61 Notable alumni of
Swansea University
Updated:
Swansea University is 908th in the world, 322nd in Europe, and 61st in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 61 notable alumni from Swansea University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Richey Edwards
- Occupations
- lyricistsongwriterguitaristmusician
- Biography
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Richard James Edwards, also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He was known for his dark, politicised and intellectual songwriting that, combined with an enigmatic and eloquent character, has assured him cult status; he has also been cited as a leading lyricist of his generation. Although he regularly involved himself in the band's songwriting, Edwards rarely recorded any guitar performances with the band.
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Alun Wyn Jones
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Alun Wyn Jones OBE is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a lock. He played most of his career for the Ospreys and for the Wales national team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player, with 158 caps for Wales and 12 for the British & Irish Lions, and also holds the records for the most Wales caps and the second-most Wales caps as captain. He retired from rugby in 2023.
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Jason Mohammad
- Occupations
- television presentertelevision journalist
- Biography
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Jason Mohammad is a Welsh radio and television presenter currently working for the BBC. He is the host of a range of programmes for the corporation.
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Nicky Wire
- Occupations
- songwriterpianistsingermusician
- Biography
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Nicholas Allen Jones, known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers.
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Caroline Dinenage
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Dame Caroline Julia Dinenage is a British Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport since 2010.
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Nigel Evans
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Nigel Martin Evans is a former British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ribble Valley in Lancashire from 1992 until 2024. He was Joint Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee from 2017 to 2019. He served as First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, one of the Speaker's three deputies, from 2010 to 2013. He was elected as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means in 2020.
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Siân James
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Siân Catherine James is a Welsh Labour Party politician, who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea East from 2005 to 2015.
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Anne Boden
- Occupations
- banker
- Biography
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Anne Elizabeth Boden MBE is a Welsh tech entrepreneur. She is the founder and former CEO of Starling Bank and the first woman to found a British bank. In 2018, she received an MBE for services to financial technology.
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Alan Cox
- Occupations
- computer scientistprogrammerblogger
- Biography
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Alan Cox is a British computer programmer who has been a key figure in the development of Linux. He maintained the 2.2 branch of the Linux kernel and continues to be heavily involved in its development, an association that dates back to 1991. He lives in Swansea, Wales, where he lived with his wife Telsa Gwynne, who died in 2015, and now lives with author Tara Neale, whom he married in 2020. He graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from Swansea University in 1991 and received an MBA from the same university in 2005.
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Rhys Priestland
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Rhys Priestland is a retired Welsh international rugby union player who last played as a fly-half for Cardiff Rugby and the Wales national team. Although he primarily played as a fly-half, he was also capable of playing at full-back. Born in Llangathen, Carmarthenshire, he began his career with Llanelli RFC before progressing to the Scarlets regional side. After eight years with the Scarlets, he moved to England to play for Bath in the English Premiership, where he spent six seasons before returning to Wales with Cardiff Rugby. He made his Wales debut in 2011, and earned 50 caps – including being named in the squad for the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups – before his move to England made him ineligible for selection.
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Eleanor A. Maguire
- Enrolled in Swansea University
- In 1991 graduated with Master of Science in neuropsychology
- Occupations
- neuroscientistneurologist
- Biography
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Eleanor Anne Maguire was an Irish neuroscientist who was Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London, where she was also a Wellcome Trust principal research fellow, from 2007 until her death in 2025.
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Carolyn Harris
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Carolyn Harris is a Welsh politician serving as Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Neath and Swansea East, previously Swansea East since 2015.
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Rob Howley
- Occupations
- rugby union coachrugby union player
- Biography
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Robert Howley is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. As a player, he won 59 caps for Wales, 22 of them as captain. He was part of the Wales coaching staff from 2008 to 2019.
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Mat Johnson
- Occupations
- comics writernovelist
- Biography
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Mat Johnson is an American fiction writer who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists.
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Dwayne Peel
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Dwayne John Peel is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the Wales national rugby union team with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013.
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Anne Main
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Anne Margaret Main is a Conservative Party politician who formerly served as the Member of Parliament for St Albans in Hertfordshire. She was elected at the general election of 2005, and was re-elected in 2010, 2015 and 2017. She lost her seat to Daisy Cooper, a Liberal Democrat, at the 2019 general election.
