# List of Cardiff University people

This is a list of notable alumni and staff of Cardiff University and its predecessor institutions

## Heads of state and government

* Faisal Al-Fayez – Prime Minister of Jordan
* Barham Salih – Former president of Iraq, former prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government
* Mark Drakeford – First Minister of Wales
* Vaughan Gething – First Minister of Wales

## Politics

* David Bahati – State Minister of Finance for Planning in the Cabinet of Uganda
* Christine Chapman – MS for Cynon Valley
* Jeffrey Cuthbert – Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner, MS for Caerphilly and Welsh Government Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
* Hefin David – MS for Caerphilly
* Wayne David – MP for Caerphilly and UK Shadow Minister for Europe, Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement and Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces
* S. O. Davies – miner, trade union official and Labour Party MP
* Guto Harri – broadcaster, Communications Director for the Mayor of London
* Mike Hedges – MS for Swansea East
* Lord Jenkins, former Chancellor of the Exchequer – Home Secretary, President of the European Commission and Chancellor of the University of Oxford (did not graduate)
* Elin Jones – MS for Ceredigion, Llywydd of the Senedd and Welsh Government Minister for Rural Affairs
* Fatou Sanyang Kinteh – Gambian Minister for Women's Affairs, Children and Social Welfare
* Sir Emyr Jones Parry – British Permanent Representative to the United Nations
* Glenys Kinnock – MEP and UK Foreign Office Minister
* Neil Kinnock – MP for Bedwellty and for Islwyn, Leader of the Labour Party, Leader of the Opposition
* Hilary Marquand – MP for Cardiff East and Minister for Health.
* Robert Minhinnick – co-founder of Friends of the Earth (Cymru)
* Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley – advisor to Margaret Thatcher
* Craig Oliver – Conservative Party Director of Communications
* Adam Price – MS and leader of Plaid Cymru
* Bill Rammell – MP for Harlow
* David Rees – MS for Aberavon and Deputy Presiding Officer of the Senedd Cymru.
* Lord Richards – Chief of the Defence Staff
* Michael Shrimpton – barrister, politician, and conspiracy theorist
* John Smith – MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, member of the Defence Select Committee
* Victoria Starmer – Wife of Sir Keir Starmer, solicitor, and NHS occpuational health worker.
* Brian Wilson – MP for Cunninghame North and Minister of State
* Mike Wood – MP for Dudley South

## University administrators

* C. W. L. Bevan – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1966–1972; Principal of University College Cardiff 1972–1987
* Leszek Borysiewicz – Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
* David Grant – Vice Chancellor of University of Wales Cardiff 2001–2005; Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University 2005–2012
* Ernest Howard Griffiths – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1901–1918
* John Viriamu Jones – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1883–1901
* Frederick Rees – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1929–1949
* Colin Riordan – Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University since 2012
* Brian Smith – Principal of University of Wales College Cardiff 1988–1996; Vice Chancellor of University of Wales Cardiff 1996–2001
* Anthony Steel – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1949–1966
* Sir Aubrey Trotman-Dickenson – Principal of the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology 1968–1988; Principal of University of Wales College Cardiff 1988–1993

## Academics

* Abedelnasser Abulrob – medical researcher
* Miguel Alcubierre – Mexican theoretical physicist
* Rudolf K. Allemann – Swiss biochemist
* Gabrielle Allen – computer scientist
* Robin Attfield – philosopher
* Martin J. Ball – Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Bangor University, Cymru/Wales
* Paul E. A. Barbier – Professor of French at the University of Leeds
* Jason Barker – professor
* Yehuda Bauer – Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* Archie Cochrane – pioneer of scientific method in medicine
* Peter Coles – Professor of Astrophysics
* David Crouch – historian
* Alun Davies – bioscientist
* Huw Dixon – economist
* Stephen Dunnett – neuroscientist
* Alice Laura Embleton – biologist, zoologist and suffragist.
* Martin Evans – Nobel Prize for Medicine 2007
* Mahmoud Ezzamel – professorial fellow
* Dimitra Fimi – writer
* Brian J. Ford – Honorary fellow of Cardiff University (1986), honorary fellow of the Linnean Society, honorary fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society.
* John S. Fossey – Professor of synthetic chemistry at the University of Birmingham
* Burt Goldberg – university professor, microbiologist
* Karen Holford – engineer
* Robert Huber – Professor of Chemistry, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1988
* John Loughlin – Professor of Politics
* Vaughan Lowe – Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford
* Ursula Masson – women's history and feminism
* Patrick Minford – Professor of Applied Economics
* John Warwick Montgomery – American lawyer and theologian; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought at Patrick Henry College
* Christopher Norris – literary critic
* Keith Peters – Regius Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge
* Leighton Durham Reynolds – Emeritus Professor of Classical Languages and Literature, University of Oxford
* Alice Roberts – clinical anatomist and osteoarchaeologist
* Wendy Sadler – physicist and science communicator
* H. W. Lloyd Tanner – Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy (1883–1909)
* Pamela Taylor – Professor of Forensic Psychiatry since 2004
* Meena Upadhyaya – medical geneticist
* Keith Ward – philosopher, Gresham Professor of Divinity, Gresham College
* Chandra Wickramasinghe – mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist, Professor of Applied Mathematics
* Rheinallt Nantlais Williams – professor of the philosophy of religion, principal of the United Theological College, Aberystwyth
* Emma Yhnell – biomedical research scientist

