100 Notable alumni of
University of Birmingham
Updated:
The University of Birmingham is 145th in the world, 49th in Europe, and 10th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Birmingham sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 1 individual affiliated with the University of Birmingham won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.
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Tim Curry
- Occupations
- television actorcomedianactorsingerfilm producer
- Biography
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Timothy James Curry is an English actor and singer. He played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London and 1974 Los Angeles musical stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.
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Matthew Goode
- Occupations
- actorfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Matthew William Goode is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's television film Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy Chasing Liberty (2004), for which he received a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male. He then appeared in a string of supporting roles in films, such as Woody Allen's Match Point (2005), the romantic comedy Imagine Me and You (2006), and the period drama Copying Beethoven (2006). He earned praise for his performances as Charles Ryder in the 2008 film adaptation of the novel Brideshead Revisited and as Ozymandias in the superhero film Watchmen (2009). He then starred in the romantic comedy Leap Year (2010) and Australian drama Burning Man (2011), the latter earning him a nomination for Best Actor at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.
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Christine McVie
- Occupations
- songwriterkeyboardistmusiciansinger
- Biography
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Christine Anne McVie was an English musician and singer. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac.
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Simon Le Bon
- Occupations
- singersinger-songwritersongwriter
- Biography
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Simon John Charles Le Bon is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
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Tom Riley
- Occupations
- stage actortelevision actorfilm actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Tom Riley is an English actor, producer, and director.
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Victoria Wood
- Occupations
- television directorscreenwriterfilm actorstand-up comedianpianist
- Biography
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Victoria Wood was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions which she performed at the piano. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life and included references to activities, attitudes and products that are considered to exemplify Britain. She was noted for her skills in observational comedy and in satirising aspects of social class.
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Yanis Varoufakis
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Graduated with master's degree in mathematics and economics
- Occupations
- economistpoliticianuniversity teachernon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis is a Greek economist and politician. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founded in 2016. Previously, he was a member of Syriza and was Greece's Minister of Finance between January 2015 and July 2015, negotiating on behalf of the Greek government during the 2009-2018 Greek government-debt crisis.
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Jim Ratcliffe
- Occupations
- chief executive officerengineerchairpersonbusinessperson
- Biography
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Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe is a British billionaire, chemical engineer, and businessman. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the INEOS chemicals group, which he founded in 1998. The company is estimated to have had a turnover of $65 billion in 2021. He does not have a high public profile, and was once described by The Sunday Times as "publicity shy". In May 2018, Ratcliffe was the richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion. As of May 2023, the Sunday Times Rich List 2023 estimated his net worth at £29.688 billion, making him the second wealthiest figure in the UK. In September 2020, Ratcliffe officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, a move that it is estimated will save him £4 billion in tax.
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Elizabeth Henstridge
- Occupations
- film actoractor
- Biography
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Elizabeth Frances Henstridge is an English actress and model. She starred as Jemma Simmons in the ABC superhero action drama series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Stanley Baldwin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC, PC, JP, FRS (3 August 1867 – 14 December 1947) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, from May 1923 to January 1924, from November 1924 to June 1929, and from June 1935 to May 1937.
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Tamsin Greig
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Studied drama fiction
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actoractornarratorcomedian
- Biography
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Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig is a British actress and narrator. She is known for both dramatic and comedic roles. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing, Beverly Lincoln in British-American sitcom Episodes and Jackie Goodman in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. Other roles include Alice Chenery in BBC One's comedy-drama series Love Soup, Debbie Aldridge in BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers, Miss Bates in the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma, and Beth Hardiment in the 2010 film version of Tamara Drewe. In 2020, Greig starred as Anne Trenchard in Julian Fellowes' ITV series Belgravia.
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Karren Brady
- Occupations
- autobiographerpoliticiantelevision presenterbusinesspersonjournalist
- Biography
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Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, is a British business executive and television personality. She is a former managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and an aide to Alan Sugar on The Apprentice. She is a Conservative member of the House of Lords and has been a Small Business Ambassador to the UK government.
