vector biologist[19]
  • Charles ffrench-Constant, neurologist
  • Wong Fun, first western-educated Chinese doctor
  • Dame Anne Glover FRS, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission from 2012 to 2014
  • John Haldane, physiologist
  • Richard Henderson, biologist
  • Thomas Hodgkin, physician
  • James Africanus Beale Horton, medicine
  • David Hosack, American botanist and landscape architect[20]
  • Sophia Jex-Blake, pioneer of medical education for women in Britain
  • Steve Jones, biologist
  • George Kelly, psychologist
  • Sir John Liddell, physician and director-general of the Medical Department of the Royal Navy
  • James Lind (naturalist), physician to George III
  • Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, introduced antiseptics into surgery
  • Winifred W. Logan, nurse theorist
  • John Claudius Loudon, botanist
  • Ian MacDonald, physician
  • William Sutherland Macdonald, physician and soldier
  • George Mackay (Ophthalmologic Surgeon)
  • Trudy Mackay, quantitative geneticist, winner of the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 2016[21]
  • William Alexander Mackay, doctor
  • Aubrey Manning, zoologist
  • Samuel Manuwa, Nigerian doctor and president of the World Federation for Mental Health
  • Kirsten McCaffery, public health researcher
  • Roger McNeil, doctor of public health
  • Margaret McQueen, first female professor of orthopaedic surgery in UK, inventor of external fixator and all-round top lass
  • Gilean McVean, post-doctoral fellow, evolutionary biologist, member of the steering committee for the 1000 Genomes Project
  • Pleasantine Mill, cell biologist
  • B. K. Misra, neurosurgeon
  • John Keith Moffat - Guggenheim Fellow, biologist and former Deputy Provost at University of Chicago, noted for Advanced Photon Source and Time resolved crystallography
  • Alexander Monro (primus), (secundus) and (tertius), anatomists
  • Susan Ofori-Atta, first Ghanaian woman doctor
  • Richard Owen, biologist and palaeontologist
  • George Alexander Pirie, doctor
  • Richard Frank Rand, surgeon
  • Nancy Roper, nurse theorist
  • Fiona Ross, nursing scholar
  • Agnes Yewande Savage, first West African woman graduate and doctor
  • Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage, doctor and soldier
  • Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, physiologist and neuroscientist
  • Robert Sibbald, Professor of Medicine
  • Sir James Young Simpson, pioneered the use of chloroform in midwifery
  • Leslie Skene, psychiatrist[22]
  • Sahib Singh Sokhey, biochemist and British Indian Army general[23]
  • Jeremy Smith, biological scientist
  • Jotello Festiri Soga, South Africa's first black veterinarian
  • Sir Edwin Southern, biomedical scientist, invented Southern blot, Canada Gairdner International Award winner in 1990, Lasker Award winner in 2005
  • Tara Spires-Jones, neuroscientist
  • George Neil Stewart, physiologist
  • Anne Bryson Sutherland, plastic surgeon
  • Grant Robert Sutherland AC, human geneticist
  • Alison J. Tierney, professor of nursing, nurse theorist
  • William Aldren Turner, neurologist
  • Meena Upadhyaya, medical geneticist
  • Colin S. Valentine, medical missionary
  • John Walker, naturalist
  • Joanna Wardlaw, neuroradiology and neuroimaging
  • Herbert Furnivall Waterhouse, surgeon and lecturer in anatomy
  • Hamish Watson, cardiology
  • Robert Whytt, medicine
  • Sir Ian Wilmut, embryologist and former supervisor of the team that cloned Dolly the Sheep, Shaw Prize laureate in 2008
  • Nairn Wilson, dental surgeon
  • William Withering, physician
  • Asrat Woldeyes, Ethiopian surgeon and politician
  • Robert Ramsay Wright, biologist, helped to re-establish the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1887
  • Ruth Wynne-Davies doctor and expert on scoliosis and clubfoot
  • Charles Wyville Thomson, naturalist and chief scientist on the Challenger expedition
  • Yao Zhen, biologist

Social sciences, arts and business[]

Pulitzer Prize[]

  • Jack N. Rakove, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1997 (undergraduate student from 1966 to 1967)
  • Andrew Marshall, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2014 (MA in English Literature)

Architecture[]

Robert Adam
  • Robert Adam, architect
  • Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, architect
  • Theodore S. Clerk, Ghanaian architect
  • Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith, conservation architect and former head of the Department of Architecture (1978–1988)
  • Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, architect, president of the Royal Academy
  • Abdur Rahman Hye, architect
  • Sir Robert Lorimer, architect
  • Sir William Kininmonth, architect
  • Sir Robert Matthew, architect
  • Richard Murphy, architect
  • Patrick Nuttgens, architect and academic
  • William Henry Playfair, architect
  • Deborah Saunt, architect
  • Sir Basil Spence, architect

