# List of University of Western Australia people

The University of Western Australia has seen many notable people pass through its doors over its 114-year history, both as students and staff.

## Notable alumni
### Politics

* Rozaina Adam, Maldivian Member of Parliament
* Colin Barnett, former Premier of Western Australia
* Kim Beazley, former Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Prime Minister and Ambassador to the United States, current Governor of Western Australia
* Kim Beazley Sr., former Whitlam government Cabinet Minister
* Boediono, former Vice President of Indonesia
* Alan Carpenter, former Premier of Western Australia
* Richard Court, former Premier of Western Australia
* Peter Dowding, former Premier of Western Australia
* Peter Durack, former Federal Attorney General
* Geoff Gallop, former Premier of Western Australia
* Sir Paul Hasluck, 17th Governor-General of Australia
* Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia
* Carmen Lawrence, former Premier of Western Australia, Federal Minister and President of the Australian Labor Party
* Donton Samuel Mkandawire, former MP for Mzimba District, Malawi and Minister of Education for Malawi
* Wangdi Norbu, Bhutanese Finance Minister
* Stephen Smith, former Australian Minister for Defence
* Billy Snedden, former Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
* Daryl Williams, former Federal Attorney General
* Yeo Cheow Tong, former Minister of Transport in Singapore

### Business

* Michael Chaney, former CEO of Wesfarmers; former chancellor of UWA
* Rod Eddington, former CEO of British Airways
* Andrew Forrest, mining magnate and founder of Fortescue Metals Group
* Richard Goyder, former CEO of Wesfarmers, chair of AFL Commission and Qantas
* Janet Holmes à Court, businesswoman
* Robert Holmes à Court, entrepreneur
* John Hay, former vice-chancellor of University of Queensland
* Peter Lim, Singaporean billionaire
* Michael Malone, iiNet founder
* Ken Michael, former Governor of Western Australia; former Chancellor of UWA
* Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad, current Executive Director and President of Ranhill Berhad
* Sarfraz Nawaz, President of Cricket
* Peter Smedley, CEO of Colonial Group, Mayne Nickless

### Public service and community

* Ameer Ali, former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
* Nicholas Blain, former Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
* Herbert Cole Coombs, first Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia
* Margaret Feilman, architect and town planner
* Allan Fels, former Chairman of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
* Ron Fitch, commissioner of the South Australian Railways
* David Irvine, Director-General of Security; former Director-General of Australian Secret Intelligence Service; former Australian High Commissioner to PNG; Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
* Michael Sheldrick, policy entrepreneur advocating for polio eradication
* Ralph Townsend, headmaster of Winchester College

### Law

* James Edelman, former Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, current Justice of the High Court of Australia
* Robert French, former Chief Justice of Australia, current Chancellor UWA
* Zarah Garde-Wilson, criminal lawyer
* David Indermaur, criminal psychologist
* Wayne Martin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia
* Neville Owen, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, current Chair of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council
* Christopher Steytler, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia
* John Toohey, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
* Ronald Wilson, former Justice of the High Court of Australia

### Science, medicine, engineering and mathematics

* Caroline Bower, medical researcher and professor of medicine
* Michelle Harvey, forensic entomologist
* Sue Hatcher, Ph.D. Animal Science, 1995, animal genetics researcher
* Barry Marshall, physician, 2005 Nobel Prize laureate
* Dick Norris, entomologist
* Matt Parker, recreational mathematics author and communicator
* Richard G. Pestell, physician scientist, cancer biologist
* Cheryl Praeger, mathematician, Australian Scientist of the Year 2009
* Hugo Rietveld, Ph.D. Physics 1964, crystallographer, inventor of the Rietveld Method
* Gordon Royle, Ph.D. Mathematics 1987, co-author of Algebraic Graph Theory
* Dorothea Sandars, Parasitologist
* Amanda Sainsbury-Salis, molecular scientist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, educator and author
* Fiona Stanley, epidemiologist, 2003 Australian of the Year
* Mark Stevenson, epidemiologist
* Eric Underwood, B.Sci.Ag 1928, Dean of faculty, Agriculture 1946 to 1970
* Akshay Venkatesh, 2018 recipient Fields Medal
* Robin Warren, UWA Emeritus Professor, Nobel Prize laureate
* Fiona Wood, UWA Professor of Medicine, 2005 Australian of the Year