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Chris Tarrant
- Occupations
- television presenterradio personality
- Biography
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Christopher John Tarrant, is an English broadcaster, television personality and former radio DJ. He presented the ITV children's television show Tiswas from 1974 to 1981, and the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1998 to 2014. He was a Capital Radio host from 1984 to 2004. Tarrant received an OBE in 2004 for his charity work, in particular his campaigning on behalf of disadvantaged children.
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Ann Widdecombe
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ann Noreen Widdecombe is a British politician and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 2019 to 2020. Originally a member of the Conservative Party, she was a member of the Brexit Party from 2019 until it was renamed Reform UK in 2021; she rejoined Reform UK in 2023.
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Ben Shephard
- Occupations
- television presenterjournalist
- Biography
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Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently employed by ITV.
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Philip Kerr
- Occupations
- writerscreenwriterpoet lawyerchildren's writerscience fiction writer
- Biography
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Philip Ballantyne Kerr was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers.
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Anna Soubry
- Occupations
- journalistbarristerpoliticiantelevision presenter
- Biography
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Anna Mary Soubry is a British barrister, journalist and former politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe from 2010 to 2019. Known for her support of pro-European policies, she was originally elected as a Conservative but left the party to join Change UK in 2019.
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William Lane Craig
- Occupations
- university teacherChristian theologianwriterapologistphilosopher
- Biography
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William Lane Craig is an American analytic philosopher, Christian apologist, author, and Wesleyan theologian who upholds the view of Molinism and neo-Apollinarianism. He is a professor of philosophy at Houston Christian University and at the Talbot School of Theology of Biola University. Craig has updated and defended the Kalam cosmological argument for the existence of God. He has also published work where he argues in favor of the historical plausibility of the resurrection of Jesus. His study of divine aseity and Platonism culminated with his book God Over All.
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Jess Phillips
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Jessica Rose Phillips is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she was Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding in Keir Starmer's Opposition frontbench from 2020 to 2023.
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Jed Mercurio
- Occupations
- writerfighter pilottelevision producertelevision directorfilm director
- Biography
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Gerald Gary "Jed" Mercurio OBE is a British television writer, producer, director and novelist. A former hospital doctor and Royal Air Force officer, Mercurio has been ranked among UK television's leading writers. In 2017, Mercurio was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Television Society and the Baird Medal by RTS Midlands.
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Peter Brock
- Occupations
- racing automobile driverracing driver
- Biography
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Peter Geoffrey Brock, known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other manufacturers including BMW, Ford, Volvo, Porsche and Peugeot. He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times, the Australian Touring Car Championship three times, the Bathurst 24 Hour once and was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2001. Brock's business activities included the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) that produced Brock's racing machines as well as a number of modified high-performance road versions of his racing cars.
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Maurice Wilkins
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- crystallographerbiophysicistphysicistphysicianresearcher
- Biography
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Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins was a New Zealand-born British biophysicist and Nobel laureate whose research spanned multiple areas of physics and biophysics, contributing to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. He is known for his work at King's College London on the structure of DNA.
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Elliot Cowan
- Occupations
- film actorstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Elliot Aidan Cowan is a British film and television actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in Ultimate Force, Mr Darcy in Lost in Austen, and Ptolemy in the 2004 film Alexander. He also starred as Lorenzo de' Medici in Da Vinci's Demons and Daron-Vex in Krypton. Cowan most recently is known for playing King Henry VII in part 1 of the series The Spanish Princess and the 2023 Hulu miniseries Black Cake.
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Desmond Morris
- Occupations
- writerzoologistethnologistillustratorethologist
- Biography
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Desmond John Morris FLS hon. caus. is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.
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U. R. Ananthamurthy
- Occupations
- literary criticpoetwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 1994, he became the sixth Kannada writer to be honored with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India. He was the vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s. He was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize for the year 2013. He remained a fervent critic of nationalistic political parties until his death from kidney failure and cardiac arrest on 22 August 2014.
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Sope Dirisu
- Occupations
- actorstage actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Sope Dirisu is a British actor. He made his film debut in 2016 with Sand Castle, Criminal, and The Huntsman: Winter's War. Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Carter / Finch in the Sky Atlantic series Gangs of London, while in 2022, he starred as the titular character in the period drama film Mr. Malcolm's List.
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Chris Addison
- Occupations
- comediantelevision directorscreenwriterdirectoractor
- Biography
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Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.
