# List of University of Kent people

A list of people related to the University of Kent.

## Officers

Several positions did not technically exist prior to the formal incorporation of the University by approval of its Charter on 4 January 1965. However several were appointed beforehand as nominal "officer designates", performing the same duties. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was not formally installed as Chancellor until 30 March 1966.

### Chancellors

* 1963–1968 Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
* 1970–1990 Jo Grimond (later Baron Grimond) - see University of Kent at Canterbury Chancellor election, 1970
* 1990–1995 Sir Robert Horton
* 1996–2006 Sir Crispin Tickell
* 2006–2014 Sir Robert Worcester
* 2014–2024 Gavin Esler
* 2024–present YolanDa Brown

### Vice-Chancellors

* 1963–1980 Geoffrey Templeman
* 1980–1994 David J.E. Ingram
* 1994–2001 Robin Sibson
* 2001–2007 Sir David Melville
* 2007–2017 Dame Julia Goodfellow
* 2017–2024 Karen Cox

### Pro Chancellors

* 1960–1971 Wykeham Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis
* 1971–1977 Sir Paul Chambers
* 1977–1984 Robin Leigh-Pemberton
* 1984–1993 Rt Rev David Say
* 1993–1999 John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne
* 1999–2005 Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield
Title changed to:

### Chair of the Council

* 2005–2011 Valerie Marshall
* 2011–2014 John Simmonds
* 2014–present Sir David Warren

### Visitors

The Visitor of the university is the Archbishop of Canterbury ex officio. The following Archbishops have served:
* 1965–1974 Michael Ramsey (appointed Archbishop 1961)
* 1974–1980 Donald Coggan
* 1980–1991 Robert Runcie
* 1991–2002 George Carey
* 2002–2012 Rowan Williams
* 2013–2025 Justin Welby

## Notable staff

* Dominic Abrams - Professor of Social Psychology & Vice President of the British Academy
* Andy Alaszewski - Emeritus Professor of Health Studies
* Harry Bloom - South African former political activist, author (deceased)
* Upamanyu Chatterjee - author
* David Corfield – philosopher
* Elizabeth Cowie - professor of film studies at the University of Kent
* Frank Furedi - founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), Professor of Sociology
* Robin Gill - Anglican priest and theologian
* Roy Goodman - freelance conductor, violinist and organist
* Matthew Goodwin - professor and researcher of British politics
* Abdulrazak Gurnah - writer
* Rosalyn Higgins - President of the International Court of Justice
* Rosemary Hunter - Legal scholar and researcher Professor of Law
* Michael J. L. Kirby - former Canadian Senator
* Elena Korosteleva - Professor and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development University of Warwick
* Bill MacMillan - Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia
* Molly Mahood - literary scholar
* Murray Smith - philosopher and film theorist; Professor of Film at the University of Kent
* Hamish Swanston, the first Catholic to head a Department of Theology at a British university since the Reformation
* David Turner - computer scientist, designer of the Miranda programming language
* Sarah Turner - filmmaker, and Director of Research, School of Music and Fine Art
* Glenn White - astronomer
* John Zarnecki - space scientist and principal on the Huygens probe

## Notable alumni

All Bachelors Degrees unless stated otherwise

### Academia

* Anuwar Ali - (PhD) - economist, exponent of higher education, second Vice-Chancellor and President of Open University Malaysia
* Jo Fox - Director Institute of Historical Research University of London
* Adrian Franklin - Professor of Sociology at the University of Tasmania
* Colin Hughes - Emeritus Professor of Microbiology University of Cambridge, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
* Belinda Jack - Fellow and Tutor in French at Christ Church, Oxford at the University of Oxford
* Homa Katouzian - (PhD) - Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Oxford
* Robert Lethbridge - Former Master of Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge
* Lisa Roberts - (PhD) - Vice Chancellor University of Exeter
* Ralph Townsend (MA) - former Headmaster of Winchester College
* Patrick Collinson - Notable Elizabethan historian; (PhD) - former Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge
* Rupert Wegerif - Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge Fellow of Hughes Hall
* Lorraine Whitmarsh - environmental psychologist, Professor at the University of Bath

