70 Notable alumni of
Ulster University
Updated:
Ulster University is 1003rd in the world, 352nd in Europe, and 69th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 70 notable alumni from Ulster 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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Omid Djalili
- Occupations
- stand-up comedianactorcomediantelevision actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Omid Djalili is an English comedian, actor, and writer.
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Gary Lightbody
- Occupations
- bloggersongwriterguitaristsinger
- Biography
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Gareth John Lightbody OBE is a Northern Irish musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups the Reindeer Section and Tired Pony.
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Kate Hoey
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey, better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001. During the 1970s Hoey was involved in radical far-left groups but by the end of the decade became involved with the Labour Party. Hoey remained a member of the Labour Party for several decades while she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Vauxhall from 1989 to 2019, but resigned from the party in 2020.
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Martin Parr
- Occupations
- photographerartistdeltiologistjournalistdirector
- Biography
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Martin Parr CBE is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.
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David Holmes
- Occupations
- recording artistrecord producerfilm score composerdisc jockeycomposer
- Biography
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David Holmes is a musician and composer from Northern Ireland. He worked as a DJ before releasing several solo albums that incorporated elements of trip hop, big beat, rock and electronic music. In the late 1990s, he also began composing film scores, establishing a long-standing collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that includes Out of Sight (1998) and the Ocean's trilogy.
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Brian Friel
- Occupations
- translatortheatrical directorpoliticianwriterplaywright
- Biography
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Brian Patrick Friel was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. He has been likened to an "Irish Chekhov" and described as "the universally accented voice of Ireland". His plays have been compared favourably to those of contemporaries such as Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter and Tennessee Williams.
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Tommy Bowe
- Occupations
- television presenterrugby union playerGaelic football player
- Biography
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Thomas John Bowe is an Irish television presenter and former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ospreys, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions.
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Oliver Jeffers
- Occupations
- authorwriterartistchildren's writervisual artist
- Biography
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Oliver Brendan Jeffers MBE is an Australian-born Northern Irish artist, illustrator and writer. He went to the integrated secondary school Hazelwood College, then graduated from the University of Ulster in 2001. He relocated back to Northern Ireland in the early 2020s after a spell living and working in Brooklyn.
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Paul Givan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Paul Jonathan Givan is a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), he has served as Minister of Education since 3 February 2024. Givan has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 2010.
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Michael Riley
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Michael Riley is a Canadian actor. From 1998 to 2000, he portrayed Brett Parker in Power Play. He has acted in over 40 films and television series, including This Is Wonderland, for which he received a Gemini Award, and the Emmy-nominated BBC / Discovery Channel co-production Supervolcano. He also portrays, Dr. Tom, a leading character in the 2009 to 2011 CBC Television series Being Erica.
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Conor Murphy
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Conor Terence Murphy is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, who has served as a senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel since January 2025. He previously served as Minister for the Economy of Northern Ireland from 2024 to 2025. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh since 2015, having previously served as the Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh from 2005 to 2015, observing the Sinn Fein policy of abstentionism.
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Seán Gallagher
- Occupations
- businesspersonreality television participant
- Biography
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Seán Gallagher is an Irish businessman and former reality television personality. He was a co-founder in 2000 of Smarthomes, which after initial success, failed in 2008–2010, and Gallagher departed in 2010–11. He was a panellist on RTÉ's Dragons' Den from 2009 to 2011. Gallagher was an active member of Fianna Fáil for 30 years, from 1981 to 2011, and sat on its National Executive twice (from 1985 to 1987, and from 2009 to 2011). He spent much of his career before Smarthomes working in Fianna Fáil, and in the Irish public service. Gallagher ran as an independent candidate in the 2011 presidential election, finishing second to Michael D. Higgins. He ran again in the 2018 presidential election, finishing third.
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Gregory Campbell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gregory Lloyd Campbell CBE is a British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Londonderry since 2001. As of 2024, Campbell is Northern Ireland's longest-serving current MP. He is the DUP Spokesperson for International Development.
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Michelle Gildernew
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Michelle Angela Gildernew is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2017 to 2024, after previously holding the seat from 2001 to 2015.
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Mark Durkan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mark Durkan is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2001 to 2010. He contested the Dublin constituency for Fine Gael at the 2019 European Parliament election.