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Luciana Berger
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Studied in 2004
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Luciana Clare Berger is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree from 2010 to 2019. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she was a founding member of The Independent Group, later Change UK, before joining the Liberal Democrats. Berger rejoined Labour in 2023.
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Hakainde Hichilema
- Occupations
- politicianinternational forum participanteconomist
- Biography
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Hakainde Hichilema is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2016, he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka.
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Spencer Davis
- Occupations
- singermusicianguitarist
- Biography
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Spencer Davis was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and "I'm a Man", all sung by Steve Winwood. Davis subsequently enjoyed success as an A&R executive with Island Records.
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Madeleine Carroll
- Occupations
- film actoractor
- Biography
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Edith Madeleine Carroll was an English actress, popular both in Britain and in America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress.
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Rodolfo Neri Vela
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1979 graduated with doctorate in electromagnetic radiation
- Occupations
- politicianastronautengineer
- Biography
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Rodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in the year 1985. He is the second Latin American to have traveled to space.
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Sister Bliss
- Occupations
- pianistmusicianrecord producercomposerdisc jockey
- Biography
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Ayalah Deborah Bentovim, better known by her stage name Sister Bliss, is a British keyboardist, record producer, DJ and songwriter. In the studio, she is best known for her work with Rollo Armstrong as one half of the production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss, and particularly as part of Faithless.
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John Stewart Bell
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1956 graduated with Doctor
- Occupations
- physicisttranslatormathematician
- Biography
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John Stewart Bell FRS was a physicist from Northern Ireland and the originator of Bell's theorem, an important theorem in quantum physics regarding hidden-variable theories.
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G C Murmu
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
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Girish Chandra Murmu is the 14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the external auditor of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He is also the chairman of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He is currently the external auditor of the WHO (2020-2023), succeeding the Auditor General of the Philippines. He was the Inaugural Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir till 6 August 2020. He is a retired 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre and was principal secretary to Narendra Modi during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
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Mick Aston
- Occupations
- archaeologistanthropologist
- Biography
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Michael Antony Aston was an English archaeologist who specialised in Early Medieval landscape archaeology. Over the course of his career, he lectured at both the University of Bristol and University of Oxford and published fifteen books on archaeological subjects. A keen populariser of the discipline, Aston was widely known for appearing as the resident academic on the Channel 4 television series Time Team from 1994 to 2011.
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Fiona Phillips
- Occupations
- television presenterjournalist
- Biography
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Fiona Phillips is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for presenting the ITV Breakfast programme GMTV Today.
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Jonathan Miller
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1960 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- directortelevision presenteractorneurologistproducer
- Biography
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Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1950s, he came to prominence in the early 1960s in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett.
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Gisela Stuart
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the Labour Party, she now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
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Hadley Fraser
- Occupations
- stage actormusicianactorsinger
- Biography
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Robert Hugh "Hadley" Fraser is an English actor and singer. He made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables. He also originated the role of Tiernan in the Broadway show The Pirate Queen.
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Michael David Jackson
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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General Sir Michael David Jackson, GCB, CBE, DSO, DL is a retired British Army officer and one of its most high-profile generals since the Second World War. Originally commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1963, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment in 1970, with which he served two of his three tours of duty in Northern Ireland. On his first, he was present as an adjutant at the events of the Ballymurphy massacre (1971), where eleven unarmed civilians were shot dead by British troops, and then at Bloody Sunday in 1972, when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing fourteen. On his second, he was a company commander in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint ambush (1979), the British Army's heaviest single loss of life during the Troubles. He was assigned to a staff post at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1982 before assuming command of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, in 1984. Jackson was posted to Northern Ireland for the third time, as a brigade commander, in the early 1990s.
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Paul Nurse
- Occupations
- biochemistgeneticistresearcherchemist
- Biography
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Sir Paul Maxime Nurse is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Leland Hartwell and Tim Hunt, for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle.
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Jane Garvey
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Jane Susan Garvey is a British radio presenter, until recently of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and co-founder of the weekly podcast series Fortunately (since March 2017).