### Arts, literature and religion

* Frederick Alexander, historian
* Taj Hashmi, historian and academic
* Geoffrey Bolton, historian
* Greg Egan, writer
* Tracy Farr, writer and scientist
* Geoff Gibbs, actor and WAAPA principal
* Gracie Gilbert, actress
* Rolf Harris, performer and artist
* Dorothy Hewett, writer
* Barry Hickey, Catholic Archbishop of Perth
* John Kinsella, writer
* John Andrew La Nauze, the first Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University (1978)
* Niall Lucy, writer and scholar, known for his work on Jacques Derrida and deconstruction
* Philippa Maddern, writer, historian and scholar, Winthrop Professor of History and founding Director of the Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions
* Sally Morgan, writer and artist
* Randolph Stow, writer
* Shaun Tan, artist and writer
* Arlene Textaqueen, artist
* Josephine Wilson, writer

### Sport and entertainment

* Sandra Angelia, Miss Indonesia 2008
* Peter F. Bell, former captain of the Fremantle Dockers
* Ric Charlesworth, former Australia national field hockey team Kookaburras Captain and Hockeyroos coach
* Michael Fitzpatrick, former captain of the Carlton Football Club; current Chairman of the Australian Football League
* Darren Glass (MBA 2015), former captain of the West Coast Eagles
* Rachel Kum, Miss Singapore 2009
* Matthew Pavlich, captain of the Fremantle Dockers
* Ben Purser, basketball player who studied law and commerce
* Jarrad Seng, photographer
* Shirley Strickland, Olympic track and field athlete
* Kylie Wheeler, Olympic heptathlete
* Joshua Yong, Olympic swimmer

### Music

* Mili Davies, classical guitarist
* Sara Macliver, soprano
* Tim Minchin, pianist and comedian
* Roger Smalley, pianist and composer

## Notable administrators

* George Alexander Currie, second Vice Chancellor (1941–1952)

### Chancellors

The Chancellor of The University of Western Australia is its most senior officer:
| Term start | Term end | Name | Other positions |
| 1912 | 1916 | Sir John Winthrop Hackett | Editor and proprietor of The West Australian Member of the Legislative Council (1890–1916) |
| 1916 | 1922 | Charles Riley | Bishop of Perth (1894–1914) Archbishop of Perth (1914–1929) |
| 1922 | 1929 | Athelstan Saw | Member of the Legislative Council (1915–1929) |
| 1930 | 1936 | Sir Walter James | Premier of Western Australia (1902–1904) |
| 1936 | 1943 | James Battye | |
| 1943 | 1948 | Sir Walter Murdoch | |
| 1948 | 1956 | E. W. Gillett | |
| 1956 | 1968 | Sir Alexander Reid | |
| 1968 | 1981 | Sir Lawrence Jackson | Chief Justice of Western Australia (1969–1977) |
| 1981 | 1990 | Donald Aitken | |
| 1990 | 1998 | Geoffrey Kennedy | Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia |
| 1998 | 2000 | Alexander Cohen | |
| 2001 | 2005 | Ken Michael | Governor of Western Australia (2006–2011) |
| 2005 | 2017 | Michael Chaney | |
| 2017 | present | Dr Robert French | Chief Justice of Australia (2008–2017) |
| Incoming | Incoming | Diane Smith-Gander | |

## Notable faculty

Notable past and present members of faculty include:
* Christopher Chantler, physicist
* David Indermaur, psychologist
* James R. Lawler, foundation professor of French Studies
* Jill Milroy, Dean and Winthrop Professor at the University of Western Australia School of Indigenous Studies
* Eric Saint, foundation professor of the Medical School