45 Notable alumni of
University of Brighton
Updated:
The University of Brighton is 953rd in the world, 336th in Europe, and 66th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 45 notable alumni from the University of Brighton sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Billy Idol
- Occupations
- singersongwriterguitarist
- Biography
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William Michael Albert Broad, known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English rock singer. He achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X. He later embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made him a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in America.
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Paddy Considine
- Occupations
- photographermusicianfilm actorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
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Patrick George Considine is an English actor, director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for playing antiheroes in independent films. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard British Film Awards, British Independent Film Awards, and a Silver Lion for Best Short Film at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.
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Fatboy Slim
- Occupations
- record producercomposersongwriterdisc jockeyclub DJ
- Biography
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Norman Quentin Cook, known professionally as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of samples from eclectic genres, combined with pop structures, processed rhythms and "sloganistic" vocals.
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Alison Moyet
- Occupations
- singer-songwriterrecording artistactorsinger
- Biography
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Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard, formerly known as Alf, is an English singer-songwriter. Noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice, she came to prominence as a member of the synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
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Adam Pearson
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision presenter
- Biography
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Adam Pearson is a British actor, television presenter and campaigner. He made his acting debut in the 2013 film Under the Skin. He has neurofibromatosis and has been involved in outreach programmes to prevent bullying associated with visible differences.
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Roma Downey
- Enrolled in the University of Brighton
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- film directorfilm produceractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Roma Downey OBE is an Irish actress, producer, and author. She gained recognition for her role as Monica the angel, in the CBS television series Touched by an Angel, which ran for nine seasons. Downey portrayed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries A Woman Named Jackie. Downey stars in and produces the television series The Baxters. She has a stage career, performing with the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, and appearing on and off Broadway.
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Abu Hamza al-Masri
- Occupations
- preachercivil engineerengineer
- Biography
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Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, where he preached Islamic fundamentalist views.
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Jo Whiley
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Johanne Whiley-Morton, better known professionally as Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running The Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 1 and has since been presenting her weekday evening show on BBC Radio 2. She is also the main presenter for the BBC's Glastonbury Festival coverage.
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Chris Barrie
- Occupations
- comediantelevision actorfilm actortelevision presenterentertainer
- Biography
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Chris Barrie is a British actor and comedian. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show Spitting Image (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003). Barrie starred as Arnold Rimmer in 13 series of the sci-fi space comedy Red Dwarf between 1988 and 2020, and as Gordon Brittas in seven series of the BBC leisure centre sitcom The Brittas Empire (1991–1997).
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Bat for Lashes
- Occupations
- film directorpianistdrummercomposersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Natasha Khan, known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released six studio albums: Fur and Gold (2006), Two Suns (2009), The Haunted Man (2012), The Bride (2016), Lost Girls (2019), and The Dream of Delphi (2024). She has received three Mercury Prize nominations. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey.
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Saira Khan
- Occupations
- journalistbusinessperson
- Biography
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Saira Khan is a British television personality. She was a contestant on the first series of The Apprentice in 2005, in which she finished as the runner-up. In 2012, Khan competed in the first series of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off. From 2012 to 2017, Khan co-presented The Martin Lewis Money Show, and in 2015, she presented the ITV series Guess This House.
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Cressida Cowell
- Occupations
- writerillustratorchildren's writerauthorvisual artist
- Biography
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Cressida Cowell MBE FRSL is a British author. She is best known for the book series How to Train Your Dragon, which has subsequently become a media franchise as adapted by DreamWorks Animation. As of 2015, the series has sold more than seven million copies around the world.
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Philip Reeve
- Occupations
- authorwriterchildren's writerillustratoractor
- Biography
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Philip Reeve is an English author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book Mortal Engines and its sequels (the 2001 to 2006 Mortal Engines Quartet). His 2007 novel, Here Lies Arthur, based on the legendary King Arthur, won the Carnegie Medal.
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Rankin
- Occupations
- fashion photographerphotographerfilm director
- Biography
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John Rankin Waddell, known as Rankin, is a British photographer and director who has photographed, amongst other subjects, Björk, Kate Moss, Madonna, David Bowie and Queen Elizabeth II.