### Theatre film and entertainment

* Farah Zeynep Abdullah - Turkish actress and singer including film The Butterfly's Dream
* Heather Agyepong - Actor/performer, photographer, visual artist.
* Andrew Burt - actor - the original Jack Sugden in Emmerdale
* Daragh Carville - playwright and screenwriter including The Bay
* Jackie Clune - actor, singer, and comedian
* Alan Davies - comedian, actor, and author: work includes television QI, Bob & Rose and Jonathan Creek and book Just Ignore Him
* Richard Denton - producer and director of television documentaries including Comrades and Kingswood - a Comprehensive
* Lyn Gardner - theatre critic, children's writer and journalist, founding member of City Limits magazine
* Mark Gillis - actor, including for the Royal Shakespeare Company, writer / director including for the indie film Sink
* Stuart Hazeldine - screenwriter and film director including The Shack
* Kim Ismay - actor including Royal Shakespeare Company and singer
* Bruce Langley - actor, known for playing the role of Technical Boy on American Gods
* Rebecca Lenkiewicz - playwright and screenwriter including Ida, Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards 2015 and She Said (film)
* Laura Lexx - comedian and writer
* Matthew Morsia - fitness influencer, team member Gladiators
* Mark Simmons - stand up comedian
* Megan Swann - magician, President of The Magic Circle
* Paul Telfer - actor, NCIS and Days of Our Lives
* Ramon Tikaram - actor, This Life and EastEnders
* Michelle Tsiakkas - professional dancer including Strictly Come Dancing series 22
* Neal Purvis and Robert Wade - screenwriters of the film Let Him Have It and eight James Bond films including Casino Royale, Skyfall and No Time to Die
* Ariel Vromen - Israeli screenwriter and film director including The Iceman
* Tom Wilkinson - actor, including The Full Monty and Academy Award nominee for In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton.

### Literature

* Michael Baigent - (MA) - co-author of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
* Valerie Bloom - poet
* Debjani Chatterjee - poet
* Fred D'Aguiar - novelist, playwright, poet, and academic
* Abdulrazak Gurnah (MA) (PhD) - academic and novelist including Paradise and 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
* Jane Harper - author The Dry
* Sir Kazuo Ishiguro - novelist, Man Booker Prize winner for The Remains of the Day and 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Screenwriter of Living (2022 film)
* E. L. James - author Fifty Shades of Grey and film producer Fifty Shades of Grey
* David Mitchell - novelist Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue
* Sarah Waters - novelist Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet
* David Wingrove - science fiction writer
* Frederick Kambemba Yamusangie - novelist
* Musaemura Zimunya - Zimbabwean contemporary author
* John Lewis-Stempel - farmer and writer

### Media

* Rosie Boycott - journalist, former editor of The Independent and Daily Express
* Janusz Bugajski - host of Bugajski Hour on several Balkan TV channels
* Ian Collins - radio presenter and TalkRADIO host
* Oliver Double - comedian and comedy historian
* Gavin Esler - former BBC Newsnight presenter and BBC North America Editor
* Shiulie Ghosh - former ITV news presenter
* Fi Glover - BBC Radio 4 presenter including The Listening Project
* Charlotte Green - BBC radio presenter
* David Horsey - (MA) - Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
* Mark Mardell - Presenter The World This Weekend BBC Radio 4, former BBC North America and Europe Editor
* Matt Preston - Australian television presenter and food journalist
* Carolyn Quinn - BBC Radio 4 political presenter
* Paul Ross - journalist and presenter, former editor and presenter The Big Breakfast
* William Sitwell - former editor of Waitrose magazine now Telegraph columnist and Masterchef presenter
* Charlotte Smith - Presenter Countryfile and Farming Today
* Peter White - BBC Radio 4 presenter of You and Yours and BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent
* Patrick Wright - journalist, academic and author
* Sahar Zand - British-Iranian journalist, television presenter and documentary maker