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Anna Lo
- Occupations
- social workerpoliticianautobiographer
- Biography
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Anna Manwah Lo, or Anna Lo Man-wah, MBE was a Northern Irish politician of the Alliance Party. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South from 2007 to 2016 and was a former president of the Alliance Party.
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Carla Lockhart
- Occupations
- politiciancouncil member
- Biography
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Carla Rebecca Lockhart is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann since the 2019 general election. She currently serves as the DUP spokesperson for environment, food and rural affairs. She was previously a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann from 2016 to 2019.
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Niall Ó Donnghaile
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Niall Ó Donnghaile is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a senator for the Administrative Panel from 2016 to 2024. He was the Leader of Sinn Féin in the Seanad from June 2020 to January 2024. He previously served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2011 to 2012 and a councillor on Belfast City Council from 2011 to 2016.
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Gerry Anderson
- Occupations
- radio personality
- Biography
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Gerard Michael Anderson was a Northern Irish radio and television broadcaster for BBC Northern Ireland. Renowned for his unique style and distinctive sense of humour, Anderson often referred to himself on his show, as "Turkey Neck", "Puppet Chin" or "Golf Mike Alpha".
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Roberta Blackman-Woods
- Enrolled in Ulster University
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in sociology
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods is a British academic and former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Durham from 2005 to 2019.
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Hélène Conway-Mouret
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hélène Conway-Mouret is a French academic and politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who has been serving as a member of the Senate since 2014, representing the constituency of French citizens living abroad.
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Gerry Carroll
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gerry Carroll is a People Before Profit politician and Socialist activist from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast West since 2016. Carroll also served as a Belfast City Councillor for the Black Mountain DEA from 2014 until 2016.
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Paula Bradshaw
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Paula Jane Bradshaw is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician. She has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast since the 2016 election and in 2024 was appointed Alliance Party Chief Whip.
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Basil McCrea
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Basil McCrea is a former Northern Irish politician. He was the party leader of NI21 from 2013 until it disbanded in 2016. He was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2007 to 2016.
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Günter Meyer
- Occupations
- geographeruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Günter Meyer is a German Geographer and Orientalist. He is chairman of the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) and director of the Center for Research on the Arab World (CERAW) at the University of Mainz. Meyer focuses mainly on the Political Geography of the Arab World, and the economic as well as urban development in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, Syria, Yemen and the UAE, but also in Germany. He became known to a wider German-speaking audience through more than 1100 interviews on the Iraq War, the Syrian Civil War and on the Libyan Civil War 2011 and 2014.
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Órlaithí Flynn
- Years
- 1988-.. (age 37)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Órlaithí Flynn is an Irish politician and MLA who represents Belfast West in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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Marissa Callaghan
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Marissa James Callaghan MBE is a Northern Irish football midfielder who plays for Cliftonville Ladies and the Northern Ireland national team
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Tina McKenzie
- Occupations
- politicianbusiness executive
- Biography
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Tina McKenzie MBE is a business executive and former politician from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
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Nuala McAllister
- Years
- 1989-.. (age 36)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Nuala McAllister is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly. She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Belfast North.
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Gary Middleton
- Occupations
- politiciancouncil member
- Biography
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Gary Middleton MLA is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since 2015. Middleton is the DUP Spokesperson for the North West.
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Jennifer Whitmore
- Occupations
- politicianscientist
- Biography
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Jennifer Whitmore is an Irish Social Democrats politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency since the 2020 general election.
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Alban Maginness
- Occupations
- politicianbarristercouncil member
- Biography
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Alban Maginness is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016.
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John Dallat
- Occupations
- teacherpolitician
- Biography
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John Dallat was an Irish politician in the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) who represented East Londonderry in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2016, and then from 2017 until his death in 2020.
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Dolores Kelly
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mary Dolores Kelly is an Irish nationalist former politician who served as deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015. She was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann from 2003 until 2016, and again from 2017 until 2022. She was succeeded by Eóin Tennyson in 2022.
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Alastair McIntosh
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 70)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Alastair McIntosh is a Scottish writer, academic and activist.