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Mo Ibrahim
- Occupations
- politicianscientistbusinesspersonengineerinternational forum participant
- Biography
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Sir Mohammed Fathi Ahmed Ibrahim is a Sudanese-British billionaire businessman. He worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel, which, when sold, had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African countries. After selling Celtel in 2005 for $3.4 billion, he set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, to evaluate nations' performance. He is also a member of the Africa regional advisory board of London Business School.
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Zarah Sultana
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zarah Sultana is a British politician who is a member of the Labour Party. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election. She is on the left-wing of the Labour Party and is chair of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.
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Simon Thomas
- Occupations
- television presenter
- Biography
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Simon Thomas is an English television presenter who hosts Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports. Thomas also worked on Blue Peter for six years, and presented live Premier League football for Sky Sports from 2016 to 2018.
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Edward Bach
- Occupations
- writerbacteriologistphysicianhomeopathphilosopher
- Biography
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Edward Bach was a British medical doctor, bacteriologist, homeopath, and spiritual writer, best known for developing the Bach flower remedies, a form of alternative medicine inspired by classical homeopathic traditions.
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Louise Hazel
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
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Louise Victoria Hazel is an English track and field athlete from March, Cambridgeshire, who specialises in the multi-event heptathlon. She has competed in four major international championships. The first was in 2006 when she came 17th at the European Championships and the second was three years later when she finished 14th at the World Championships. During 2009 she was ranked 2nd best in the country and 9th best of all time. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games she won the gold medal for the England team, with a personal best of 6156 points. At the 2011 Mehrkampf-Meeting Ratingen she scored 6166 points but this included wind-assisted performances and she also competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In July 2012 she appeared with Tasha Danvers, Mark Foster and Derek Redmond on the Channel 4 programme Come Dine with Me prior to her Olympics competition, and won the show.
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Geoffrey Ma
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Geoffrey Ma Tao-li is a retired Hong Kong judge who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal—the court of last resort (or supreme court) in Hong Kong. Between 2001 and 2010, he held various positions in the High Court of Hong Kong, including Chief Judge, Justice of Appeal, and Judge of the Court of First Instance. Before his judicial career, he was a barrister-at-law in private practice at Temple Chambers, and was qualified to practice in England and Wales, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.
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Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos
- Occupations
- international forum participantpoliticiansociologistdiplomat
- Biography
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Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos, LG, CH, PC is a British Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before her appointment to the UN, she served as British High Commissioner to Australia. She was created a life peer in 1997, serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council from 2003 to 2007.
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Phyllida Lloyd
- Occupations
- theatrical directorfilm director
- Biography
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Phyllida Christian Lloyd, is an English film and theatre director and producer.
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Wavel Ramkalawan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Wavel Ramkalawan is a Seychellois politician and Anglican priest who has been serving as the President of Seychelles since 26 October 2020. Ramkalawan was an opposition MP from 1993 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. On 25 October 2020, Ramkalawan won the presidential election, the country's first such victory for an opposition candidate since independence, marking its first successful peaceful transition of power.
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Julian Smith
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Julian Richard Smith is a British politician who served as Government Chief Whip from 2017 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon since 2010.
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Irving Finkel
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Graduated with doctorate in Assyriology
- Occupations
- assyriologisthistorianphilologistarchaeologist
- Biography
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Irving Leonard Finkel is an English philologist and Assyriologist. He is the Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum, where he specialises in cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia.
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Dzulkefly Ahmad
- Occupations
- docentpolitician
- Biography
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Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly bin Ahmad is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Health for the second term in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2023 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kuala Selangor from March 2008 to May 2013 and again since May 2018. He served his first term as the Minister of Health in the PH administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to his resignation and the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He is a member and Strategic Director the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of PH coalition and was a member of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a former component party of the former Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Barisan Alternatif (BA) opposition coalitions. He has also served as the Vice President of AMANAH since December 2023.
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Chrissie Wellington
- Occupations
- triathlete
- Biography
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Christine Ann Wellington is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion. She held all three world and championship records relating to ironman-distance triathlon races: firstly, the overall world record, secondly, the Ironman World Championship course record (from 2009 until Mirinda Carfrae lowered it in 2013), and thirdly, the official world record for all Ironman-branded triathlon races over the full Ironman distance.