### Music

* YolanDa Brown - saxophonist, composer, broadcaster, philanthropist; double MOBO "Best Jazz" winner. Chair BPI music.
* Jon DaSilva - DJ and Record Producer - House and Dance music - pioneer at The Haçienda Manchester.
* Ana Free - Portuguese singer songwriter.
* Barbara Gaskin - singer - recorded No 1 hit single "It's My Party" with Dave Stewart
* Ellie Goulding - singer / songwriter (dropped out - did not graduate) albums include Lights
* Steve Hillage - guitarist (dropped out - did not graduate)
* Lami Phillips - Nigerian singer / songwriter and actress
* Tiwa Savage - Nigerian singer / songwriter

### Business

* Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss - CEO Rock Creek , Former Chief Investment Officer World Bank, Carnegie Corporation of New York Great Immigrants, Great Americans list 2020
* James Buckley-Thorp - Founder and Chief Executive Officer Bequest
* Zameer Choudrey, Baron Choudrey - Chief Executive Bestway Group
* Wayne Garvie - President International Production at Sony Pictures Television
* Tristia Harrison -Chief Executive Officer TalkTalk Group
* Max Hole - former Chairman and Chief of Global Operations Universal Music
* Carolyn McCall - Chief Executive Officer ITV
* Charles Wigoder - Executive Chairman Telecom Plus

### Politics

* Abdullah Md Zin - (PhD) - minister in the Malaysian government
* Abbas Araghchi - (PhD) - Foreign Minister of Iran
* Azizan Abdul Razak - Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of the Malaysian state of Kedah
* Gareth Bacon - Conservative Member of Parliament for Orpington - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
* Steve Bassam, Baron Bassam of Brighton - (MA) - former Government Whip in the House of Lords
* Judith Blake, Baroness Blake of Leeds - former Labour Leader of Leeds City Council
* Wayne Caines - Minister of National Security Government of Bermuda
* Ronald D. Coleman - (Year abroad) - former United States Representative for Texas
* Baron Collins of Highbury - former Labour Party General Secretary
* Kaya Comer-Schwartz - Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime - former Labour Leader of Islington Council in London
* Chris Davies - (MA) - former Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for North West England
* Mark Drakeford - former First Minister of Wales
* Tamsin Dunwoody - former Labour Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Preseli Pembrokeshire; former minister in the Welsh Assembly Government
* Natalie Elphicke - former Conservative / Labour Member of Parliament for Dover
* Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine (MA) - Liberal Democrat peer
* Allison Gardner - Labour Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent South.
* Sheila Gilmore - former Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East
* Stephen Gethins -(MA) - SNP Member of Parliament for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry
* Kostis Hatzidakis - (MA) - Minister for the Environment and Energy in the Greek Government
* Dame Ann Hercus - (MA) - New Zealand politician and diplomat
* Jane Hutt - Minister for Social Justice - Senedd
* Kamarudin Jaffar - Member of Parliament of Malaysia for Bandar Tun Razak constituency and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Jean-Charles Larsonneur - Deputy representing La Republique En Marche! for Finistère in the French National Assembly
* David Lepper - former Labour Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion
* Eunice M. Tembo Luambia Zambian ambassador to the UN in Geneva
* James MacCleary - Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Lewes
* Mastura Mohd Yazid - Member of Parliament for Kuala Kangsar district and Deputy Minister in the Malaysian Government
* Munira Mirza - (MA) (PhD) - former Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit
* Maria Mezentseva (MA) - Member of the Ukrainian Parliament
* Chris Mole - former Labour Member of Parliament for Ipswich
* Raychelle Omamo - Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs
* Abena Oppong-Asare - Labour Member of Parliament for Erith and Thamesmead - Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office.
* Taiwo Owatemi - Labour Member of Parliament for Coventry North West - Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.
* Suren Raghavan (MA) (PhD) - Sri Lankan politician, former Governor of Northern Province, now National List MP for the Parliament of Sri Lanka
* Blake Stephenson - Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire.
* Dan Tehan - (MA) - Australian politician, former Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment in the Morrison government
* Emily Thornberry - Labour Member of Parliament for Islington South and Finsbury Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
* Robin Tilbrook - leader and founder of the English Democrats
* Tom Vandenkendelaere - (MA) (PhD) - Belgian Member of the European Parliament
* Peter Whittle – former Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
* Alex Yam - Mayor of North West District and Member of the Singapore Parliament for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC
* Fu Ying - (MA) - Chinese former Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs.

