100 Notable alumni of
University of Aberdeen
Updated:
The University of Aberdeen is 271st in the world, 94th in Europe, and 19th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Aberdeen sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
-
Iain Glen
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
-
Iain Alan Sutherland Glen is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil film series (2004–2016) and as Jorah Mormont in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019). Other notable film and television roles include John Hanning Speke in Mountains of the Moon (1990), Larry Winters in Silent Scream (1990) for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival, Manfred Powell in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Brother John in Song for a Raggy Boy (2003), the title role in Jack Taylor (2010–2016), Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey (2011), James Willett in Eye in the Sky (2015), Bruce Wayne in Titans (2019–2021), Magnus MacMillan in The Rig (2023–present), and Dr. Pete Nichols in Silo (2023–present).
-
Alex Kapranos
- Occupations
- guitaristsingersongwriter
- Biography
-
Alexander Paul Kapranos is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT.
-
Robert Brown
- Occupations
- botanistpteridologistmycologistbryologistnaturalist
- Biography
-
Robert Brown FRSE FRS FLS MWS was a Scottish botanist and paleobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope. His contributions include one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming; the observation of Brownian motion; early work on plant pollination and fertilisation, including being the first to recognise the fundamental difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms; and some of the earliest studies in palynology. He also made numerous contributions to plant taxonomy, notably erecting a number of plant families that are still accepted today; and numerous Australian plant genera and species, the fruit of his exploration of that continent with Matthew Flinders.
-
Emun Elliott
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
- Biography
-
Emun Elliott is a Scottish actor, known for portraying Dr. Christian King in Paradox, Richie in Threesome, John Moray in The Paradise, Kenny in Guilt, and Tony Brightwell in The Gold.
-
George MacDonald
- Occupations
- philosopherwritertheologiannovelistpastor
- Biography
-
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.
-
Nicky Campbell
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell OBE is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987.
-
Tessa Jowell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, DBE, PC was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 1992 to 2015.
-
Alistair Darling
- Enrolled in the University of Aberdeen
- Graduated with Bachelor of Laws in law
- Occupations
- politicianbiographer
- Biography
-
Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, PC was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2015, representing Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh South West.
-
Kezia Dugdale
- Occupations
- bloggerpolitician
- Biography
-
Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2011 to 2019.
-
Ali Smith
- Occupations
- short story writerwriterplaywrightjournalist
- Biography
-
Ali Smith CBE FRSL is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting".
-
Andrew Brunson
- Occupations
- pastor
- Biography
-
Andrew Craig Brunson is an American pastor. Before becoming a lecturer in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, he was the evangelical pastor of a Protestant church with a congregation of 24 people in İzmir, Turkey.
-
Thomas Reid
- Occupations
- university teacherlibrarianwriterphilosophermathematician
- Biography
-
Thomas Reid FRSE was a religiously trained Scottish philosopher best known for his philosophical method, his theory of perception, and its wide implications on epistemology, and as the developer and defender of an agent-causal theory of free will. He also focused extensively on ethics, theory of action, language and philosophy of mind.
-
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat
- Years
- 1667-1747 (aged 80)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, c. 1667 – 9 April 1747 was a Scottish landowner and head of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Convicted of high treason for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1745, he was the last man in Britain to be executed by beheading.
-
James Macpherson
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianpoet
- Biography
-
James Macpherson was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he claimed to have discovered and translated from Gaelic.
-
Angus Robertson
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
-
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Formerly Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018, he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017, where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
-
Andrew Murray
- Occupations
- writerChristian minister
- Biography
-
Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher and Christian pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church".
-
Norman Swan
- Enrolled in the University of Aberdeen
- In 1976 graduated with medicine
- Occupations
- broadcasterjournalistphysician
- Biography
-
Norman Swan is a Scottish-born Australian physician, journalist and broadcaster.
-
Bill Schuette
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianlawyer
- Biography
-
William Duncan Schuette is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Michigan in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
-
Thomas Sutherland
- Occupations
- entrepreneurpoliticianbanker
- Biography
-
Sir Thomas Sutherland, GCMG was a Scottish banker and politician, initially elected to represent the Liberal Party and then as a Liberal Unionist. He founded The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation which was the founding member of HSBC Group and directed the P&O Company.