Business[]

John Boyd Dunlop
  • William Denholm Barnetson, Chairman of United Newspapers, Reuters and Thames Television
  • Chris Beard, CEO of Mozilla
  • Crawford W. Beveridge, Executive Vice President Sun Microsystems
  • Donald Brydon, Chairman of the Royal Mail, Sage Group and Medical Research Council and Patron of the British Postal Museum and Archive
  • John Boyd Dunlop, founder of Dunlop Rubber
  • Nicholas Ferguson, Chairman of BskyB
  • John Ritchie Findlay, owner of The Scotsman newspaper
  • Hugh Grant, Chairman, President and CEO of Monsanto Company
  • Tony Hayward, Chairman of Glencore Xstrata and former CEO of BP
  • Vivien Kellems, American industrialist and inventor[24]
  • William Jardine, merchant, surgeon, and co-founder of global conglomerate Jardine Matheson
  • Christopher Lovelock, business school professor and services marketing pioneer
  • James Matheson, MP for the Ross and Cromarty constituency and co-founder of global conglomerate Jardine Matheson
  • Chris Montgomery, former CEO of MP3.com Europe
  • Kenneth Murray (biologist), founder of multinational biotechnology company Biogen
  • Nigel Stein, Chief Executive of GKN plc
  • Dave Stevenson, chairman of Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Olympic athlete
  • Lord Swann, Chairman of BBC
  • George Touche, co-founder of Deloitte
  • Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)
  • Arthur Young, founder of Ernst & Young
  • Johnny Hornby, Chairman of Sentebale

Economics[]

Sir James Mirrlees
  • Kenneth E. Boulding, American economist, recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal in 1949[25]
  • Thomas Chalmers, Scottish economist
  • Sir Alexander Gray, Scottish economist and poet
  • William Ballantyne Hodgson, Scottish political economist
  • Sir John Kay, British economist, first Dean of Saïd Business School
  • Sir James Mirrlees, British economist, Nobel laureate in Economics in 1996[26]
  • John Moore, British economist, recipient of the Yrjö Jahnsson Award in 1999, BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards laureate in 2020[27]
  • Joseph Shield Nicholson, English economist
  • Sir Alan T. Peacock, English economist
  • John Rae, Scottish-Canadian economist
  • Gavin Clydesdale Reid, Scottish economist
  • Yongcheol Shin, South Korean-born British economist
  • Adam Smith, "The Father of Economics", lecturer at the University of Edinburgh[28]
  • Jerzy Żyżyński, Polish economist

Literature[]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Edward Abbey, author
  • J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan
  • James Boswell, lawyer, author and biographer of Samuel Johnson
  • Maoilios Caimbeul, Gaelic poet
  • Thomas Carlyle, essayist and historian
  • Bliss Carman, Canadian poet
  • Ella Carmichael, editor and proponent of Gaelic language[29]
  • George Chalmers, antiquarian and political writer
  • Bruce Chatwin, author and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
  • Richard A Collins, author and scientist
  • David Daiches, literary historian and critic
  • E. S. Dallas, author and journalist
  • Thomas Dick, writer
  • Angus Donald, author and journalist
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author and creator of Sherlock Holmes
  • Robert Garioch, poet and translator
  • Oliver Goldsmith, writer and physician
  • Michael Grant, writer and historian
  • Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl
  • Ella Hickson, award-winning playwright
  • Africanus Horton, first West African graduate of Edinburgh, nationalist writer and medical surgeon
  • Ku Hung-ming, writer and polyglot
  • Harold Jenkins, Shakespeare scholar
  • Paul Alfred Kleinert, German writer, editor and translator
  • Sorley MacLean (Somhairle MacGill-Eain), Gaelic poet
  • Joel McIver, author
  • Angus Matheson (1912–1962), inaugural Professor of Celtic at the University of Glasgow[30]
  • William Matheson (1910–1995), Scottish Gaelic scholar, and ordained minister of the Church of Scotland[31]
  • Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff, writer and translator
  • Flora Nwapa, Nigerian author, educator and politician
  • Kole Omotosho, Nigerian writer
  • Julie O'Neill, author
  • Neil Paterson, footballer, author and screenwriter
  • John William Polidori, writer and physician
  • Kenneth Ramchand, Trinidadian author and literary scholar
  • Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus series
  • Peter Mark Roget, author of the first Thesaurus
  • Andrew Rutherford, Regius Prof. of English Literature, Aberdeen University; Vice-Chancellor, London University
  • Sir Walter Scott, author and poet
  • Ansuyah Ratipul Singh, South African author and doctor
  • Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and professor of medical law
  • William Soutar, poet and diarist[32]
  • Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped
  • Aeneas Francon Williams, writer, poet, and missionary

