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List of University of Edinburgh people

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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.[dubious – discuss] The university is associated with 20 Nobel Prize laureates, three Turing Award winners, an Abel Prize laureate and Fields Medallist, four 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 adding missing items with reliable sources.

Government and politics

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Heads of state and government

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Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Leader State/government Office
Harini Amarasuriya[1][2]  Sri Lanka Prime Minister (2024–)
Hastings Banda[3][4]  Malawi Prime Minister (1964–1966 President (1966–1994)
Sir Robert Black[5] Singapore Colony of Singapore Governor (1955–1957)
 British Hong Kong Governor (1958–1964)
Sir Thomas Brisbane[6]  New South Wales Governor (1821–1825)
Gordon Brown[7]  United Kingdom Prime Minister (2007–2010)
Chang Taek-sang (張澤相)[8]  South Korea Prime Minister (1952)
John Crawfurd[9] East India Company Colonial Singapore Resident (1823–1826)
Sir Gilbert Elliott[10] Corsica Anglo-Corsican Kingdom Viceroy (1793–1796)
East India Company British India Governor-General (1807–1813)
Sir Dawda Jawara[11] The Gambia Gambia Colony and Protectorate Prime Minister (1962–1965)
The Gambia The Gambia Prime Minister (1965–1970), President (1970–1994)
Yusuf Lule[12]  Uganda President (1979)
Fawzi Mulki[13]  Jordan Prime Minister (1953–1954)
Lord Dunrossil[14]  Australia Governor-General (1960–1961)
Daniel Chanis Pinzón[15]  Panama President (1949)
Julius Nyerere[16][17]  Tanganyika Chief Minister (1960–1961), Prime Minister (1961–1962), President (1962–1964)
 Tanzania President (1964–1985)
Paul Reeves[18]  New Zealand Governor-General (1985–1990)
Lord John Russell[19]  United Kingdom Prime Minister (1846–1852; 1865–1866)
Sir Ninian Stephen[20]  Australia Governor-General (1982–1989)
John Swinney[21]  Scotland First Minister (2024-)
Lord Palmerston[22]  United Kingdom Prime Minister (1855–1858; 1859–1865)
Sir Charles Tupper[23] Canada Prime Minister (1896)
William Walker Nicaragua President (1856–1857)
Yun Posun (尹潽善)[24]  South Korea President (1960–1962)

United Kingdom

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Cabinet and Party Leaders

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Amber Rudd, Home Secretary
David Steel, Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Scottish Cabinet and Party Leaders

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John Swinney, First Minister of Scotland
Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister of Scotland

Current Members of the House of Commons

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Current Members of the House of Lords

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Current Members of the Scottish Parliament

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United States

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Ash Carter, United States Secretary of Defense
Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense

Africa

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Asia

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Canada

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Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia

Caribbean

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Europe

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Gerhard Schröder (CDU), West German Foreign Minister and Defence Minister

Middle East

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Oceania

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Sir Michael Cullen, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

Royalty

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Judges and lawyers

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Military

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Officers

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James Francis Edward Keith, Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army
Lord Cochrane, Admiral of the Red
Sharon Nesmith, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff

Soldiers

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William Brydon

Victoria Cross and George Cross recipients

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Recipients of the Victoria Cross:

Recipients of the George Cross:

Natural sciences, engineering and medicine

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Astronomy

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Chemistry

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Joseph Black
Sir James Dewar

Geology

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Sir Roderick Murchison

Computer science and informatics

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See also: School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh § Senior academic staff and alumni

Senior academic staff

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Christopher Bishop

Former staff and alumni

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Geoffrey Hinton
Robert Kowalski

Engineering

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Alexander Graham Bell

Mathematics and physics

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James Clerk Maxwell
Max Born

Medicine and biology

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Main article: List of University of Edinburgh medical people
Charles Darwin
Joseph Lister
Robert Liston
May-Britt Moser

Social sciences, arts and business

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Pulitzer Prize

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Architecture

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Robert Adam

Business

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John Boyd Dunlop
Tony Hayward
Susie Wolff

Economics

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Sir James Mirrlees

Literature

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Robert Louis Stevenson

Media and the arts

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Laura Kuenssberg
Sir David Wilkie

Music

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Sir James MacMillan
Thea Musgrave
Max Richter
Sir Donald Runnicles

History, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and theology

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David Hume
Sir Patrick Geddes
V. Gordon Childe

Others

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Sports

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Sir Chris Hoy
Mike Budenholzer

Miscellaneous

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Piers Sellers

University officials

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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 Appleton, Nobel laureate in Physics in 1947 for his discoveries of the ionosphere, was principal from 1949 to 1965.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Edward was taught by professor Lyon Playfair and others at Edinburgh during 1859. Although he attended courses, he never formally matriculated as a student.
  2. ^ Rowling attended the Moray House School of Education in 1995, before it merged with the university in 1998.