-
Momus
- Occupations
- musicianjournalistsingermusic journalistblogger
- Biography
-
Nicholas John Currie, more popularly known under the artist name Momus (after the Greek god of mockery), is a Scottish musician and writer.
-
Richard Blair
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 81)
- Occupations
- engineer
- Biography
-
Richard Horatio Blair is a British trustee and patron who is the only (adopted) son of English author George Orwell.
-
Hugh Mercer
- Occupations
- physicianmilitary officer
- Biography
-
Hugh Mercer was a Scottish brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Princeton.
-
John James Rickard Macleod
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicianinventorphysiologist
- Biography
-
John James Rickard Macleod, FRS, FRSE, was a Scottish biochemist and physiologist. He devoted his career to diverse topics in physiology and biochemistry, but was chiefly interested in carbohydrate metabolism. He is noted for his role in the discovery and isolation of insulin during his tenure as a lecturer at the University of Toronto, for which he and Frederick Banting received the 1923 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. Awarding the prize to Macleod was controversial at the time, because according to Banting's version of events, Macleod's role in the discovery was negligible. It was not until decades after the events that an independent review acknowledged a far greater role than was attributed to him at first.
-
Alistair Carmichael
- Enrolled in the University of Aberdeen
- Studied law
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland since 2001. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he previously served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2013 to 2015 and as Deputy Government Chief Whip from 2010 to 2013. He currently serves as the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
-
Kirsty Blackman
- Occupations
- politiciancouncil member
- Biography
-
Kirsty Blackman is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen North since 2015.
-
James Legge
- Occupations
- translatormissionarysinologistChristian ministeruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
James Legge was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.
-
Altai Kölgınov
- Occupations
- statesperson
- Biography
-
Altay Seydirulı Kölginov is a Kazakh politician, who's currently serving as the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Estonia since March 2024. He's best known for his prior tenure as the Äkim of Astana from 2019 to 2022 and as the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2022 to 2023.
-
Andrew Bowie
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Andrew Campbell Bowie is a Scottish Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine since 2017. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nuclear and Networks from 2023 to 2024. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland since November 2024. He served as Shadow Veterans Minister and Shadow Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero from July to November 2024.
-
Ross Thomson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Ross Thomson is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South from 2017 to 2019. Thomson was the first Conservative MP elected for Aberdeen South since the 1992 general election, 25 years earlier. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region from May 2016 until June 2017. He was elected to Aberdeen City Council in the 2012 local elections.
-
William Thornton
- Occupations
- architectphysicianpainterinventor
- Biography
-
William Thornton was an American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United States Patent Office.
-
Sinclair Ferguson
- Years
- 1948-.. (age 77)
- Occupations
- theologian
- Biography
-
Sinclair Buchanan Ferguson is a Scottish theologian known in Reformed Christian circles for his teaching, writing, and editorial work. He has been Chancellor's Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary since 2017, commuting from Scotland, where he was an assistant minister at St. Peter's Free Church of Scotland, Dundee. He is currently a preaching associate at Trinity Church, Aberdeen.
-
James Naughtie
- Occupations
- radio punditjournalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
-
Alexander James Naughtie FRSE is a British radio presenter and journalist, known for presenting on BBC Radio 4. From 1994 to 2015, he was one of the main presenters of the Today programme. In his 21 years on Today, Naughtie had anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme from 1997 onwards. He also worked on every US presidential election from 1988 to 2012.
-
Alex Cole-Hamilton
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton is an English politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Western constituency since 2016.
-
Carl Trueman
- Occupations
- theologian
- Biography
-
Carl R. Trueman is an English Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian. He was Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he held the Paul Woolley Chair of Church History. In 2018 Trueman left Westminster and became a professor at Grove City College in their Department of Biblical and Religious Studies.
-
Zhang Shizhao
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
-
Zhang Shizhao, courtesy name Xingyan, pen name Huangzhonghuang, Qingtong or Qiutong, was a Chinese journalist, educator, politician of the early 20th century known for his advocacy first of revolutionary cultural values in the period leading up to the 1911 Revolution and then of traditional Confucian culture in following years.