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Anne Devlin
- Occupations
- short story writerscreenwriterwriterplaywright
- Biography
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Anne Devlin is a short story writer, playwright and screenwriter born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was a teacher from 1974 to 1978, and started writing fiction in 1976 in Germany. Having lived in London for a decade, she returned to Belfast in 2007.
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Jemma Dolan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jemma Dolan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2017.
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Anne Carlisle
- Years
- 1956-.. (age 69)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Anne Carlisle OBE is a British educator.
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Eileen Bell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Eileen Bell CBE is a retired Alliance Party politician from Dromara, Northern Ireland. She was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 1998 to 2007, and is a former deputy leader of the Alliance Party.
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Giles Scott-Smith
- Years
- 1968-.. (age 57)
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Giles Scott-Smith is a Dutch-British academic. He is a professor of transnational relations and new diplomatic history at Leiden University and serves as the dean of Leiden University College The Hague.
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Christina McKenna
- Years
- 1957-.. (age 68)
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Christina McKenna is an Irish author and novelist. She has written books that comprise the Tailorstown series.
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Tara Shine
- Enrolled in Ulster University
- 1999-2002 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- researcher
- Biography
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Tara Shine is an Irish environmental scientist, policy advisor and science communicator. Her work considers climate change negotiations and capacity building. She is a former member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Group of Experts. In 2020 Shine was announced as one of the speakers for the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
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Ross Wilson
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- sculptor
- Biography
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Ross Wilson is an artist from Northern Ireland. He studied Fine Art at the University of Ulster and at the Chelsea College of Art and Design.
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William Conor
- Years
- 1881-1968 (aged 87)
- Occupations
- painter
- Biography
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William Conor OBE RHA PPRUA ROI was a Belfast-born artist.
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Victor Sloan
- Occupations
- photographer
- Biography
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Victor Sloan MBE is a Northern Irish photographer and artist.
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Brian Ó Domhnaill
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Brian Ó Domhnaill is an Irish former Independent politician who served as a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from August 2007 to March 2020. He previously represented Fianna Fáil.
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Rolph Payet
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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Rolph Antoine Payet FRGS is a Seychellois international policy expert, researcher and speaker on environment, climate and island issues, and was the first President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Seychelles. He was Minister of Environment and Energy in the Cabinet of Seychelles from 2012 to 2014. He is currently United Nations Executive Secretary for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention.
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Wallace Arthur
- Occupations
- zoologistuniversity teachergeneticist
- Biography
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Wallace Arthur is an evolutionary biologist and science writer. He is Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the University of Galway. His most recent book is Understanding Life in the Universe, published by Cambridge University Press, which focuses on the likely extent (how many planets?) and nature (how much like us?) of extraterrestrial life. He was one of the founding editors of the journal Evolution & Development, serving as an editor for nearly 20 years. He has held visiting positions at Harvard University, Darwin College Cambridge, and the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
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Margaret Molloy
- Biography
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Margaret Molloy is an Irish businesswoman. Based in New York City, she is the chief marketing officer and head of new development at Siegel+Gale, a strategy and design firm. Molloy is a member of Global Irish Network, an advisory group to the Government of Ireland. She was formerly the Board Chairperson for the New York Hub of The Marketing Society, a global community of over 3,000 senior marketers. Molloy is now a board member of the society. In addition to her duties as a board member of The Marketing Society, she serves on the board of directors of ANA Business Marketing NYC and on the board of the Origin Theatre. In 2020, she cofounded Chief, a private network built to drive more women into positions of power and stabilise their careers. Furthermore, she serves as a member of The WIE Suite, a private membership community of women leaders and creatives. Additionally, she is a member of the Wall Street Journal CMO Network.
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Stephen Martin
- Years
- 1966-.. (age 59)
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Stephen Martin is a British businessman. He served as the chief executive officer of the Clugston Group construction and civil engineering company from 2006 to 2016. He was the director general of the Institute of Directors from February 2017 to early 2019.
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Jennifer Baker
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Jennifer Baker is a European journalist based in Brussels specialising in EU policy and legislation in the technology sector. She has written for ArsTechnica, ComputerWeekly, Macworld, PC World and The Register. She has been senior presenter on ViEUws and also features as an EU policy and tech expert on BBC Radio as well as Euronews.
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Stephen Snoddy
- Occupations
- exhibition curator
- Biography
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Stephen Snoddy is a British artist and gallery director.