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Darren Grimes
- Occupations
- activist
- Biography
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Darren Grimes is a British Reform UK politician and political commentator. He worked for a number of Brexit campaigns. He set up the website Reasoned in May 2020. He currently serves as the Deputy Leader of Durham County Council and as a Reform UK councillor in Durham County Council, having been elected in the 2025 local elections. In August 2025, he was also elected to the Reform UK board with the highest number of votes.
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Rachel Whiteread
- Occupations
- draftspersonartistinstallation artistsculptorconceptual artist
- Biography
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Dame Rachel Whiteread DBE is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993.
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Sultan Al Niadi
- Occupations
- astronaut
- Biography
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Sultan Saif Al Neyadi is the UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs and an astronaut. He is one of the first two Arab astronauts or najmonauts from the United Arab Emirates, along with Hazzaa Al Mansoori. He is the first Arab to serve on the International Space Station (ISS) for a 6-month mission as part of Expedition 69 and the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk. He was sworn in on 11 January 2024 as the UAE Minister of Youth.
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Alison Lapper
- Occupations
- photographerpainter
- Biography
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Alison Lapper MBE is a British artist. She is the subject of the sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant, which was displayed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square from September 2005 until late 2007. She and her late son Parys featured in the BBC docuseries Child of Our Time.
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The Haxan Cloak
- Occupations
- composerrecord producer
- Biography
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Bobby Krlic, known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician.
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Chris Riddell
- Occupations
- editorial cartoonistwritercartoonistchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Chris Riddell OBE is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals – the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.
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Barbara Hulanicki
- Occupations
- writerentrepreneurillustratorfashion designer
- Biography
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Barbara Hulanicki OBE is a Polish - English fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba.
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Mick Quinn
- Occupations
- songwriterguitaristmusician
- Biography
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Michael Milton Quinn is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as founding member of English rock band Supergrass. He is a permanent member of fellow Oxford band Swervedriver.
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Pooja Shah
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Pooja Shah is a British actress, filmmaker and model. She is known for her role as Kareena Ferreira in the popular UK soap opera EastEnders. Shah works with her husband directing and writing short films and has won three film awards for them.
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Molly Parkin
- Occupations
- novelistfashion editorpainterautobiographerjournalist
- Biography
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Molly Noyle Parkin was a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most well-known for her work on Nova magazine, newspapers and television in the 1960s.
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Kate O'Connell
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Katherine O'Connell is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency from 2016 to 2020. During her time in the Dáil, O'Connell campaigned in favour of abortion rights as well as pushing for more funding for healthcare services in Ireland.
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Catherine Gotani Hara
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 52)
- Occupations
- ministerspeakerpolitician
- Biography
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Catherine Gotani Hara is a Malawian politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi between June 2019 and August 2025, the first woman to hold the position. She was one of the first MPs announced as re-elected in the 2025 election.
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Peter Connolly
- Enrolled in the University of Brighton
- Studied in 1951-1953
- Occupations
- historianillustratorwriter
- Biography
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Peter William Connolly FSA was a British illustrator and self-taught scholar of the ancient world, Greek and Roman military equipment historian, and reconstructional archaeologist. He was a regular contributor to such periodicals as the Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies and Roman Frontier Studies.
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Chris Baryomunsi
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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Chris Baryomunsi is a Ugandan physician, public health specialist, demographer, and politician. He is the Minister for ICT and National Guidance in the Cabinet of Uganda. He was appointed to that position in 2021. From 1 March 2015 until 6 June 2016, he served as State Minister of Health for General Duties.
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Ian Beck
- Occupations
- illustratorwriter
- Biography
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Ian Archibald Beck is an English children's illustrator and author. In addition to his numerous children's books, he is also known for his cover illustration on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. More than a million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. Beck was Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1999.
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George Chakravarthi
- Occupations
- television producerperformance artistartistphotographer
- Biography
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George Chakravarthi is a British multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, video, painting and performance. His work addresses the politics of identity including race, sexuality and gender, and also religious iconography among other subjects. He was born in India and moved to London, England in 1980.