-
James Francis Edward Keith
- Occupations
- military personnelmilitary officermilitary leader
- Biography
-
James Francis Edward Keith was a Scottish soldier and Generalfeldmarschall of the Royal Prussian Army. As a Jacobite he took part in a failed attempt to restore the Stuart Monarchy to Britain. When this failed, he fled to Europe, living in France, and then Spain. He joined the Spanish and eventually the Russian armies and fought in the Anglo-Spanish War and the Russo-Swedish War. In the latter he participated in the conquest of Finland and became its viceroy. Subsequently, he participated in the coup d'état that put Elizabeth of Russia on the throne.
-
Natalie McGarry
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Natalie McGarry is a Scottish former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2015 to 2017. She was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate in the 2015 general election but resigned the SNP whip after six months and sat as an independent until the end of the parliamentary session in May 2017.
-
Ho Kai
- Occupations
- physicianbarrister
- Biography
-
Sir Kai Ho CMG JP, better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai and born Ho Shan-kai (何神啟), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between the Hong Kong local community and the British colonial government. He is remembered as a supporter of the Reform Movement and as a teacher of Sun Yat-sen, who would become the founding father of the Republic of China. Hong Kong's former airport, Kai Tak Airport, was named after him as the land the airport sat on was reclaimed by Kai Tack Land Investment Company Limited, founded by him and Au Tak.
-
Frank Chan
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
-
Frank Chan Fan GBS JP is a Hong Kong engineer and government official. He served as Secretary for Transport and Housing from 2017 to 2022, also the Chairman of Hong Kong Housing Authority, Chairman of Aviation Development & Three-runway System Advisory Committee and Chairman of Hong Kong Logistics Development Council. Before Chan has become a principal official as Secretary for Transport and Housing, he was the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services.
-
James Gibbs
- Occupations
- architect
- Biography
-
James Gibbs was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Baroque architecture and Georgian architecture heavily influenced by Andrea Palladio. Among his most important works are St Martin-in-the-Fields (at Trafalgar Square), the cylindrical, domed Radcliffe Camera at Oxford University, and the Senate House at Cambridge University.
-
Ted Malloch
- Occupations
- politicianmanagereconomistbusinesspersonconspiracy theorist
- Biography
-
Theodore Roosevelt Malloch is an American author, consultant, and television producer. He was a professor at the Henley Business School of the University of Reading, England. He is chairman and chief executive officer of the family firm Global Fiduciary Governance and served as chairman and CEO of The Roosevelt Group. He is the author of several books, including Doing Virtuous Business.
-
Thomas Urquhart
- Occupations
- linguistpoetwritertranslatorgenealogist
- Biography
-
Sir Thomas Urquhart was a Scottish aristocrat, writer, and translator. He is best known for his translation of the works of French Renaissance writer François Rabelais to English.
-
Alison Thewliss
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Alison Emily Thewliss is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central from the May 2015 general election until 2024.
-
George Mackenzie
- Occupations
- lawyerwriterheraldistlibrarianadvocate
- Biography
-
Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh was a Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate, essayist and legal writer. He was nicknamed Bloody Mackenzie.
-
Reynold A. Nicholson
- Occupations
- translatoruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, FBA, or R. A. Nicholson, was an eminent English orientalist, scholar of both Islamic literature and Islamic mysticism, and widely regarded as one of the greatest Rumi (Mevlana or Mawlana) scholars and translators in the English language.
-
William Mitchell Ramsay
- Occupations
- academicuniversity teacherarchaeologisthistorianclassical archaeologist
- Biography
-
Sir William Mitchell Ramsay FBA was a British archaeologist and New Testament scholar. He was the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor, and a leading scholar in the study of the New Testament.
-
Sue Black
- Occupations
- anthropologisttelevision presenter
- Biography
-
Susan Margaret Black, Baroness Black of Strome, LT, DBE, FRS, FRSE, FRAI, FRSB is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic. She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College, Oxford.