References

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  1. ^ "Dr Harini Amarasuriya elected as MP in Sri Lanka | IASH". www.iash.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Former Fellow becomes Prime Minister of Sri Lanka | IASH". www.iash.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  3. ^ McCracken, John (2017). "Hastings Kamuzu Banda: the Edinburgh Years". The Society of Malawi Journal. 70 (1). Society of Malawi – Historical and Scientific: 1–18. JSTOR 26382821. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Hastings Banda". UncoverED. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  5. ^ Keatley, Patrick (23 November 1999). "Sir Robert Black – Tough Scot sorting out the end of Britain's empire". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Thomas Brisbane (1773–1860)". The University of Edinburgh. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  7. ^ "The Rt Hon Gordon Brown". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  8. ^ Hoare, James E. (2004). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 115. ISBN 9781538119754.
  9. ^ "Dr. John Crawfurd 1783–1868". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1st Earl of Minto) 1751–1814". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. ^ Hughes, Arnold; Perfect, David (2008). Historical Dictionary of The Gambia (PDF). The Scarecrow Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780810858251.
  12. ^ "Uncovering University of Edinburgh's black history". The University of Edinburgh. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  13. ^ Harris M. Lentz (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. The Routledge. p. 1975. ISBN 9781134264971. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Letters of William Shepherd Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil (1893-1961) to his brother, Dr. Donald John Morrison, and other items". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  15. ^ Harris M. Lentz (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. The Routledge. p. 1910. ISBN 9781134264971. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Julius Kambarage Nyerere". The University of Edinburgh. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Julius Nyerere". UncoverED. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  18. ^ "1993". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  19. ^ Bloy, Marjie; Little, Tony; Parry, Jonathan. "Lord John Russell (Earl Russell), 1792–1878". The Liberal Democrat History Group. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  20. ^ "1988: IASH at 50". ed.ac.uk. Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Deputy First Minister". www.gov.scot. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865)". The University of Edinburgh. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  23. ^ Farr, D.M.L. (21 February 2008). "Sir Charles Tupper". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Yun Posun (1897–1990)". The University of Edinburgh. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Benjamin Rush". ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  26. ^ "1988: IASH at 50". ed.ac.uk. Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  27. ^ "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.
  28. ^ Dana Bentley-Cranch, Edward VII: Image of an Era, 1841-1910, Scotland, 1992, [1].
  29. ^ Edinburgh University Calendar (University of Edinburgh, 1934), p. 524
  30. ^ "Alan Stewart Orr" in David Heaton, John Higgins, eds., The Times Obituaries, Lives Remembered (Blewbury Press, 1991), p. 87
  31. ^ "Shaw Laureates in 2014 in Astronomy: Biographical Notes of Laureates". Shaw Foundation. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  32. ^ Hinton, Geoffrey Everest (1977). Relaxation and its role in vision. lib.ed.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/8121. OCLC 18656113. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.482889. Free access icon
  33. ^ Anon (2014). "Shadbolt, Prof. Nigel Richard". Who's Who (online edition via Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245873. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  34. ^ Engineering at Edinburgh University, A Short History 1673–1983. Ronald M Birse, 1983
  35. ^ "John Rennie". www.engineeringhalloffame.org. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  36. ^ "Klaus Fuchs (1911 – 1988)". The University of Edinburgh. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Marion Cameron Gray (1902–1979)". The University of Edinburgh. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  38. ^ "Shelia Tinney (1918–2010)". The University of Edinburgh. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  39. ^ "William Speirs Bruce (1867 – 1921)". The University of Edinburgh. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  40. ^ Robert Moorhead, "William Budd and typhoid fever". Retrieved 7 March 2010. J R Soc Med. 2002 November; 95(11): 561–564.
  41. ^ "Ronald Fairbairn (1889 – 1964)". The University of Edinburgh. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  42. ^ "Professor Heather Ferguson FRSE". 5 May 2021.
  43. ^ "David Hosack (1769–1835)". The University of Edinburgh. July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  44. ^ Maguire, Marti (6 February 2016). "Tar Heel: Trudy Mackay works with fruit flies to solve genetic mysteries". The News & Observer. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  45. ^ "The Queen's Park Men Who Served And Survived As At October 2016 - Appendix 2" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  46. ^ "Sahib Singh Sokhey (1887–1971)". The University of Edinburgh. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  47. ^ Elizabeth A. Brennan, Elizabeth C. Clarage, Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners, 630, [2].
  48. ^ "Vivien Kellems (1896–1975)". The University of Edinburgh. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  49. ^ Lagoda Foundation, Annual Report, 2011, [3].
  50. ^ Beaud, Michel; Dostaler, Gilles (27 September 2005). Economic Thought Since Keynes: A History and Dictionary of Major Economists. Routledge. p. 183. ISBN 1134711522.
  51. ^ "James A. Mirrlees - Biographical". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  52. ^ "Professor John Hardman Moore". Edinburgh University. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  53. ^ "William Matheson". The Herald. 2 December 1995. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  54. ^ "University to honour JK Rowling". The Irish Examiner. 14 February 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  55. ^ "William Soutar (1898 – 1943)". The University of Edinburgh. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  56. ^ "Phyllis Mary Bone (1894 – 1972)". The University of Edinburgh. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  57. ^ "Margaret Tait (1918–1999)". The University of Edinburgh. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  58. ^ "Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857–1930)". The University of Edinburgh. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  59. ^ "Bungy Watson (1890 - 1914)". The University of Edinburgh. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  60. ^ "Ruth Adler (1944–1994)". The University of Edinburgh. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  61. ^ "Rev. James Gall". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  62. ^ 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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