List of University of Sheffield people

Last updated February 20, 2025

This list of University of Sheffield people is a selected list of notable past staff and students of the University of Sheffield.

Notable alumni

Academics

Syed I. Ahson, computer science professor, education management professional,^[1] researcher, and author^[2]
Percy Anstey, Principal of Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai (1914-1920)
Stephen Billings (1951–2022), University Dept of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering professor^[3]
Freda Briggs, emeritus Professor, University of South Australia, child protection expert
Thom Brooks, Dean, Durham Law School & Professor of Law and Government Durham University (PhD Philosophy 2004)
Alasdair Cochrane, Professor of Political Theory, University of Sheffield (BA Politics 2000)
Sir Paul Curran, President, City, University of London (BSc Geography 1976)
Laura Dean, President-Elect of the British Psychological Society
Roma Gill, Reader in English Literature (1963-1984)
Paddy Nixon, Vice-Chancellor & President, Ulster University (PhD 1994)
Stuart Palmer FREng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick
Michael Sterling, Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham (BEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering 1967, PhD 1971)
George Martin Stephen, High Master, St Paul's School (PhD)
John Sutton, Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics, London School of Economics
Richard Wilding OBE, Professor of Supply Chain Strategy, Cranfield University and Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (BSc (Tech) Material Science 1987)

Business people

Richard Cousins, CEO of Compass Group world's largest foodservice company
Gareth Davis, Chairman of M&C Saatchi and former CEO of Imperial Brands
Hussain Dawood, Chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, Engro Corporation Limited
John Devaney, chairman, Marconi PLC
Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of GMO asset management
Param Singh, Property Developer, Entrepreneur
Penny Hughes, former president of Coca-Cola Enterprises (UK) (BSc (Hons) Chemistry)
Sir Peter Middleton, Camelot Barclays Chairman
Edward H Ntalami, Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
Muyiwa Oki, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2023-2025)
Jim O'Neill, Head of global economic research, Goldman Sachs and coined the thesis of BRIC countries
Richard Simmons, CEO Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE)
Wei Yang, Founder of Wei Yang & Partner, Town Planner and Urban Designer (MSc 2001, PhD 2005)

Lawyers

David Childs, former Managing Partner of Clifford Chance
Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, Deputy Minister of Justice, Afghanistan
Md. Muzammel Hossain, Chief Justice of Bangladesh
Henry M. Joko-Smart, former Sierra Leonean Supreme Court Justice
Sir Maurice Kay Lord Justice of Appeal
Sir Paul Kennedy, Lord Justice of Appeal, Interception of Communications Commissioner
Sir Nigel Knowles, CEO of the Anglo-American law firm DLA Piper
Dame Julia Macur, Lord Justice of Appeal
Sir Alistair MacDuff, High Court of Justice of England and Wales
Dame Anne Rafferty, Lord Justice of Appeal
Tommy Sihotang, Indonesian Lawyer
Arifin Zakaria, Chief Justice of Malaysia

In November 2013, for the first time in history, the Court of Appeal had an all-Sheffield alumni bench. The judges sitting were Lord Justice Maurice Kay (LLB Law, 1964; PhD Law, 1971 and Hon LLD, 2003), Lady Justice Anne Rafferty (LLB Law, 1971 and Hon LLD, 2005) and Lady Justice Julia Macur (LLB Law, 1978).^[4] This event was also extremely significant because outside Oxford and Cambridge, Sheffield now has the record for the highest number of graduates appointed to the bench above any other UK University.

Authors

Lindsay Ashford, author^[5]
Lee Child, novelist (LLB)^[6]
Sophie Deen, children's book author
Katie Edwards (author) (alumni and former faculty 2012–2020)
Gregory Evans, dramatist
Nicci Gerrard, author
Joanne Harris, author (later became faculty)
Nick Hurst, author^[7]
Brooke Magnanti, a.k.a. "Belle de Jour", author
Hilary Mantel, author (LLB), two times Booker Prize winner^[6]
Jack Rosenthal, playwright
John Thompson (poet) (1938–1976), Canadian poet

Media and artists

Van Badham, columnist for The Guardian , playwright
Carol Barnes, ITN Newsreader
Douglas Bostock, conductor
Lucie Cave, journalist, editor of Heat magazine
Munya Chawawa, comedian
Peter Cheeseman, theatre director, leading pioneer of theatre-in-the-round and documentary drama
Chris Chibnall, television screenwriter and producer^[8]
Stephen Daldry, stage and film director
Martin Fry, lead singer of ABC ^[6]
Brian Glover, actor
Ian Hallard, actor
Eddie Izzard, comedian
Tim Key, comedian, poet, recipient of the Edinburgh Comedy Award 2009
Glenn Moore, comedian
Sid Lowe, journalist and columnist for The Guardian
Paul Mason, journalist and former economics editor for the BBC's Newsnight
John O'Leary, Times Higher Education Supplement editor
Rachel Shelley, actress (BA (Hons) English and Drama)
Linda Smith, comedian and head of the British Humanist Association
Dan Walker, journalist and television presenter
Andrew Wilson, Sky News presenter and former foreign correspondent
Frank Worrall, The Sun , author and journalist
Selina Thompson, performance artist and playwright

Pioneers

Amy Johnson, pilot (BA (Hons) Economics, 1926)^[6]
Roy Koerner, Polar Explorer
Helen Sharman, first British astronaut (BSc (Hons) Chemistry, 1984)^[9]
Eric Moxey, bomb disposal expert and inventor of the Fuze Extractor ^[10]