-
George Siemens
- Occupations
- university teacher
- Biography
-
George Siemens is a Canadian expatriate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington and professor and director of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning at the University of South Australia. He is known for his theory of connectivism, which seeks to understand learning in the digital age. He played a role in the early development of massive online open courses.
-
Alexander Bain
- Occupations
- university teacherwriterphilosopherpsychologist
- Biography
-
Alexander Bain was a Scottish philosopher and educationalist in the British school of empiricism and a prominent and innovative figure in the fields of psychology, linguistics, logic, moral philosophy and education reform. He founded Mind, the first ever journal of psychology and analytical philosophy, and was the leading figure in establishing and applying the scientific method to psychology. Bain was the inaugural Regius Chair in Logic and Professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen, where he also held Professorships in Moral Philosophy and English Literature and was twice elected Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen.
-
Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet
- Occupations
- military commandersoldier
- Biography
-
Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet GCB, KCSI was a British general who fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
-
Alexander Duff
- Occupations
- missionarytheologian
- Biography
-
Alexander Duff, was a Scottish missionary in India; where he played a large part in the development of higher education. He was a Moderator of the General Assembly and convener of the foreign missions committee of the Free Church of Scotland and a scientific liberal reformer of anglicized evangelism across the Empire. He was the first overseas missionary of the Church of Scotland to India. On 13 July 1830 he founded the General Assembly's Institution in Calcutta, now known as the Scottish Church College. He also played a part in establishing the University of Calcutta. He was twice Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in 1851 and 1873, the only person to serve the role twice.
-
Adam Roberts
- Occupations
- literary criticuniversity teachernovelistwriterscience fiction writer
- Biography
-
Adam Charles Roberts FRSL is a British science fiction and fantasy novelist. In 2018 he was elected vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society.
-
William Robertson Smith
- Occupations
- theologianuniversity teacherwriterphysicistarchaeologist
- Biography
-
William Robertson Smith FRSE was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was an editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica and contributor to the Encyclopaedia Biblica. He is also known for his book Religion of the Semites, which is considered a foundational text in the comparative study of religion.
-
Patrick Manson
- Occupations
- entomologistphysicianparasitologist
- Biography
-
Sir Patrick Manson GCMG FRS was a Scottish physician who made important discoveries in parasitology, and was a founder of the field of tropical medicine. He graduated from University of Aberdeen with degrees in Master of Surgery, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Law. His medical career spanned mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and London. He discovered that filariasis in humans is transmitted by mosquitoes. This is the foundation of modern tropical medicine, and he is recognized with an epithet "Father of Tropical Medicine". This also made him the first person to show pathogen transmission by a blood-feeding arthropod. His discovery directly invoked the mosquito-malaria theory, which became the foundation in malariology. He eventually became the first President of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (subsequently absorbed into the University of Hong Kong) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
-
Konstantinos Floros
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
-
General Konstantinos Floros is a Greek army officer who served as Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff in 2020–2024.
-
Murdo Fraser
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Murdo MacKenzie Fraser is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2001. As of 2024, he serves as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Business, Economic Growth and Tourism, shadowing Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes.
-
George Wishart
- Occupations
- theologian
- Biography
-
George Wishart was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic.
-
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo
- Occupations
- judgewriterphilosopheranthropologistlinguist
- Biography
-
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767 he became a judge in the Court of Session.
-
Saleh al-Mutlaq
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Saleh Muhammed al-Mutlaq is an Iraqi politician who is the head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, the fifth largest political list in Iraq's parliament. From 21 December 2010 to 11 August 2015, he was one of the three deputy prime ministers of Iraq.
-
Stephen House
- Occupations
- police officer
- Biography
-
Sir Stephen House QPM is a Scottish police officer who served as Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2022. After beginning his career at Sussex Police in 1981, House held positions in Northamptonshire Police and West Yorkshire Police, then became Assistant Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police in 1998. In 2001, he joined the Metropolitan Police as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner, remaining there until 2007, when he was appointed Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.
