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Notable Alumni
Our alumni community is as diverse and cosmopolitan as London’s population and each year it continues to grow. Many of our alumni go on to achieve significant success in a huge range of different fields. Here are just a few of our more well-known alumni.
Business | Politics & Government | Arts & Media | Academia | Sport
Business
Marian Adkin CBE (MSc Economics, 1986)
Former member of the Monetary Policy Committee
Nicholas Baldwin (MSc Economics, 1984)
Former Chief Executive, PowerGen Plc
Steve Bundred (MSc Economics, 1984)
Chief Executive, Audit Commission
Moorad Choudhry (PhD Management, 2008)
Head of Treasury, Europe Arab Bank plc
Simon Morris (PhD History, 2005)
Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna
Victor Ng (MSc Economics, 1978)
Executive Chairman, London Asia Group
Sir Terence Heiser (BA English, 1958)
Formerly Non-Executive Director of Abbey National Plc, Sainsbury’s Plc and Wessex Water Plc
Eric Salama (MSc Economics, 1986)
Chairman and Chief Executive, the Kantar Group
Richard Sambrook (MSc Politics and Administration, 1984)
Formerly Director of the BBC World, responsible for leading the BBC's international news services across radio, television and new media
William Stanley (1829-1909) Student of technical drawing, engineering and phrenology at the London Mechanics’ Institution, later Birkbeck College.
Victorian inventor, engineer and philanthropist
Dominic Swan (BSc Financial Economics, 1995)
Managing Director Structured Investment Vehicles, HSBC
Seijiro Takeshita (PhD Management, 2007)
Director, Mizuho International Plc
David Waller (MA Victorian Studies, 2004)
Head of Media Relations, Man Group plc
Simon J Ward (MSc Finance, 1994)
Chief Economist, Henderson Global Investors
Trevor Williams (Doctoral study, Development Studies)
Chief Economist, Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets
Politics and government
Luciana Berger MP (Government, Policy and Politics, 2005)
Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010
Stephen Bridges LVO (International Studies Diploma, 1996)
Former Ambassador to Cambodia and Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh
David Crighton (MSc, Psychology)
Deputy Chief Psychologist, Ministry of Justice
Mary Dalgleish (MSc Occupational Psychology, 1991)
Chief Psychologist, Department of Employment
Ed Davey MP (MSc Economics, 1993)
Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton 1997-present & Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs
Gloria de Piero MP (MSc Political & Social Theory, 2003)
MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire since the 2010 General Election, journalist and television presenter
Samir El-Youssef (MA Philosophy, 2000)
Writer, commentator and peace activist
Edward Glover CMG MVO (BA History, 1967; MPhil History, 1970)
Former High Commissioner to Guyana and Ambassador to Suriname (1998-2002). Adviser on Foreign Affairs to Coalitional Provisional Authority, Iraq (2004)
Julia Goldsworthy (PG Certificate Economics with Mathematics, 2003)
Liberal Democrat MP for Falmouth and Camborne from 2005-2010
Richard McKee (BA Classics, 1990)
Senior Immigration Judge, Ministry of Justice
Denis MacShane MP (PhD International Business, 1990)
Labour MP for Rotherham 1994-present. Minister of State for Europe from 2002 – 2005
Leslie Morphy (MSc, Politics and Social Policy)
Chief Executive, Crisis
Jenny Rowe (MSc Politics and Administration, 1984)
Chief Executive, UK Supreme Court
Nick Smith MP (MSc Economic and Social Change, 1991)
Labour politician, MP for Blaenau Gwent since May 2010
Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield (1859 –1947) Student of Law at Birkbeck
Socialist, economist, reformer, and husband of Beatrice Potter. He was one of the early members of the Fabian Society, helping turn it into the pre-eminent political-intellectual society of the day, and also founded the London School of Economics
Kitty Ussher (MSc Economics, 1998)
Labour MP for Burnley 2005-2010. Government Minister 2007-2009. Currently Chief Economist at the Think Tank Demos
Sarah Weir (MA Computer Applications for History, 1999)
Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy, Olympic Development Authority
Arts and media
Simon Bird (MA Cultural and Critical Studies, 2007)
Actor, writer and stand up comedian best known for playing Will McKenzie in E4's BAFTA winning comedy the Inbetweeners
Siobhan Butterworth (BA English, 2005)
Former Legal Director, Guardian Newspapers Ltd
Alan Davey (MA Classical Civilisation, 1997)
Chief Executive, Arts Council
Philippa Forrester (BSc Environmental Conservation, 1998)
British television, radio presenter and producer, and author
Edward ‘Bear’ Grylls (BA Spanish and Latin American Studies, 2001)British adventurer, writer and television presenter who was one of the youngest people to scale Mount Everest at the age of 23
Nerina Pallot (BA English, 2009)
Platinum selling, BRIT Award nominated singer and songwriter
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934) Law alumnus
English actor and prominent dramatist and stage director
David Smith (MSc, Economics)
Economics Editor of the Sunday Times
Ben Walters (MA History of Film and Visual Media, 2002)
Critic of film, television and journalist
Academia
Felicia Adeyoyin (BA Hons English, 1968; Diploma Education, 1976)
Professor at the University of Lagos
Patricia Brewerton (PhD English, 1998)
Professor at Queen Mary, University of London
Moorad Choudhry (PhD Management, 2008)
Professor and author. Former Head of Treasury at Europe Arab Bank
Alice Coleman (BA Geography, 1947)
Emeritus Professor, Kings College, University of London
Alan Cork (MSc Entomology, 1987; PhD Entomology, 1990)
Professor of Bio-Rational Pest Management at the University of Greenwich
Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll DBE FRSA (BA History and History of Art, 1976)
Formerly Chancellor of the University of Lincoln, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia and Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Frank Feates (BSc (Spec) Chemistry, 1954; PhD Chemistry, 1956)
Professor and formerly Director of the Department of the Environment
Peter Gosden (PhD History, 1959)
Former Professor of the History of Education, Leeds University
Kenneth Holmes (PhD Crystallography, 1959)
During his studies Kenneth worked as a Research Assistant and Research Associate for the Department of Crystallography working on the structure of tobacco mosaic virus with Rosalind Franklin and Aaron Klug (officially supervised by JD Bernal)
Leonard Mandel (PhD Nuclear Physics, 1951)
Physicist
Leslie Mayhew (BSc Geography, 1976; PhD Geography, 1979)
Professor of Statistics at Cass Business School
Peter Mortimore (BSc Psychology, 1973)
Former Director, Institute of Education
J Philippe Rushton (BSc Psychology, 1973)
Psychology Professor at the University of Western Ontario, most widely known for his work on intelligence and racial differences
Bryan Sewell (PhD Crystallography, 1981)
Professor at the University of Cape Town
Nicola Spence (MSc Microbiology, 1986)
Chief Executive, Science City York
Jean Stubbs (PhD History, 1975)
Professor of Caribbean Studies, London Metropolitan University
Peter Taylor-Gooby (MPhil Philosophy, 1969)
Professor of Social Policy, University of Kent. Peter is also a Fellow of the British Academy and an Advisor to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.
Jill Westerman CBE (MA English Literature and Language, 1982)
Principal and Chief Executive of the Northern College for Residential Adult Education in South Yorkshire. Awarded a CBE in 2010 for services to adult learning.
Sport
Andy Saull (Currently BSc (Econ) Financial Economics)
Saracens and England U21 Rugby Union player