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Colin Pillinger
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistastronomer
- Biography
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Colin Trevor Pillinger, CBE FRS FRAS FRGS was an English planetary scientist. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at The Open University in Milton Keynes; he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and worked on a group of Martian meteorites.
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Ian Bone
- Biography
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Ian David Bone is an English anarchist and publisher of anarchist newspapers and tabloids, such as Class War and The Bristolian.
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John McFall
- Occupations
- parastronautpara athletics competitor
- Biography
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John McFall is a British Paralympic sprinter, a surgeon, and the first disabled astronaut.
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Beth Winter
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bethan Winter is a Welsh politician and former member of Welsh Labour, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cynon Valley from 2019 to 2024.
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Paul Thorburn
- Enrolled in Swansea University
- Studied in 1981-1985
- Occupations
- biologistrugby union playersports executive
- Biography
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Paul Thorburn is a former Neath RFC and international Wales rugby union player who played at full back and also featured in the Welsh international team.
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Andy Hopper
- Occupations
- computer scientistbusinessperson
- Biography
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Sir Andrew Hopper is a British-Polish computer technologist and entrepreneur. He is Chairman of lowRISC CIC, a Commissioner of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, former Treasurer and Vice-President of the Royal Society, Professor Emeritus of Computer Technology at the University of Cambridge, an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
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Wayne David
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sir Wayne David is a Welsh politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Caerphilly from 2001 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he was Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party from 1994 to 1998. As a Member of the European Parliament, he represented South Wales from 1989 to 1994 and South Wales Central from 1994 to 1999.
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Mark Tami
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
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Sir Mark Richard Tami is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Alyn and Deeside since 2001. He has served as Deputy Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons since 2024.
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John Meurig Thomas
- Occupations
- university teacherchemist
- Biography
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Sir John Meurig Thomas, also known as JMT, was a Welsh scientist, educator, university administrator, and historian of science primarily known for his work on heterogeneous catalysis, solid-state chemistry, and surface and materials science.
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Fred Wedlock
- Occupations
- songwriter
- Biography
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Peter Frederick Wedlock was an English folk singer best known for his UK hit single "The Oldest Swinger in Town", which was covered by German comedian Karl Dall as "Der älteste Popper der Stadt". He performed at many venues in Britain and Europe, presented programmes for West Country TV and acted with the Bristol Old Vic, as well as undertaking after-dinner speaking engagements.
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Nonso Amadi
- Occupations
- singer-songwriter
- Biography
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Chinonso Obinna Amadi Listen is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and music producer. He is a self-taught songwriter and music producer who embarked on his music career in 2012, while at Covenant University, where he studied chemical engineering. He is signed to UMG Canada, Def Jam Recordings, UMG Nigeria, Polydor, and MCA Records France.
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Lyn Evans
- Occupations
- physicist
- Biography
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Lyndon Rees Evans is a Welsh scientist who served as the project leader of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Based at CERN, in 2012 he became the director of the Linear Collider Collaboration, an international organisation managing development of next generation particle colliders, including the International Linear Collider and the Compact Linear Collider.
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Paul Pindar
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Paul Richard Martin Pindar is an English businessman. He is best known for his 23-year tenure as managing director and chief executive of Capita plc, a provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services in the UK.
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Rod Richards
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Roderick Richards was a British politician who was leader of the Welsh Conservatives from 1996 to 1999, and a Welsh Assembly member (AM) for the North Wales region from 1999 until 2003.
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Lorely Burt
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Lorely Jane Burt, Baroness Burt of Solihull, is a British politician, who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Solihull from 2005 to 2015. She received a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. She is a patron of Humanists UK.
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Paul Dolan
- Occupations
- university teachersocial scientist
- Biography
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Paul Dolan is Professor of Behavioural Science in the Department in Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is Director of the Executive MSc in Behavioural Science which began in September 2014. Dolan conducts research on the measurement of happiness, its causes and consequences, and the implications for public policy, publishing in both scholarly and popular outlets. He has previously held academic posts at York, Newcastle, Sheffield and Imperial College London and he has been a visiting scholar at Princeton University. He is the author of three popular press books: Happiness by Design, Happy Ever After, and Beliefism, and the creator and presenter of the Duck-Rabbit podcast.
