List of University of Birmingham people

This is a list of notable alumni and staff of the University of Birmingham:

Staff

• The Rt. Hon.Joseph Chamberlain – Former and First Chancellor who helped set up the University of Birmingham, Lord Mayor of Birmingham and father of Sir Austen Chamberlain and former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
• 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 & Father of W. H. Auden
• Professor Mark Beeson – Head of the Department of Political Science and International Studies
• 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
• Professor Peter Burnham – Professor of Political Science and International Studies
• Sir Alexander Jarratt CB – Former Chancellor.
• 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
• Sir Edward Elgar – Former Professor of Music
• Professor John Fage – Former Professor of African History, founder of Birmingham's Centre for West African Studies
• David F. Ford, lecturer and senior lecturer of theology, 1976–1991^[1]
• 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
• Professor John Hick – emeritus H.G. Wood Professor of Theology
• Professor Rodney Hilton – former Professor of Medieval History
• 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
• Professor Roy Pascal – former Professor of German
• 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 – Former Vice-Chancellor and Principal
• Professor Colin Thain – Professor of Political Science
• 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
• Professor John Henry Poynting – Former Professor of Physics at (Mason Science College) now the University of Birmingham.
• Professor David Eastwood – Successor of current Vice-Chancellor and currently Chief Executive at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
• Baron Zuckerman – Professor of Anatomy at Birmingham, 1946–68 and chief scientific adviser to the British government 1964–71
• Sir Alan Cottrell – Professor of Metallurgy 1949–55
• Lancelot Hogben – Professor of Zoology 1941–47 + Professor of Medical Statistics 1947–61
• Alan S C Ross – Professor of English Language 1948–51 + Professor of Linuistics 1951–74
• Sir John Randall (physicist) – Royal Society Fellow who worked on the cavity magnetron valve 1937–43
• Sir William James Ashley- First Dean and Founder of Business School
• Professor Maureen Perrie – Professor Emeritus in Russian History
• Jerzy Lukowski – Historian
• Professor John Knott, OBE – Professor of Metallurgy and Materials
• Dr Sue Blackwell – Lecturer in English Language
• Tahir Abbas – Reader in Sociology and founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Culture, University of Birmingham
• Professor Ronen Palan – Professor of International Political Economy
• Dr Gordon Warwick – Reader in Geomorphology
• Daniel Pedoe – Mathematics (1942–46)
• Professor Brinley Rees – Lecturer in Classics (1970–75)
• Major Kenneth Walton (pathologist) – 1947–52
• Professor David Edgar (playwright) – Professor of Playwrighting Studies
• Sir Ellis Waterhouse – Former Barber Professor of Fine Art (1952–70)
• Sir Louis Matheson – Civil Engineering
• Ian Brockington – Expert in Psychiatry
• Bill Hopkins (musician) – Taught music at the University
• Professor Sir Alan Walters – Former Professor of Econometrics and Statistics
• G. N. Watson - Professor of mathematics from 1918 to 1951
• Thomas Summers West – Analytical Chemistry
• William Brunsdon Yapp – Zoologist and author
• Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman – Former Professor of Anatomy