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Pratikno
- Occupations
- politicianacademic
- Biography
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Pratikno is an Indonesian politician and academician. He is currently the Minister / Secretary of State of Indonesia in the Onward Indonesia Cabinet, the cabinet appointed by President Joko Widodo for his second term in office 2019–2024.
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James Heappey
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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James Stephen Heappey is a British politician serving as Minister of State for the Armed Forces since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset since 2015.
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Nazir Afzal
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Nazir Afzal is a British solicitor and former prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
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Francis William Aston
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Studied in 1893
- Occupations
- chemistphysicist
- Biography
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Francis William Aston FRS was a British chemist and physicist who won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes in many non-radioactive elements and for his enunciation of the whole number rule. He was a fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
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Tim Plester
- Occupations
- film directortelevision actorplaywrightactor
- Biography
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Timothy Marc Plester is a British actor, playwright, and filmmaker, best known for the documentaries Way of the Morris and The Ballad of Shirley Collins - plus a multifarious number of cameo roles for film and TV.
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Adam Osborne
- Occupations
- engineercomputer scientistwriterentrepreneur
- Biography
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Adam Osborne was a British American author, software publisher, and computer designer who founded several companies in the United States and elsewhere. He introduced the Osborne 1, the first commercially successful portable computer.
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Christian Burgess
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Christian Burgess is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Belgian Pro League club Union Saint-Gilloise.
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Woo Kwok-hing
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- 1965-1968 graduated with Bachelor of Laws
- Occupations
- barristerpoliticianjudge
- Biography
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Woo Kwok-hing, GBS, CBE, QC is a Hong Kong retired judge. He was the vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and former chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) and commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance. In the 2017 Chief Executive election, he received 21 votes in the 1,194-member Election Committee and lost to the eventual winner Carrie Lam.
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Ruth Smeeth, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ruth Lauren Smeeth, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent North from 2015 until 2019. Since 2022 she has been a member of the House of Lords.
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Richard Horton
- Occupations
- journalistphysicianeditorediting staff
- Biography
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Richard Charles Horton is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a United Kingdom–based medical journal. He is an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Oslo.
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Perry Christie
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1969 graduated with law degree
- Occupations
- athletics competitorpolitician
- Biography
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Perry Gladstone Christie PC, MP is a Bahamian former politician who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from 2002 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2017. He is the second longest-serving Bahamian elected parliamentarian (behind Sir Roland Symonette who was first elected to parliament in 1925 and served until 1977), representing the Centreville constituency from 1977 to 2017. He is also a former athlete. His Progressive Liberal Party is the oldest Bahamian political party, holding solid majorities in the Bahamian Parliament several times in its long history.
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Hannah Witton
- Occupations
- writerYouTubertalk show host
- Biography
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Hannah Lisa Witton is an English YouTuber, broadcaster, and author. She creates video blogs and informational content which is mostly based around relationships, sex and sexual health; liberation and welfare issues; literature; and travel.
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Rose Hudson-Wilkin
- Occupations
- priest
- Biography
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Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin, is a British Anglican prelate, who serves as Suffragan Bishop of Dover in the diocese of Canterbury - deputising for the Archbishop - since 2019: she is the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop. She was previously Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2019, having trained with the Church Army before entering parish ministry.
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Sven Giegold
- Occupations
- economistpolitician
- Biography
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Sven Giegold is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2021.
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David Gill
- Occupations
- accountantentrepreneur
- Biography
-
David Alan Gill is a British football executive, formerly chief executive of Manchester United and a vice-chairman of The Football Association. He served as vice-chairman of the G-14 management committee until the G-14 was disbanded. He sits on the UEFA Executive Committee as of 2013. Gill was elected as a FIFA Vice-President sitting on the FIFA Council in 2015; rejecting this position in protest at Sepp Blatter until Blatter announced his resignation as FIFA President, following the 2015 FIFA corruption case.