Media and the arts[]

Miles Jupp
Laura Kuenssberg
Michael Mcintyre
  • Helen Adam, poet and photographer[33]
  • Richard Arnold, presenter and journalist best known for his work on GMTV
  • Maria Bamford, comedian
  • Mardi Barrie, artist
  • Mitch Benn, comedian, songwriter and broadcaster
  • Elizabeth Blackadder, artist
  • Phyllis Bone, sculptor[34]
  • Michael Boyd, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Tom Bradby, journalist and novelist
  • Tom Chaplin, musician and singer in the English piano rock band Keane
  • Ian Charleson, actor
  • Rawdon Christie, Television New Zealand producer/presenter
  • Hamish Clark, actor
  • Robbie Coltrane, actor
  • Quentin Cooper, science journalist and broadcaster
  • Darius Danesh, musician and singer
  • Anthony d'Offay, art dealer
  • Daisy Donovan, actor and broadcaster
  • Rona Dougall, broadcaster, journalist and presenter (Scotland Tonight)
  • Elize du Toit, actress
  • Jimmy Finlayson, actor and comedian
  • Iain Gale, journalist and author
  • Jessica Harrison-Hall, British Museum curator
  • Mairi Hedderwick, illustrator and author
  • Ella Hickson, playwright
  • Sam Holcroft, playwright
  • Jay Jopling, art dealer
  • Miles Jupp, comedian
  • Alex Kay-Jelski, journalist, editor of The Athletic
  • Roisin Kennedy, art critic and curator
  • Lucy Kirkwood, playwright
  • Laura Kuenssberg, editor, BBC Politics
  • Paul Laidlaw, auctioneer and television antiques expert
  • Allan Little, BBC Foreign Correspondent
  • Donald Locke, Guyanese artist and curator
  • Angus Macfadyen, actor
  • Ewen MacIntosh, actor, The Office, Little Britain
  • Sally Magnusson, BBC journalist
  • Kirsty McCabe, GMTV weather presenter
  • Freddy McConnell, Guardian multimedia journalist and trans man
  • Michael McIntyre, comedian
  • Gillian McKeith, television presenter and writer
  • Hilton McRae, actor
  • Judith Miller, antiques expert, writer and broadcaster
  • Steve Morrison, TV producer and former Rector of the University
  • Marina O'Loughlin, restaurant critic
  • Catherine Rayner, illustrator and author
  • David Rintoul, actor
  • Alastair Sim, actor
  • Iain Stirling, comedian
  • Rachael Stirling, actress
  • Ed Stoppard, actor
  • Margaret Tait, filmmaker and poet[35]
  • Bill Turnbull, journalist and television presenter
  • Kirsty Wark, broadcaster

Music[]

  • Henry Rowley Bishop, composer
  • Tom Chaplin, lead singer of Keane
  • James Douglas, composer
  • Hans Gal, composer
  • Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, singer and composer[36]
  • Kenneth Leighton, composer
  • James MacMillan, classical composer
  • Stuart MacRae, composer
  • Eduardo Reck Miranda, composer and Professor of Computer Music
  • Marcus Mumford, lead singer of Mumford & Sons
  • Herbert Oakeley, composer
  • Nigel Osborne, composer
  • Donald Runnicles, conductor
  • Mike Scott, founder of The Waterboys
  • John Thomson, composer
  • Donald Francis Tovey, composer, pianist, musicologist
  • Julian Wagstaff, composer
  • William Wordsworth, composer

History, philosophy, sociology and theology[]

