64 Notable alumni of
Ulster University
Updated:
Ulster University is 980th in the world, 340th in Europe, and 68th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 64 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
- film actortelevision actorcomedianactorstand-up comedian
- Biography
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Omid Djalili is an Iranian-British actor, comedian, and writer.
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Gary Lightbody
- Occupations
- songwriterbloggersingerguitarist
- Biography
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Gareth John Lightbody 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
- photojournalistactordirectorjournalistdeltiologist
- Biography
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Martin Parr 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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Brian Friel
- Occupations
- writerpoliticiantheatrical directortranslatorplaywright
- 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
- rugby union playertelevision presenterGaelic 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
- children's writerartistwriterauthorillustrator
- Biography
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Oliver Brendan Jeffers 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, serving as Minister of Education since February 2024. Givan served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from June 2021 to February 2022, the youngest person to hold that office. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 2010.
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Michael Riley
- Occupations
- television actorfilm actoractorfilm producer
- 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 a leading character in the 2009 CBC Television series Being Erica.
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Seán Gallagher
- Occupations
- reality television participantbusinessperson
- 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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Brian Humphries
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Brian Humphries is a businessman who was the CEO of Cognizant.
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Conor Murphy
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Conor Terence Murphy is an Irish republican Sinn Féin politician, who has served as Minister for the Economy since 2024. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland for Newry and Armagh. He served as the Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh from 2005 until 2015.
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Gregory Campbell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gregory Lloyd Campbell is a British politician who has been the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of Parliament (MP) for East Londonderry since 2001. He is the DUP Spokesperson for International Development.
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Mark Durkan
- Occupations
- international forum participantpolitician
- 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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Michelle Gildernew
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Michelle Gildernew is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, having been re-elected in June 2017 after previously holding the seat from 2001 to 2015.
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Carla Lockhart
- Occupations
- council memberpolitician
- 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, currently serving as the DUP Spokesperson for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. She was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann, elected at the 2016 election, until 2019.
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Anna Lo
- Occupations
- politiciansocial worker
- Biography
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Anna Manwah Lo is a former Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2007 to 2016. She is a former president of the Alliance Party.
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Gerry Anderson
- Occupations
- radio personality
- Biography
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Gerard Michael Anderson was a 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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Niall Ó Donnghaile
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Niall Ó Donnghaile is an Irish 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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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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Basil McCrea
- Occupations
- politicianengineer
- 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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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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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. Caroll also served as a Belfast City Councillor for the Black Mountain DEA from 2014 until 2016.
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Günter Meyer
- Occupations
- university teachergeographer
- 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 36)
- 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 Callaghan is a Northern Irish women's association football player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She currently plays as a player-coach as a midfielder for Cliftonville Ladies and is the captain of the Northern Ireland women's national football team.
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Tina McKenzie
- Occupations
- business executivepolitician
- Biography
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Tina McKenzie MBE is a business executive and former politician from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
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Gary Middleton
- Occupations
- council memberpolitician
- Biography
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Gary Middleton 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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Alban Maginness
- Occupations
- barristerpoliticiancouncil member
- Biography
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Alban Maginness is an 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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Dolores Kelly
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mary Dolores Kelly is a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician. She was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann from 2003 until 2016, and again from 2017 until 2022.
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Alastair McIntosh
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 69)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Alastair McIntosh is a Scottish writer, academic and activist.
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Anne Devlin
- Occupations
- playwrightwriterscreenwritershort story writer
- 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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Jennifer Whitmore
- Born in
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Ireland - Occupations
- scientistpolitician
- 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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Anne Carlisle
- Years
- 1956-.. (age 68)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Anne Carlisle is a British educator.
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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 for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2017.
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Christina McKenna
- Years
- 1957-.. (age 67)
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Christina McKenna is a bestselling Irish author and novelist. She has written books that comprise the Tailorstown series.
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Giles Scott-Smith
- Years
- 1968-.. (age 56)
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorian
- 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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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 66)
- 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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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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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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Rolph Payet
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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Rolph Antoine Payet FRGS is an 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
- university teacherzoologistgeneticist
- 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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Stephen Martin
- Years
- 1966-.. (age 58)
- 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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Stephen Snoddy
- Occupations
- exhibition curator
- Biography
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Stephen Snoddy is a British artist and gallery director.
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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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Dominic Bradley
- Occupations
- politicianschool teacher
- 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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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. 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. 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 was a founding member of Chief, a private network built to drive more women into positions of power and keep them there. Furthermore, she serves as a member of The WIE Suite, a private membership community of women leaders and creatives, as well as a member of the Wall Street Journal CMO Network.
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Andre Stitt
- Occupations
- artistperformance artist
- 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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Norma Reid Birley
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 72)
- 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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John McCanny
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 72)
- 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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Alison Kitson
- Years
- 1956-.. (age 68)
- Enrolled in Ulster University
- 1975-1979 graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- nurseuniversity teacher
- 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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Ian Marshall
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ian James Marshall 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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Raymond Watson
- Years
- 1958-.. (age 66)
- 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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Kevin Rockett
- Occupations
- authorhistorian
- Biography
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Kevin Rockett is an Irish film historian, writer and scholar, specialising 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, and the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books, including Cinema and Ireland, The Irish Filmography (1996), Neil Jordan: Exploring Boundaries (2003) and Irish Film Censorship (2004).
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George Hamilton
- Occupations
- police officer
- Biography
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Sir George Ernest Craythorne Hamilton 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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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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May De Silva
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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May De Silva is a Seychellois management expert who presently serves as the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles since March 16, 2017.
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Thomas Paul Burgess (Ruefrex)
- Years
- 1959-.. (age 65)
- Occupations
- musician
- Biography
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Thomas Paul Burgess is an academic, novelist and musician from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Steve Nimmons
- Occupations
- computer scientist
- Biography
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Steve Nimmons, FRI FIMIS, 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