-
Horatius Bonar
- Occupations
- clericpoetwriternon-fiction writertheologian
- Biography
-
Horatius Bonar was a Scottish churchman and poet who was a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'cheyne. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymnodist. Friends knew him as Horace Bonar. Licensed as a preacher, he did mission work in Leith for a time, and in November 1837 he settled at Kelso as minister of the new North Church founded in connection with Thomas Chalmers's scheme of church extension. He became exceedingly popular as a preacher, and was soon well known throughout Scotland.
-
Polly Higgins
- Enrolled in the University of Aberdeen
- 1986-1990 graduated with Master of Arts in cultural history
- Occupations
- writerenvironmentalistbarrister
- Biography
-
Pauline Hélène "Polly" Higgins FRSGS was a Scottish barrister, author, and environmental lobbyist, described by Jonathan Watts in her obituary in The Guardian as, "one of the most inspiring figures in the green movement". She left her career as a lawyer to focus on environmental advocacy, and unsuccessfully lobbied the United Nations Law Commission to recognise ecocide as an international crime. Higgins wrote three books, including Eradicating Ecocide, and started the Earth Protectors group to raise funds to support the cause.
-
Kirstene Hair
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Kirstene Janette Hair is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Angus between 2017 and 2019.
-
Gilbert Burnet
- Occupations
- theologianpoliticianhistorianChristian ministerlinguist
- Biography
-
Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, a writer and a historian. He was always closely associated with the Whig party, and was one of the few close friends in whom King William III confided.
-
Eric Hoskins
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Eric William Hoskins OC MSC is a Canadian physician and former politician who served as an Ontario cabinet minister from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Ontario Liberal Party, he represented Toronto—St. Paul's in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2009 to 2018. Before entering politics, Hoskins was the president of War Child Canada and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008 for his humanitarian work.
-
Neil Fachie
- Occupations
- sport cyclistathletics competitor
- Biography
-
Neil Michael Fachie is a Scottish cyclist and former track athlete, competing in events for people with a visual impairment. Fachie has competed in two Paralympics, as a sprinter in the 2008 Games in Beijing and as a tandem cyclist in London 2012. In London he won the gold medal in the Men's individual 1 km time trial and silver in the individual sprint, both with Barney Storey as his sighted pilot. Outside of the Paralympic Games, Fachie is a nineteen-time world champion and 5 times Commonwealth Games champion, creating tandem partnerships with Barney Storey, Pete Mitchell, and Olympians Craig MacLean and Matt Rotherham.
-
Dorothy Bain
- Biography
-
Dorothy Ruth Bain KC is a Scottish advocate who has served as Lord Advocate since 2021. She is the second woman to hold the office after Lady Elish Angiolini KC. Bain previously served as the Principal Advocate Depute from 2009 to 2011, the first woman to hold the prosecutorial position in Scotland.
-
Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet, was a British administrator in India. He was the acting Governor-General of Bengal from 1785 to 1786.
-
Katy Clark
- Occupations
- trade unionistpolitician
- Biography
-
Kathryn Sloan Clark, Baroness Clark of Kilwinning, is a British politician and life peer who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. A member of the Labour Party, she was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran from 2005 to 2015.
-
William Roxburgh
- Occupations
- entomologistbotanistpteridologistsurgeonillustrator
- Biography
-
William Roxburgh FRSE FRCPE FLS was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India, describing species and working on economic botany. He is known as the founding father of Indian botany. He published numerous works on Indian botany, illustrated by careful drawings made by Indian artists and accompanied by taxonomic descriptions of many plant species. Apart from the numerous species that he named, many species were named in his honour by his collaborators. He was the first to document the existence of the Ganges river dolphin.
-
Stewart Stevenson
- Occupations
- engineerpoliticianbanker
- Biography
-
James Alexander Stewart Stevenson is a Scottish former politician who served as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change from 2007 to 2010 and Minister for Environment and Climate Change from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, formerly Banff and Buchan, from 2001 to 2021.
-
Andy Wightman
- Occupations
- writerpolitician
- Biography
-
Andrew Dearg Wightman is a Scottish Independent politician, who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2016 to 2021. He was elected as a member of the Scottish Greens, but resigned from the party in 2020 and served out the rest of his term as an independent. He is also a writer and researcher best known for his work on land ownership in Scotland. He is the author of Who Owns Scotland (1996) and The Poor Had No Lawyers (2015).