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Sandra Overend
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sandra Overend is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician in Northern Ireland. She served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid-Ulster from 2011 to 2017.
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Liz Breadon
- Biography
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Elizabeth A. "Liz" Breadon is a Democratic member of the Boston City Council who serves the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Having emigrated from Northern Ireland, she was the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to Boston City Council.
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Dominic Bradley
- Occupations
- school teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Dominic Bradley is an Irish former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh from 2003 to 2016. As an MLA, he was the SDLP Spokesperson for Education and for the Irish language.
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Andre Stitt
- Occupations
- performance artistartist
- Biography
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André Stitt is an artist currently based in Cardiff, Wales, where he is a professor of fine art at the Cardiff School of Art & Design.
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Ian Marshall
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ian James Marshall OBE is a farmer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician from Markethill, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland. He is from a unionist background and campaigned against Brexit. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in Dublin in 2018, but lost his seat in the 2020 Seanad election.
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John McCanny
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 73)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
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Sir John Vincent McCanny is the emeritus Regius Professor of Electronics and Computer Engineering at Queen's University Belfast, and director of the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology.
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Norma Reid Birley
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 73)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Norma Glasgo Reid, Lady Birley was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand. A statistician, and health service researcher, she has also held the positions of director of an academic consultancy firm, Associate Professor of the University of Ulster, and an Honorary Professor of Sussex University. She was appointed to Witwatersrand in 2000, following a 25-year career as a researcher, teacher and senior administrator in higher education.
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Alison Kitson
- Years
- 1956-.. (age 69)
- Enrolled in Ulster University
- 1975-1979 graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- university teachernurse
- Biography
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Alison Kitson FRCN is inaugural Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University South Australia. She is also an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
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Mary Whelan
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Mary Whelan became Irish Ambassador to Austria on 2 October 2014.
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George Hamilton
- Occupations
- police officer
- Biography
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Sir George Ernest Craythorne Hamilton QPM is a Northern Ireland retired police officer. From 2014 to 2019, he served as the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was previously the Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for rural policing.
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Raymond Watson
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Raymond P Watson is a visual artist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He lives and works in Cushendall, in the Glens of Antrim. He studied Media Studies at the University of Ulster, obtaining a BA hons., and Master of Philosophy. He has worked as a Media Studies lecturer at the Belfast Metropolitan College, and worked as a group editor with a local publishing house for a number of years. He has produced artwork since the early 1990s and in 1999 stopped all other work to dedicate his energy to creating art. He has a substantial body of work influenced heavily by the recent political conflict in Northern Ireland. He is an eclectic artist who creates work in any media, commonly bronze, wood, clay, metals, paints cement, audio visual installations and most recently has produced a number of highly original soundscapes.
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Hugh McKenna
- Enrolled in Ulster University
- 1988-1992 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- nurse
- Biography
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Hugh Patrick McKenna CBE FRCN is a British academic. He is Dean of Medical School Development at Ulster University.
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Siobhan McDonald
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Siobhán McDonald is an Irish visual artist and was born in New York. She holds a bachelor's degree in Art and Design from The Ulster University and a Masters in Visual Arts Practices from Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology 2011.
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Kevin Rockett
- Occupations
- historianauthor
- Biography
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Kevin Rockett is an Irish film historian, writer and scholar specializing in the history of Irish cinema. He is currently an associate professor in Film Studies and head of the School of Drama, Film and Music, at Trinity College, Dublin. He has authored, co-authored, or edited numerous books, including Cinema and Ireland, The Irish Filmography (1996), Neil Jordan: Exploring Boundaries (2003) and Irish Film Censorship (2004).
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Thomas Paul Burgess (Ruefrex)
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 66)
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Thomas Paul Burgess is an academic, novelist and musician from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Brian Humphries
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Brian Humphries is an Irish businessman who was the CEO of Cognizant.
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May De Silva
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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May De Silva is a Seychellois law enforcement officer who presently serves as the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles since March 16, 2017.
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Steve Nimmons
- Occupations
- computer scientist
- Biography
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Steve Nimmons is an Information Technologist and industry commentator. He is a regular contributor to the technology press and serves on a number of industry and political panels. He writes and speaks about Social computing, Enterprise Architecture and Open Innovation and is a member of the Atos Scientific Community