Alumni

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
• Professor Gavin D'Costa – Professor of Theology, University of Bristol
• Professor Leroy (Lee) Cronin - Gardiner Professor, Chemistry, University of Glasgow, UK
• Rev Dr Lynn de Silva – Sri Lankan theologian, former director of the Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue, Methodist minister, and a pioneer in promoting Buddhist-Christian dialogue, completed his Master of Arts at Birmingham
• Dr. Fawzia Fahim – Egyptian biochemist and environmental biologist
• Professor Paul Gilroy – Sociologist and Cultural Theorist, author of Ain't no Black in the Union Jack
• Dr Desmond Morris – leading zoologist, author and TV presenter
• 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
• Vincent Watts – Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (1997–2002)
• Sir Ernest Titterton – nuclear physicist involved in the development of the atomic bomb
• Professor Leslie Brent – Professor Emeritus, University of London
• Dr John Brian Harley – Geographer and Map Historian
• Professor Arnold Tustin – Professor of Engineering (1947–1955)
• Bernard Mayo – English Philosopher
• Rosemary Waring – Reader in Toxicology
• Professor Adrian John Brown – Original Professor of Malting and Brewing (1900–1928)
• Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers – British Physicist
• Dr Marco Rito-Palomares – Professor of Bioprocess Engineering at the Centre for Biotechnology at Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Dr George Isaak – Physicist and an important figure in the development of helio- and asteroseismology.
• Louis MacNeice – Lecturer in Classics 1930–36, Poet and Playwright
• Dr Damian J. Smith - Associate Professor of History, St. Louis University
• E. R. Dodds – Professor of Greek 1924–36
• Dr William Arbuckle Reid – British Curriculum Theorist
• Lawrence Grossberg – Renowned Cultural Studies theorist
• Dr Halil Berktay – Turkish Historian
• David Blanchflower CBE – Labour Economist
• Lorna Sage – Award winning literary critic
• Professor Stanley Salmons – Research Fellowship in the Department of Anatomy and Stothert Research Fellowship of the Royal Society
• Dr John Stewart Bell – Physicist and originator of Bell's Theorem
• Dr Homa Katouzian – Economist, historian, political scientist and literary critic, with a special interest in Iranian studies
• Dr Noor Muhammad Butt – Pakistani research physicist
• Professor Robert Roland Pennington- Former Chair of Commercial Law and Former Dean of Birmingham University Law School^[2]
• Charlotte Zeepvat, royal historian

Actors/directors

• Jean Butler, dancer and choreographer, perhaps best known for Riverdance, studied drama and theatre arts
• Madeleine Carroll – actress
• Tim Curry – actor and musician
• Matthew Goode – actor
• 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
• Victoria Wood – comedienne and actress
• Tim Plester – Playwright and Actor
• Jim Field Smith – Actor, writer and director
• Wanda Opalinska – Underworld factory worker Wiki Dankowska in Coronation Street
• James Merifield-Emmy Award-winning production designer for the BBC drama Little Dorrit.

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
• Field Marshal William Slim (member of Birmingham University Officer Training Corps 1912–14)

Entrepreneurs and business

• Matthew Key – chief executive of O2
• Dr Adam Osborne – founder of the Osborne Computer Corporation
• George Davis – founder of Next and creator of George at Asda
• Sir Alex Jarratt CB – Former Chancellor of University of Birmingham
• Sir Clive Thompson – Former President of the Confederation of British Industry
• Liz Locke – investment banker and series six contestant on The Apprentice
• Tony Hayward - Former Chief Executive of BP

Law and order

• Sir Michael Davies – one of the first judges to specifically handle defamation cases
• David Allen Green - lawyer
• Professor David Pearl – lawyer and member of the judicial appointments commission
• Justice Michelle Arana – first female Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize
• Justice Geoffrey Ma – Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong

Media and journalism

• Kay Alexander – TV presenter^[3]
• Professor Michael Aston – TV archaeologist (as "Mick Aston")
• Michael Collie – journalist, TV presenter
• Ellie Crisell – journalist, TV presenter
• Alex Deakin – BBC weatherman
• Philippa Forrester – TV presenter
• Jane Garvey – broadcast journalist, presenter of Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 (2007–)
• Joanna Gosling – journalist, TV presenter
• Saima Mohsin – Dawn News Senior Journalist, News Eye
• Tim Muffett – journalist and TV reporter
• Lizo Mzimba – journalist, TV presenter and former editor of Redbrick^[4]
• Fiona Philips – broadcast journalist and GMTV presenter (2003–2008)
• Ben Shephard – TV presenter
• Chris Tarrant OBE – TV presenter
• Tim Taylor - creator and Producer of Channel 4's series Time Team
• Brian Whitaker – journalist
• Lord David Currie, Baron Currie of Marylebone – chairman of Ofcom and member of the House of Lords
• Jack Schofield – Journalist, Computer Editor Guardian newspaper
• Simon Thomas (television presenter) – Sky Sports Reporter
• Jon Gaunt – Radio presenter and The Sun columnist

Musicians

• 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
• Simon Le Bon – lead singer of Duran Duran
• Peter Wishart (composer) – Composer
• John Casken – Composer
• David Prior (artist) – Sound artist and composer
• Amrita Hunjan- Model and singer in R'n'B/pop band Rouge
• Kirti Purohit- Music producer, part of electronica outfit BeatWala