Adam Ferguson
David Hume
  • John Baillie, theologian
  • S. Barry Barnes, philosopher and sociologist of science
  • David Bloor, philosopher and sociologist of science
  • Thomas Brown, medicine and philosophy
  • James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, naturalist, philosopher, linguist
  • Andy Clark, philosopher of mind and cognition
  • Ligon Duncan, theologian
  • Alan Stewart Duthie, linguist and theologian
  • Adam Ferguson, philosopher and historian, contributed to the initial development of sociology
  • James Giles (born 1958), philosopher and psychologist
  • Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet, philosopher
  • Elizabeth G. K. Hewat, theologian and lecturer[37]
  • David Hume, philosopher and historian
  • Michael Ingham, Anglican bishop and author
  • Douglas F. Kelly, systematic theologian
  • Norman Kemp Smith, philosopher
  • George Macdonald, archaeologist[38]
  • Arthur Marwick, historian
  • K. V. Mathew, Biblical scholar from India
  • John McIntyre, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Dean of the Thistle
  • James Mill, historian and utilitarianist philosopher
  • Keith O'Brien, former Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh
  • George Newlands, theologian
  • Robert Preus, American Lutheran theologian and President of Concordia Theological Seminary[39]
  • David George Ritchie, philosopher
  • William Robertson, Historiographer Royal and Principal of the University of Edinburgh
  • Timothy Sprigge, philosopher
  • Dugald Stewart, philosopher
  • John Toland, philosopher
  • Iain Torrance, theologian and President of Princeton Theological Seminary
  • Géza Vermes, historian and theologian
  • Asher Wade, American-born international lecturer and psychotherapist
  • Heather Widdows, philosopher
  • Timothy Williamson, philosopher
  • Michael Worton, former Vice Provost of University College of London
  • Tullio Vinay, founder Agapè Center, Righteous Among the Nations, winner Leopold-Lucas Prize of the University of Tübingen

Others[]

Lulwah Al-Qatami
  • Lulwah Al-Qatami, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and first woman from Kuwait to attend university overseas.
  • B. T. S. Atkins, lexicographer
  • Chris Atton, university professor and musician
  • Pit Corder, university professor and applied linguist
  • Susan Deacon (MBA), former Health Minister in the Scottish Executive, now Professor of Social Change at Queen Margaret University
  • Edwin Feulner, President of the Heritage Foundation
  • John Fraser, distinguished soldier and attorney, sole receiver of the George Cross from the university
  • Margaret Jarvie, counsellor
  • Alan M. Leslie, psychologist
  • David MacRitchie, archaeologist
  • Roger Mercer, archaeologist
  • A.S. Neill, educationalist
  • Madsen Pirie, founder and President of the Adam Smith Institute

Sports[]

Sir Chris Hoy
  • Leslie Balfour-Melville, outstanding all-round sportsman
  • Euan Burton, judoka
  • Zbigniew Czajkowski, fencing master, "father of the Polish School" of fencing
  • Stephen Dick, hockey player
  • Gemma Gibbons, Olympic Judo silver medallist
  • Eilidh Gibson, canoeist
  • Katherine Grainger, Olympic rowing gold medallist
  • Stuart Grimes, international professional rugby player
  • Peter Heatly, diver and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation
  • Sir Chris Hoy, the second-most successful British Olympian in history with six Olympic track cycling gold medals
  • Andy Irvine, rugby player and president of the Scottish Rugby Union
  • Michael Jamieson, 200m breaststroke Olympic silver medallist
  • Eric Liddell, men's Olympic 400m gold medallist, and Scottish Rugby international
  • Caitlin McClatchey, swimmer and two-times Commonwealth Gold medallist
  • Chris Paterson, Scottish international rugby union player
  • Alistair Potts, Commonwealth and British World Champion rower
  • Mark Robertson, Scottish international rugby union player
  • Micky Steele-Bodger, English rugby international and Chairman IRB
  • Robert Strang, English cricketer who played once for Scotland
  • Polly Swann, Olympic rowing silver medallist
  • Simon Taylor, international professional rugby player
  • Catherine Taylor, Jon Duncan, Scott Fraser and Yvette Baker, orienteers with international success
  • Bungy Watson, English rugby union player[40]

Miscellaneous[]

Piers Sellers
  • Ruth Adler, human rights campaigner[41]
  • John Aikin, physician and writer
  • John (Ian) Bartholomew, cartographer and former principal of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd.
  • Thomas Spencer Baynes, publisher and writer
  • John Biggar, Scottish mountaineer who has made various first ascents in the Andes
  • James Blair, founder of the College of William & Mary
  • John Brown, physician and author
  • Archibald Cameron of Locheil, jacobite
  • Ashton Carter, American physicist, Harvard University professor, and United States Secretary of Defense
  • Robert Felkin, medical missionary; ceremonial magician, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; author on Africa; explorer and anthropologist
  • James Gall, clergyman and astronomer, founder of the Carrubbers Close Mission[42]
  • Alastair Humphreys, Adventurer[43]
  • Reginald Johnston, diplomat and pedagogue of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China
  • Rev Bruce Kenrick, writer, minister, social activist and founder of Shelter
  • Ailsa Maxwell, Bletchley Park code breaker and historian
  • Sheila McKechnie, Scottish trade unionist and 1991 Alumnus of the Year
  • James Middleton, businessman and younger brother of the Duchess of Cambridge
  • Pippa Middleton, socialite and younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge
  • Macvey Napier, encyclopedist
  • Mungo Park, explorer
  • George Percy, Earl Percy, heir apparent to the Dukedom of Northumberland
  • Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair, scientist and parliamentarian
  • Daphne Pochin Mould, photographer, writer, geologist
  • Stella Rimington, former head of MI5
  • Peter Sawkins, winner of The Great British Bake Off 2020
  • Piers Sellers, astronaut
  • William Smellie, encyclopedist
  • Samuel Smiles, author and reformer
  • Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, heir apparent to the Spencer earldom and first cousin of the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry