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Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Donald Anderson, Baron Anderson of Swansea PC DL is a Welsh Labour politician, who was one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament in recent years, his service totalling 34 years. Since 2005, he has served as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.
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Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet, of the City of London
- Occupations
- physicianlibrarianobstetrician
- Biography
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Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet GCVO, was a Welsh physician, who attended Queen Victoria and was raised to the baronetcy by her in 1894. He is remembered chiefly for his contribution to the collection of the National Library of Wales. He resided for part of his life at Plas Llanstephan, Carmarthenshire, a house he acquired by lease.
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Sue Austin
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Susan Felicity Austin is a British disabled artist working in multimedia, performance and installation. Austin is best known for her work "Creating the Spectacle!" in which she uses a specially modified wheelchair to move underwater, using scuba diving equipment; it was performed as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Austin's underwater wheelchair has been seen by more than 400 million people worldwide. Austin lives in Devon, south west England.
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Huw Bennett
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Huw Bennett is a former Wales international rugby union hooker, who played most of his rugby career for the Ospreys.
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Bruce George
- Occupations
- politicianassociation football referee
- Biography
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Bruce Thomas George PC was a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall South from February 1974 until 2010.
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Ana Toni
- Occupations
- manager
- Biography
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Ana Toni is an economist, non-profit director, consultant, and grantmaker. She is currently the National Secretary for Climate Change at the Brazil Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. Ana served as the executive director of the Brazil-based non-profit Instituto Clima e Sociedade [iCS, the Institute for Climate and Society] from 2015 to 2022. From 2010 to 2017 she was the Chair of the Board of Greenpeace International, and in 2013 she was appointed to the board of the Wikimedia Foundation, serving for one year.
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Jordan Suckley
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Jordan Suckley is a British radio host, DJ and producer who has composed and remixed notable tracks on albums that have reached No. 1 on the US iTunes Dance Charts. Suckley is most well known for his trance tracks which have garnered acclaim from Armin van Buuren, Aly & Fila and others who have found success in the genre.
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Erywan Yusof
- Occupations
- diplomatcivil servantpolitician
- Biography
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Erywan bin Haji Mohd. Yusof is the incumbent 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei. He also served as ASEAN's first special envoy to Myanmar from August to December 2021 following the Myanmar coup d'état and the resulting civil war.
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Derek Vaughan
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
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Derek Vaughan CBE is a Welsh Labour politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament for Wales between 2009 and 2019.
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Andrew Rhodes
- Years
- 1977-.. (age 49)
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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Andrew Rhodes is the Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission - the UK's regulator for the gambling industry, and was formerly a senior British civil servant, occupying the largest operational director general role in the UK Government.
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Nick Talbot
- Occupations
- geneticistbiologist
- Biography
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Nicholas José Talbot FRS FRSB is Group Leader and Executive Director at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich.
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Martin T. Barlow
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Martin Thomas Barlow FRS FRSC is a British mathematician who is professor of mathematics at the University of British Columbia in Canada since 1992.
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Joyce Watson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Elizabeth Joyce Watson is a Welsh Labour politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales since 2007.
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Mike Hedges
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Michael John Hedges is a Welsh Labour politician, who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the constituency of Swansea East since the 2011 Senedd election.
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Christine James
- Occupations
- poetscholarwriter
- Biography
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Christine James FLSW is a Welsh poet and academic. She served as the first female Archdruid of Wales from June 2013 until June 2016. She first presided over the ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod in the 2013 Eisteddfod in Denbigh. Like all holders, she qualified by winning a major literary prize at a previous National Eisteddfod. She was elected Cofiadur (Recorder) of the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod in 2017, again as the first woman to hold the post. She is a recipient of the Wales Book of the Year.
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Peter Black
- Occupations
- bloggerpolitician
- Biography
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Peter Malcolm Black CBE is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician, and was a Member of the Welsh Assembly for the South Wales West Region between 1999 and 2016.