Nobel Prize recipients

• Francis Aston FRS – chemist and physicist: 1922 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Norman Haworth FRS – chemist : 1937 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
• Professor Peter Bullock – soil scientist: 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (shared in the award as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

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
• Stanley Baldwin – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1935–1937^[5]
• 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^[6]
• David Drew – Labour MP
• Richard Edwards – Welsh Labour Party politician
• Sven Giegold – Green Party MEP
• Karen Gillon – Member of Scottish Parliament
• Patrick Hall – former MP
• Dr Richard Hu – former Singapore Minister of Finance
• Lynne Jones – Labour MP
• Chen Liangyu – former CPC Shanghai Committee Secretary
• Howard Lovell – Minister of tourism and civil aviation of Antigua and Barbuda
• Basil McCrea, UUP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Margaret Moran – former MP
• Jessica Morden – Labour MP
• Didymus Mutasa – Zimbabwean politician
• Henry Oryem Okello – Uganda's State Minister for Foreign Affairs responsible for International Affairs
• Eric Roll, Baron Roll of Ipsden – Former director of the Bank of England and Life Peer from 1977–2005
• Richard Tracey - former Conservative MP and Minister, Member of Greater London Assembly
• Andrew Turner – Conservative MP
• The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe MP – former government minister
• Matthias Yao – former Singapore Senior Minister of State
• The Hon Perry Gladstone Christie – Prime Minister of the Bahamas

Royalty

• Prince Seeiso of Lesotho – Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho
• Prince Manucher Mirza Farman Farmaian – Sixth son of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and of Batoul Khanoum, Iran

Sport

• Joey Barrington – squash player, son of Jonah Barrington
• Tom Bertram – England hockey player
• Dr. Colin Boreham – represented Britain in the decathlon at the 1984 Olympics, one-time holder of the British high jump record
• 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
• Melanie Easter – British Paralympic swimmer and cyclist
• Naomi Folkard – British archer
• David Gill – Chief executive of Manchester United
• Patrick Head – Co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team
• Rachel Heal – racing cyclist
• David Hemp – Cricketer who represented Bermuda in the Cricket World Cup and also represented England Lions
• Paul Manning – professional track cyclist^[7]
• Simon Mantell – England hockey player
• Shelley Newman – retired discus thrower
• Adam Pengilly – British skeleton racer
• Nick Smith – Olympic canoeist
• Victor Ubogu – former Bath and England rugby union player
• Chrissie Wellington – first British athlete to win the Ironman Triathlon World Championship
• Ian Hall (cricketer) – Batsman for Derbyshire (1959–72)

Writers and artists

• Chris Addison – writer/comedian
• Professor Walter Allen – novelist and literary critic
• Nasser Azam – contemporary artist
• Matt Bullen - writer and screenwriter
• James Clavell – novelist and screenwriter
• Roy Fisher – poet
• William Garner – novelist
• 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
• Constance Caroline Woodhill Naden – poet and philosopher
• John Ash (writer) – Poet, fiction and travel writer
• Philip Kerr – Scottish author
• Henry Reed (poet) – Poet, translator, radio dramatist and journalist.
• Alan Booth – Travel writer
• Sam Baker (writer) – Former Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan (magazine)
• Sarah Kane – Playwright
• Shahidul Zahir – Bangladeshi Post-Modernist author
• S. J. Watson - writer
• Razia Khan – Bangladeshi author

Health

• Professor Sir Liam Donaldson – Chief Medical Officer for England
• Barry Cockcroft – Chief Dental Officer for England
• Kenneth Walton, noted pathologist
• Aaron Valero, noted physician

Others

• David Kelly CMG – UN weapons inspector
• Dr Rodolfo Neri Vela – Mexican astronaut
• Henry Fowler – Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway and later London, Midland and Scottish Railway
• Elizabeth Filkin – former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
• Alice Paul – Woman's suffrage campaigner in the USA
• Alex Smith (The Simplest Universal Computer Proof contest winner) – An undergraduate currently studying Electronic and Computer Engineering
• William Haywood – Special Lecturer in Town Planning, Architect and founder of the Birmingham Civic Society
• Richard Cory-Wright (born 1944) 4th Baronet Cory-Wright

References