University officials[]

Main articles: Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Rector of the University of Edinburgh, and List of Principals of the University of Edinburgh
  • Sir Edward Victor Appleton, former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University (1949–1965)
  • Sir Winston Churchill, former Rector of the University (1929–1932)
  • Sir Alexander Fleming, former Rector of the University (1951–1953)
  • David Lloyd George, former Rector of the University (1920–1923)
  • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, former Chancellor of the University (1953–2010)
  • Anne, Princess Royal, Chancellor of the University (2011–present)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Benjamin Rush". ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: James Wilson". ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Witherspoon". ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Alan Stewart Orr" in David Heaton, John Higgins, eds., The Times Obituaries, Lives Remembered (Blewbury Press, 1991), p. 87
  5. ^ "Shaw Laureates in 2014 in Astronomy: Biographical Notes of Laureates". Shaw Foundation. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. ^ "James Blyth (1839 - 1906)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Klaus Fuchs (1911 – 1988)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  8. ^ Engineering at Edinburgh University, A Short History 1673–1983. Ronald M Birse, 1983
  9. ^ "Marion Cameron Gray (1902–1979)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  10. ^ "University of the Punjab". Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  11. ^ http://www.engineeringhalloffame.org/profile-rennie.html. accessed 29 Jan 2016
  12. ^ "Shelia Tinney (1918–2010)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  13. ^ "William Speirs Bruce (1867 – 1921)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  14. ^ Robert Moorhead, "William Budd and typhoid fever". Retrieved 7 March 2010. J R Soc Med. 2002 November; 95(11): 561–564.
  15. ^ "Mona Chalmers Watson (1872 - 1936)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Prof Sarah Cleaveland". Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  17. ^ "Dr Hugh Cleghorn (1820 – 1895)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Ronald Fairbairn (1889 – 1964)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Professor Heather Ferguson FRSE". 5 May 2021.
  20. ^ "David Hosack (1769–1835)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  21. ^ Maguire, Marti (6 February 2016). "Tar Heel: Trudy Mackay works with fruit flies to solve genetic mysteries". The News & Observer. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  22. ^ "The Queen's Park Men Who Served And Survived As At October 2016 - Appendix 2" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  23. ^ "Sahib Singh Sokhey (1887–1971)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Vivien Kellems (1896–1975)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  25. ^ Beaud, Michel; Dostaler, Gilles (27 September 2005). Economic Thought Since Keynes: A History and Dictionary of Major Economists. Routledge. p. 183. ISBN 1134711522.
  26. ^ "James A. Mirrlees - Biographical". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Professor John Hardman Moore". Edinburgh University. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Adam Smith". Biography. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  29. ^ "Elizabeth Catherine Carmichael (1880–1928)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Angus Matheson". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  31. ^ "William Matheson". The Herald. 2 December 1995. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  32. ^ "William Soutar (1898 – 1943)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Helen Adam (1909–1993)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  34. ^ "Phyllis Mary Bone (1894 – 1972)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  35. ^ "Margaret Tait (1918–1999)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  36. ^ "Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857–1930)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Elizabeth G. K. Hewat (1895 - 1968)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  38. ^ Russell, James. "LES GRANDS NUMISMATES: George Macdonald (1862–1940; Kt 1927)" (PDF). Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  39. ^ "Robert David Preus Collection, 1920–1996". Concordia Historical Institute. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  40. ^ "Bungy Watson (1890 - 1914)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  41. ^ "Ruth Adler (1944–1994)". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  42. ^ "Rev. James Gall". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  43. ^ Cope, Sally (26 October 2005). "Next month, on his 29th birthday, Alastair Humphreys will come to the end of a fundraising cycle ride around the globe. Sally Cope spoke to his parents". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
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