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Laura Pannack
- Occupations
- photographer
- Biography
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Laura Pannack is a British social documentary and portrait photographer, based in London. Her work is often of children and teenagers. Pannack received first place in the World Press Photo Awards in 2010, the Vic Odden Award from the Royal Photographic Society in 2012, and won the Portfolio category in the Sony World Photography Awards in 2021.
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Ewen Spencer
- Occupations
- photographer
- Biography
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Ewen Spencer is a British photographer and filmmaker based in Brighton, England. His photography is primarily of youth and subcultures.
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Camille Walala
- Years
- 1975-.. (age 51)
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Camille Vic-Dupont, known professionally as Camille Walala, is a French multi-disciplinary designer based in East London. She is known for her life-size murals and installations and her Memphis Group-inspired patterns.
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Keith Coventry
- Occupations
- exhibition curatorpaintersculptorartist
- Biography
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Keith Coventry is a British artist and curator. In September 2010 his Spectrum Jesus painting won the £25,000 John Moores Painting Prize.
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Ray Cooper
- Occupations
- singer-songwriter
- Biography
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Ray Cooper, also known as Chopper, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist living in Sweden.
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Amanda Chessell
- Occupations
- computer scientistinventor
- Biography
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Amanda Elizabeth Chessell CBE FREng is a computer scientist and a Distinguished Engineer at IBM. She has been awarded the title of IBM Master Inventor. She is also a Member of the IBM Academy of Technology.
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Anna Dumitriu
- Occupations
- artist
- Biography
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Anna Dumitriu is a pioneering visual artist based in Brighton, England, specialising in BioArt. Her installations, interventions and performances use digital, biological and traditional media including bacteria, digital technology and craft techniques, working with diverse audiences.
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David Baboulene
- Occupations
- autobiographerscreenwriter
- Biography
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David Baboulene, is an English academic, story consultant, and author of humorous travel books, children's illustrated stories and academic works on story theory.
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Michael Pinsky
- Years
- 1967-.. (age 59)
- Occupations
- installation artistartist
- Biography
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Michael Pinsky is a British artist known for his environmental and socially engaged public art. His work often explores urban spaces, human impact on the environment, and the intersections of art, architecture, and activism. Pinsky's installations encourage public interaction and dialogue around contemporary issues, such as pollution, climate change, and sustainability.
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Robert Koenig
- Occupations
- sculptor
- Biography
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Robert Koenig was an English sculptor based in Sussex, who specialised in wood sculpture and was a prominent exponent of the art of woodcarving using the traditional tools of mallet and chisel. He was known for his carved and polychromed figurative wood sculptures, which he had been creating since the early 1980s. One of the earliest polychromed figures was shown in the 'Temple' exhibition at the Shaw Theatre, London in 1988.
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Anji Hunter
- Biography
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Angela Margaret Jane Hunter, Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch, is a Scottish public relations adviser. She is noted for her close partnership with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
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Louise Giblin
- Years
- 1963-.. (age 63)
- Occupations
- sculptor
- Biography
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Louise Giblin MRSS is a British body-cast sculptor. She is noted in particular for her "Body-Casting Olympians" project.
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Hannah Berry
- Years
- 1982-.. (age 44)
- Enrolled in the University of Brighton
- Studied in 2004
- Occupations
- comics artistwriter
- Biography
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Hannah Berry is a British comics artist and writer based in Brighton. She is the third UK comics laureate and the first woman to be offered the role, taking over from Charlie Adlard in 2019. In 2018 she was inducted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Faye McClelland
- Occupations
- triathlete
- Biography
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Faye McClelland is a British paratriathlete who competes in the PT4 category. As of May 2016, she is the 3rd-ranked women's PT4 athlete internationally. She finished fourth at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Previously she won the ITU world title in her classification in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, placing second in 2014. In 2016 Faye competed in the Paralympics in Rio, placing 4th.
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Nick Baker
- Occupations
- business executive
- Biography
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Nick Baker is an Australian business executive and CEO of Outdoria. Baker previously worked as the chief marketing officer for Tourism Australia, a position he held from 2007 to 2015. He also served as the CEO of RedBalloon between 2015 and 2017.