-
Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Aberdeen South from 1999 to 2011, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008.
-
Robert Davidson
- Occupations
- inventor
- Biography
-
Robert Davidson was a Scottish inventor who built the first known electric locomotive in 1837. He was a lifelong resident of Aberdeen, northeast Scotland, where he was a prosperous chemist and dyer, amongst other ventures. Davidson was educated at Marischal College, where he studied second and third year classes from 1819-1821, including lectures from Professor Patrick Copland. He got this education in return for being a lab assistant.
-
Jerry Gana
- Occupations
- academicpolitician
- Biography
-
Jerry Gana, is a Nigerian scholar, politician and one time senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1983 then Director for the Directorate of Food, Roads and Infrastructure.He was the director of the Mass Mobilization for Social Justice and Economic Recovery, popularly known as MAMSER under Ibrahim Babangida, then Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in the Interim National Government under Ernest Shonekan. Later he became Minister of Information and Culture under General Sani Abacha, then Minister of Corporation and Integration in Africa under Olusegun Obasanjo as well as being Minister of Information and national Orientation. He also served as Political Adviser to Olusegun Obasanjo, before announcing plans to run for president in June 2006.
-
John Strachan
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
-
John Strachan was a notable figure in Upper Canada, an "elite member" of the Family Compact, and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common schools to helping to found the University of Toronto.
-
Mark McDonald
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Mark McDonald is a Scottish politician who was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Aberdeen Donside constituency from 2013 to 2021, having previously represented the North East Scotland region between 5 May 2011 and 14 May 2013. Formerly a Scottish National Party politician and Minister for Childcare and Early Years in the Scottish Government, he was suspended by the SNP in November 2017 following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against several women. Following a party investigation, the claims were substantiated, McDonald issued an apology on 6 March 2018, announcing he had now left the SNP and would sit in the Scottish Parliament as an Independent.
-
James Mackintosh
- Occupations
- physicianpoliticianwriterhistorianphilosopher
- Biography
-
Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a journalist, judge, administrator, professor, philosopher and politician.
-
Andrew Ross
- Occupations
- sociologist
- Biography
-
Andrew Ross, a Scottish-born social activist and analyst, is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University (NYU). He has authored and edited numerous books, and written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Newsweek, and Al Jazeera. Much of his writing focuses on labor, the urban environment, and the organisation of work, from the Western world of business and high-technology to conditions of offshore labour in the Global South. Making use of social theory as well as ethnography, his writing questions the human and environmental cost of economic growth.
-
James Grant Duff
- Occupations
- historianpolitician
- Biography
-
James Grant Duff was a British soldier and historian from Scotland, who was active in British India.
-
Sir James Wylie
- Occupations
- surgeonphysician
- Biography
-
Sir James Wylie, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish physician who served as a battlefield surgeon and as a court physician in the Russian Empire from 1790 until his death in 1854, and as President of the Russian Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy from 1808 to 1838. He is considered one of the organizers of military medicine in Russia by some by whom the role of the indigenous Russian Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov as the "father of combat medicine" may appear to be less valued.
-
Mairi Gougeon
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Mairi Angela Gougeon is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Angus North and Mearns since 2016.
-
Mark Strange
- Years
- 1961-.. (age 64)
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
-
Mark Jeremy Strange is a British Anglican bishop. He is the current Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He is the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, having been elected at an Episcopal Synod in Edinburgh on 27 June 2017.
-
John Jeffries
- Occupations
- physicianballoonistsurgeonphysicistmeteorologist
- Biography
-
John Jeffries was an American physician, scientist, and military surgeon with the British Army in Nova Scotia and New York during the American Revolution. He is best known for accompanying French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard on his 1785 balloon flight across the English Channel.
-
Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet
- Occupations
- physician
- Biography
-
Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet GCVO KCB VD JP was a British doctor who served as physician-in-ordinary to three British monarchs: Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George V.
-
James Cantlie
- Occupations
- physician
- Biography
-
Sir James Cantlie KBE FRCS KStJ was a British physician. He was a pioneer of first aid, which in 1875 was unknown: even the police had no knowledge of basic techniques such as how to stop serious bleeding and applying splints. He was also influential in the study of tropical diseases and in the debates concerning degeneration theory.