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Ben Pickering
- Occupations
- film directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Ben Pickering is a London-born filmmaker and novelist. He is best known for directing the crime thrillers Two Days in the Smoke and Welcome to Curiosity, producing the award-winning Election Night and Give Them Wings and for his dystopian alternative history novel Freiheit.
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Nidal Hilal
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 68)
- Enrolled in Swansea University
- 1986-1988 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- researchereditorchemical engineer
- Biography
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Nidal Hilal is an academic and engineering scientist known for his work in water research and membrane technology. He is a Global Network Professor at New York University and the founding director and principal investigator of NYUAD Water Research Center. Hilal previously held professorships at the University of Nottingham and Swansea University in the United Kingdom. He is an emeritus professor of engineering at Swansea University and the founding director of the Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research.
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Andrew Davies
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Andrew David Davies is a Welsh politician who represented the constituency of Swansea West in the National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2011. He is a member of Welsh Labour.
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Heather Koldewey
- Occupations
- marine biologist
- Biography
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Heather J. Koldewey is the co-founder of Project Seahorse and head of marine and freshwater for the Zoological Society of London-London Zoo Aquarium. She additionally serves as an honorary professor for University of Exeter and a National Geographic explorer. Her research interests focus on marine and freshwater conservation, seahorse biology and genetics, and the impact of the aquarium trade on wild populations of fish and aquatic invertebrates.
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Bhavani Thuraisingham
- Years
- 1954-.. (age 72)
- Occupations
- computer scientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Bhavani Thuraisingham is the Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Professor of computer science and the executive director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a visiting senior research fellow in the Department of Informatics at King's College London and a 2017–2018 Cyber Security Policy Fellow at New America.
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Marcus Wyatt
- Occupations
- skeleton racer
- Biography
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Marcus Wyatt is a British skeleton racer. He won the 2024 IBSF European Championships, and finished runner-up at the 2025 World Championships.
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Jonathan Elphick
- Occupations
- writerornithologist
- Biography
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Jonathan Elphick is a British natural history writer, editor and consultant. He is an eminent ornithologist, a qualified zoologist; Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He is author of The Birdwatcher's Handbook: A Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland; Birds: The Art of Ornithology and The Natural History Museum Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds, which received Bird Watching Magazine's 'Best Bird Reference Book of the Year'; as well as co-author of the Encyclopedia of Animals; the RSPB Pocket Birds; A Unique Photographic Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe with Jonathan Woodward and The National Parks and other Wild Places of Britain and Ireland, with photography by David Tipling.
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Khalida Inayat Noor
- Occupations
- mathematicianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Khalida Inayat Noor is a Pakistani mathematician who was awarded with Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan in 2011. Her research topics include mathematical analysis, variational inequalities, and integral operators.
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Marvin Rees
- Years
- 1972-.. (age 54)
- Occupations
- politiciannon-executive director
- Biography
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Marvin Jonathan Rees, Baron Rees of Easton OBE is a British Labour Party politician who served as the second and final Mayor of Bristol from 2016 to 2024. He was created a life peer in February 2025.
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Val Lloyd
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Valerie "Val" Lloyd is a Welsh Labour politician. She represented the constituency of Swansea East at the National Assembly for Wales from 2001 to 2011.
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Ieuan Maddock
- Occupations
- nuclear physicist
- Biography
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Sir Ieuan Maddock was a Welsh scientist and nuclear researcher. He played a role in the nuclear weapons tests in Australia in the 1950s and the 1973 Partial Test-Ban treaty.
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Eugenio Oñate Ibañez de Navarra
- Occupations
- mathematicianengineer
- Biography
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Eugenio Oñate Ibañez de Navarra is a distinguished academic and researcher in computational mechanics and engineering. Over four decades he has significantly contributed to the development of numerical methods for solving engineering problems. He founded and directed for 37 years the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering in Barcelona, Spain, where he led many research projects, including an Advanced Grant and two Proof of Concept projects funded by the European Research Council (ERC). As a professor at UPC he has mentored 73 completed PhD theses and numerous students and researchers, fostering several generations of engineers and scientists.
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Hasan Tavanayan Fard
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Hasan Tavanayan Fard was an Iranian economist, author and poet.