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Non Stanford
- Occupations
- triathlete
- Biography
-
Non Rhiannydd Stanford is a British former professional triathlete, representing Great Britain and Wales at international level. Stanford was the ITU (now World Triathlon) World Champion in 2013, part of the Great Britain world champion mixed relay team in 2012 and represented Team GB at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished fourth behind teammate and housemate Vicky Holland. Hindered thereafter by recurrent injuries, she struggled to repeat the dominant form of her early years. In her final year of competition, 2022, however she found an exceptional final flourish of form; she anchored Wales to silver in the team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, her first Commonwealth medal and her first major championship medal since 2015 World Triathlon mixed relay bronze. One week later, in her final major Olympic distance triathlon race, Stanford won her first and only European championship.
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Prince Seeiso of Lesotho
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
-
Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho, Principal Chief of Matsieng is the younger brother of Lesotho's King Letsie III, and son of the Southern African country's late King Moshoeshoe II (1938–1996) and the late Queen 'Mamohato Bereng Seeiso (1941–2003).
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Craig Mackinlay
- Occupations
- politicianchartered accountant
- Biography
-
Craig Mackinlay is a Conservative Party politician and businessman. Since May 2015, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet.
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John Milbank
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy
- Occupations
- theologianuniversity teacherpolitical theoristphilosophernon-fiction writer
- Biography
-
Alasdair John Milbank is an English Anglo-Catholic theologian and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham, where he is President of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy. Milbank previously taught at the University of Virginia and before that at the University of Cambridge and the University of Lancaster. He is also chairman of the trustees of the think tank ResPublica.
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Jo Gideon
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Joanna Mary Gideon is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency since the 2019 general election.
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David Allen Green
- Occupations
- journalistlawyersolicitorblogger
- Biography
-
David Allen Green is an English lawyer and writer. He is the former legal correspondent for the New Statesman; writes about law and policy for the Financial Times; and has previously blogged using the pseudonym Jack of Kent.
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Nia Roberts
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
-
Nia Roberts is a Welsh actress. She is married to director Marc Evans.
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John Vane
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1946 graduated with Bachelor of Science in chemistry
- Occupations
- pharmacologistuniversity teacherbiochemist
- Biography
-
Sir John Robert Vane was a British pharmacologist who was instrumental in the understanding of how aspirin produces pain-relief and anti-inflammatory effects and his work led to new treatments for heart and blood vessel disease and introduction of ACE inhibitors. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 along with Sune Bergström and Bengt Samuelsson for "their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances".
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Lizo Mzimba
- Occupations
- television presenterjournalistpresenter
- Biography
-
Lizo Mzimba is an English journalist and television presenter. He is best known for being a presenter for Newsround between 1998 and 2008 and is currently the Entertainment Correspondent for BBC News.
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Teodor Shanin
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Studied in 1970
- Occupations
- pedagoguesociologist
- Biography
-
Teodor Shanin was a British sociologist who was for many years Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester. He was credited with pioneering the study of Russian peasantry in the West, and is best known for his first book, The Awkward Class: Political Sociology of Peasantry in a Developing Society, Russia, 1910–25 (Clarendon Press, 1972). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Shanin moved to Russia where, with funding from The Open Society Institute, Ford Foundation and others, he founded the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences in 1995. Shanin was President of the Moscow School, Professor Emeritus of the University of Manchester, and an Honorary Fellow of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
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Hisayoshi Takeda
- Occupations
- explorermountaineertranslatorbotanist
- Biography
-
Hisayoshi Takeda was a Japanese botanist whose father was the British diplomat Sir Ernest Satow. He was a founder of the Japanese Natural History Society, and is known for his campaign to preserve the environment at Oze, which is now Oze National Park.
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Fernando Zavala
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- Graduated with Master of Business Administration
- Occupations
- politicianinternational forum participanteconomist
- Biography
-
Fernando Martín Zavala Lombardi is a Peruvian politician, who was the Prime Minister of Peru from 28 July 2016 to 17 September 2017. Previously he was the President of Backus and Johnston, a subsidiary of SABMiller. From 2005 to 2006 he was Minister of Economy and Finance.
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Norman Haworth
- Occupations
- chemist
- Biography
-
Sir Walter Norman Haworth FRS was a British chemist best known for his groundbreaking work on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) while working at the University of Birmingham. He received the 1937 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C". The prize was shared with Swiss chemist Paul Karrer for his work on other vitamins.
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Femi Oke
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Femi Oke is a British television presenter and journalist.