-
James Beattie
- Occupations
- translatorphilosopherwriterlinguistessayist
- Biography
-
James Beattie was a Scottish poet, moralist, and philosopher.
-
Alasdair Allan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Alasdair James Allan is a Scottish politician serving as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency since 2007. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served in the Scottish Government from 2011 to 2018, first as Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages and then Minister for International Development and Europe.
-
Robert Adamson
- Occupations
- photographerchemist
- Biography
-
Robert Adamson was a Scottish chemist and pioneer photographer at Hill & Adamson. He is best known for his pioneering photographic work with David Octavius Hill and producing some 2500 calotypes, mostly portraits, within 5 years after being hired by Hill in 1843.
-
James Augustus Grant
- Occupations
- botanistbotanical collectorexplorermilitary personnel
- Biography
-
Lieutenant-Colonel James Augustus Grant CB CSI FRS FRGS was a Scottish explorer of eastern equatorial Africa. He made contributions to the journals of various learned societies, the most notable being the "Botany of the Speke and Grant Expedition" in vol. xxix of the Transactions of the Linnean Society. He married in 1865 and settled down at Nairn, where he died in 1892. He was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. Grant's gazelle, one of the largest gazelles in Africa, was named after him.
-
Kenneth Onwuka Dike
- Occupations
- archivisthistorianacademic
- Biography
-
Kenneth Onwuka Dike // was a Nigerian educationist, historian and the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor of the nation's premier college, the University of Ibadan.
-
Anne Begg
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Dame Margaret Anne Begg DBE is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she was Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee from 2010 to 2015.
-
Robin Harper
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Robin Charles Moreton Harper, FRSSA is a Scottish politician, who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothians region (1999–2011).
-
Scott Sagan
- Years
- 1955-.. (age 70)
- Occupations
- university teacherwriteracademicpolitical scientist
- Biography
-
Scott Douglas Sagan is the Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and co-director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). He is known for his research on nuclear weapons policy and nuclear disarmament, including discussions of system accidents, and has published widely on these subjects.
-
Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
-
Leeona June Dorrian, Lady Dorrian PC, KC is a Scottish advocate and judge who served as the Lord Justice Clerk from 2016 until her retirement from judicial office on 3 February 2025. She was the first woman to hold the position of Lord Justice Clerk. She was a Senator of the College of Justice from 2005 until her retirement in 2025, having served as a temporary judge for three years prior.
-
David Gill
- Occupations
- photographerastronomeruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Sir David Gill was a Scottish astronomer who is known for measuring astronomical distances, for astrophotography and geodesy. He spent much of his career in South Africa.
-
Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington
- Years
- 1963-.. (age 62)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Dominic Bryce Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, the president of the British Dyslexic Association and the vice-president of the UK Sports Association.
-
Alexander John Forsyth
- Occupations
- inventorclergymanchemist
- Biography
-
Alexander John Forsyth was a Scottish Church of Scotland minister, who first successfully used fulminating (or 'detonating') chemicals to prime gunpowder in fire-arms thereby creating what became known as percussion ignition.
-
Frank Mulholland
- Occupations
- judgesolicitor advocatesolicitor
- Biography
-
Francis Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, CBE, PC is a Scottish judge who has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2016. He previously served from 2011 to 2016 as Lord Advocate, one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland and the country's chief Law Officer, and as Solicitor General, the junior Law Officer.
-
Kevin Volans
- Occupations
- musiciancomposerpianistmusicologist
- Biography
-
Kevin Volans is a South African-born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the Neue Einfachheit (New Simplicity) movement in the city. In the late 1970s he became interested in the indigenous music of his homeland and began a series of pieces which attempted to combine aspects of African and contemporary European music. Although Volans later moved away from any direct engagement with African music, certain residual elements such as interlocking rhythms, repetition and open forms are still detectable in his music since the early 1990s which have taken a new direction more redolent of certain schools of abstract art. He settled in Ireland permanently in 1986 and was granted Irish citizenship in 1994.