## Business

* Spencer Dale – Chief economist, Bank of England
* Andrew Gould – chairman and former CEO, Schlumberger
* Philip Jansen - former CEO of BT and Worldpay
* Martin Lewis – personal finance journalist, television presenter and website entrepreneur
* Dame Mary Perkins – co-founder, Specsavers
* Ceri Powell – senior Royal Dutch Shell executive
* John Pettigrew (businessman) – CEO, National Grid plc
* Lorenzo Simonelli – CEO, Baker Hughes Company
* Terry Smith – British Fund Manager, Fundsmith

## Religion

* Gregory Cameron – Bishop of St Asaph
* Sheila Cameron – lawyer and ecclesiastical judge
* Paul Colton – Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
* Vicentia Kgabe (Bishop) - Diocese_of_Lesotho
* Dominic Walker – Bishop of Monmouth

## Sport

* Nathan Cleverly – professional boxer and former WBO light heavyweight world champion
* Gareth Davies – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player, and current chief executive of Cardiff Rugby Football Club
* Gerald Davies – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
* Alex Gough – Squash player
* Mike Hall – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
* Heather Knight – English cricketer
* Steven Outerbridge – Bermudian cricketer
* Jamie Roberts – Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
* James Tomlinson – English cricketer
* Bradley Wadlan – Welsh cricketer

## Arts and journalism

* Paul Atherton – television and film producer and director
* Matt Barbet – journalist
* Manish Bhasin – journalist and television presenter
* Nick Broomfield – documentary filmmaker and receiver of the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Documentary
* Philip Cashian – composer
* Suw Charman-Anderson – journalist and social software consultant.
* Adrian Chiles – television presenter
* Gillian Clarke – poet and receiver of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
* Huw Edwards – journalist and BBC newsreader
* Ken Elias – artist/painter
* Max Foster – CNN anchor, CNN Today
* Shihab Ghanem - poet
* M. A. Griffiths – poet
* Julia Hartley-Brewer – journalist and television presenter
* Jiang Heping – executive director of the CCTV Sports Programming Centre and Controller of CCTV-5
* Tim Hetherington – photo-journalist and co-director of Academy Award-nominated Restrepo
* Alun Hoddinott – composer
* Chris Jackson - photographer
* Elis James – stand-up comedian and actor
* Sioned James – choral conductor
* Karl Jenkins – composer
* Alan Johnston – journalist
* Riz Khan – journalist and television interviewer
* Bernard Knight – crime writer
* Simon Lane – co-founder and Creative director of The Yogscast Ltd
* Gwilym Lee – actor.
* Siân Lloyd – television presenter
* Los Campesinos! – six piece indie pop band
* Philip Madoc – actor
* Andrew Matthews-Owen (pianist and accompanist, professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Drama, London)
* Paul Moorcraft – writer
* Sharon Morgan – actress
* Joanna Natasegara – documentary producer, Academy Award winner for Netflix documentary The White Helmets
* Siân Phillips – actress
* Susanna Reid – television presenter
* James Righton – musician
* Leo Rowlands – Welsh musical composer, Catholic priest
* Arlene Sierra – composer
* Ron Smerczak – actor
* Mari Strachan – novelist and librarian
* Richard Tait – former BBC governor and BBC trustee
* Craig Thomas – author
* Alex Thomson – journalist & television presenter
* Vedhicka – Indian actress
* Grace Williams – composer