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Mary Lee Woods
- Occupations
- mathematiciancomputer scientist
- Biography
-
Mary Lee Berners-Lee was an English mathematician and computer scientist who worked in a team that developed programs in the Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester Mark 1, Ferranti Mark 1 and Mark 1 Star computers. She was the mother of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and Mike Berners-Lee, an English researcher and writer on greenhouse gases.
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Jim Field Smith
- Occupations
- film directorwriterscreenwritertelevision director
- Biography
-
Jim Field Smith is an English film and television director, writer and producer.
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Ian Morris
- Enrolled in the University of Birmingham
- In 1981 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- academichistorianclassical scholaruniversity teacherarchaeologist
- Biography
-
Ian Matthew Morris is a British historian, archaeologist, and Willard Professor of Classics at Stanford University.
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Malia Bouattia
- Occupations
- women's rights activist
- Biography
-
Malia Mazia Bouattia is the former president of the National Union of Students (NUS) of the United Kingdom, elected at the National Conference in April 2016. She was the first female Black British and Muslim leader of the NUS. She attended the University of Birmingham. In March 2017, she was defeated in her attempt to run for a second term in office by NUS Vice-president Shakira Martin.
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Seyed Mohammad Marandi is an Iranian American academic and political analyst. He is the son of Alireza Marandi, a physician who has served in Iran's government as Minister of Health as well as a Member of Parliament.
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Gabriel Prokofiev
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
-
Gabriel Prokofiev is a Russian-British composer, producer, DJ, and founder of the Nonclassical record label and nightclub. He has been nominated for two Ivor Novello Awards and his works have been performed internationally by orchestras such as BBC Philharmonic, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, MDR Leipzig, Buenos Aires Philharmonic and Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra.
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Evan Parker
- Occupations
- saxophonistrecording artistcomposerjazz musician
- Biography
-
Evan Shaw Parker is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation.
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Kehinde Andrews
- Years
- 1983-.. (age 41)
- Occupations
- university teachersociologistacademic
- Biography
-
Kehinde Nkosi Andrews is a British academic and author specialising in Black Studies.
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Ajit Seth
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
-
Ajit Kumar Seth is an Indian civil servant who was the 30th Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of India. He is a 1974 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Uttar Pradesh Cadre. Upon retirement from the post of Cabinet Secretary, Ajit Kumar Seth was appointed as Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).
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Terry Hands
- Occupations
- theatrical director
- Biography
-
Terence David Hands was a multi-award English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; he spent 25 years in all with the RSC. He also saved Clwyd Theatr Cymru from closure and turned it into the most successful theatre in Wales in his seventeen years as Artistic Director. He received several Olivier, Tony and Molière awards and nominations for directing and lighting.
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Yao Tongbin
- Occupations
- aerospace engineerscientist
- Biography
-
Yao Tongbin was a Chinese scientist and one of China's foremost missile engineers. He was beaten to death during the Cultural Revolution in 1968. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Award, and officially recognized as a "martyr" within China.
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Karl Willetts
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
-
Karl Willetts is an English death metal vocalist, best known as the lead singer of Bolt Thrower and Memoriam.
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Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya
- Occupations
- politicianengineer
- Biography
-
Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, CBE, FRS, FREng, FIMechE, was a British-Indian engineer, educator and government advisor. In 1980, he became Professor of Manufacturing Systems at the University of Warwick and founded the Warwick Manufacturing Group. In 2004, he was made a life peer and became a member of the House of Lords.
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Michael Acton Smith
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 50)
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
Michael Acton Smith OBE is the co-CEO and co-founder of Calm, a meditation space company. He is also the founder of Firebox.com, and founder and chairman of children's entertainment company Mind Candy which the created the video game Moshi Monsters. He has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "a rock star version of Willy Wonka" and by The Independent as "a polite version of Bob Geldof."
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Li Siguang
- Occupations
- politiciangeologist
- Biography
-
Li Siguang, also known as J. S. Lee, was a Chinese geologist and politician. He was the founder of China's geomechanics. He was an ethnic Mongol. He made outstanding contributions, which changed the situation of "oil deficiency" in the country, enabling the large-scale development of oil fields to raise the country to the ranks of the world's major oil producers.