### Law and administration

* Sir David Akers-Jones - (MA) former acting Governor of Hong Kong, 1986/87
* Ursula Brennan - Order of the Bath - former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice
* Jonathan Cohen - High Court Judge, Family Division.
* Ivo Daalder - President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, former United States Permanent Representative to NATO
* Luke de Pulford - Human Rights Campaigner - recipient of the Benemerenti Medal
* Sir Chris Ham - former Chief Executive King's Fund.
* Irwan Hambali - (MSc) Police commissioner of the Royal Brunei Police Force
* Alastair John Naisbitt King - Chairman Naisbitt King Asset Management - Lord Mayor of London 2024 - 2025
* Mark Lucraft - former Chief Coroner, now Recorder of London, Lead Judge at the Old Bailey.
* Pippa Mills - formerly Chief Constable West Mercia Police now Assistant Commissioner Metropolitan Police
* Shan Morgan - Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Government
* Damilola Odufuwa - Founder of Nigerian Feminist Coalition and Microfinance specialist. One of Vogue's 12 Women leaders who changed the World in 2020.
* Sir Hugh Orde - former Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
* Joanna Roper - British Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
* Lucy Scott-Moncrieff - Human Rights and Mental Health lawyer - Past President Law Society of England and Wales
* Dame Glenys Stacey - Chair Office for Environmental Protection - formerly Chief Executive Ofqual

### Nobility

* Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma - a peer and second cousin of King Charles III, son of John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne
* Lady Amanda Patricia Victoria Knatchbull - daughter of John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne and cousin to Charles III
* Sir Jonathan Cohen KC - grandson of Lionel Cohen, Baron Cohen PC, great-great grandson of financier Lionel Louis Cohen
* Joshua Leakey - recipient of the Victoria Cross, member of the Leakey family, relative of Lieutenant General Arundell David Leakey

### Sports

* Paul Ackford - former England Rugby and British and Irish Lions rugby player, The Sunday Telegraph sports journalist
* Adam Ball - former England Under 19 Cricket Captain who played for Kent County Cricket Club
* Natasha Brennan - Women's Rugby Union player - Won the gold medal with the 2014 Women's World Cup England Rugby team.
* David Fulton - cricketer, former captain of Kent County Cricket Club
* Wayne Otto - British Karate Champion - Winner of multiple gold medals at Karate World Championships
* Jamie Reeves - (MA) - semi-professional footballer who won the FA Vase twice; pundit on the ESPN Star Sports coverage of the Premier League
* Susannah Townsend - Great Britain, England and Canterbury field hockey player, Gold medal winner 2016 Summer Olympics, Bronze medal winner 2020 Summer Olympics

### Military

* Joshua Leakey - known for courageous actions in the Afghanistan campaign in 2015; recipient of the Victoria Cross (did not graduate - left in the first year to join the British Army)

### Miscellaneous

* Madeline Argy - Podcaster, Influencer
* Chris Broad - Youtuber
* Tom Frame - (MA)- Australian Christian minister of religion, historian, author, and social commentator
* Akaliza Keza Gara - Rwandan IT activist
* Rachael House - artist
* Philip Howard - Michelin starred chef - The Square and then Elystan Street
* Leon McCarron - Northern Irish adventurer, author, filmmaker, broadcaster. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Yale World Fellow 2024.
* Duro Olowu - Fashion Designer
* Martin Poll - Canon Chaplain of St George's Chapel Windsor Castle
* Stephen Shaw -(MA) - Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales
* Johnny Yeo - artist and portraitist - his paintings are included in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London