Scientists

Sir Donald Bailey, civil engineer and inventor of the Bailey bridge
Anna Batchelor, first woman Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and past president, Intensive Care Society (MBBS 1980)
Sir Harold Kroto, Nobel Prize-winning chemist (BSc (Hons) Chemistry, 1961; PhD, 1961–1964)
Sir Hans Kornberg, biochemist, Master of Christ's College Cambridge
Sir Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist (BSc (Hons) Chemistry, 1965; PhD, 1968)
Olive Scott, paediatric cardiologist (MBBS 1948; MD 1957)

Sports people

Nick Beighton, Paralympic Bronze Medallist 2016, Men's KL2 canoe sprint
Herbert Chapman, footballer and manager
Zara Dampney, beach volleyball player
David Davies, The Football Association Chief Executive
Jessica Ennis, Olympic Gold Medalist, heptathlete ^[6]
Catherine Faux, triathlete
Tony Miles, the United Kingdom's first chess grand master
Bryony Page, Olympic Silver Medallist 2016, trampolining
Paul Ramsden, first alpinist to win the Piolet d'Or five times
C R Roberts, athlete
Tim Robinson, England International Cricketer
Hollie Webb, Olympic Gold Medallist 2016, women's hockey
David Wetherall, footballer
David Wetherill, Paralympic table tennis player
Kristian Jones and Jamie Stevenson, orienteers with medals at world championships
Lizzy Banks, professional cyclist^[11]

Notable academics

Francis Berry, poet and literary critic
Norman Blake, Middle English and Early Modern English language and literature scholar
Peter Blundell Jones, professor in architecture
Anthony Bottoms, professor of criminology
Angela Carter, author (1976–1978)
Henry Coward, conductor
Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science
Danny Dorling, former professor of geography
Bernard Crick, former professor of politics
Graeme Davies, vice-chancellor University of London
Charles Eliot, diplomat, Vice-Chancellor
Lilian Edwards, Professor of Internet Law
William Empson, poet (The School of English names its facilities after him)
Pamela Enderby, professor of community rehabilitation
Katie Edwards, author (2012–2020; was also a student)
Howard Florey, Nobel Prize winner and professor of pathology
Andrew Gamble, political economist and professor of politics
John Green, former professor of education
Joanne Harris, author (2000; was also a student)
Peter Hill, well-known pianist and expert on the works of Olivier Messiaen
Sir Robert Honeycombe, metallurgist
R. J. Hopper, professor of ancient history
David Hughes, astronomer, Asteroid 4205 is named in his honour.
Dame Betty Kershaw, Dean of the School of Nursing
Sir Ian Kershaw, historian
Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist (1935–1954)
Stephen Laurence, philosopher and cognitive scientist
Sir Colin Lucas, historian, chair of the board of the British Library
Peter Maitlis FRS, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
David Marquand, politician
Edward Mellanby, Professor of Pharmacology, discoverer of Vitamin D
Brian Robert Morris, Professor of English
Douglas Northcott FRS, Professor of Mathematics
George Porter, Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1955–1966)
Sir David Read, emeritus Professor of Plant Science
Colin Renfrew, archaeologist
Sir Gareth Roberts, Vice-Chancellor
Piers Robinson, professor of politics, society and political journalism
William Sarjeant, geologist
Joanna Shapland, Edward Bramley Professor of Criminal Justice
Noel Sharkey, broadcaster, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Professor of Public Engagement
Susan Sherratt, archaeologist of Bronze Age Greece, Cyprus, and the Eastern Mediterranean
Michael Siva-Jothy, entomologist
Sir Fraser Stoddart, chemist
Stephen Stich, Honorary Professor of Philosophy
Charles J. M. Stirling FRS, Professor of Chemistry
Digby Tantam, British psychiatrist and Professor of Psychotherapy
Simon Tavaré FRS FMedSci, computational biologist and statistician, founding director of the Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics
Grenville Turner FRS, Professor of Physics
W E S Turner (1881–1963), Professor of Glass Technology and founder of the museum which bears his name
Sir James Underwood, Joseph Hunter Professor of Pathology and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Yorick Wilks, Professor of Artificial Intelligence
Peter Willett, Professor of Information Science
Sir Michael Woodruff, transplant surgeon

References

↑ "www.bbscindia.com/ScienceConference/profile.php".
↑ "Syed A Ahson Books - List of books by Syed A Ahson". www.allbookstores.com.
↑ University of Sheffield Professor Stephen A. Billings
↑ "University of Sheffield alumni make history at Court of Appeal - Read More Latest News - Latest News - Alumni - the University of Sheffield". Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
↑ Sheffield, University of. "Where are they now? Professor Adam Hart - News - Alumni - The University of Sheffield" . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
1 2 3 4 5 "Outstanding Sheffield Alumni". University of Sheffield. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
↑ "Graduate publishes Kung Fu grandmaster´s astonishing life story in book", The University of Sheffield , Sheffield, 13 April 2012.
↑ "University of Sheffield celebrates Class of 2020 with virtual graduation". University of Sheffield. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
↑ "Helen Sharman OBE". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
↑ "THE WORK OF RAF BOMB DISPOSAL SQUADS IN THE UK AND GERMANY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR" . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
↑ September 2020, Sophie Hurcom 15 (15 September 2020). "The rapid rise of Lizzy Banks". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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[1] "www.bbscindia.com/ScienceConference/profile.php".

[2] "Syed A Ahson Books - List of books by Syed A Ahson". www.allbookstores.com.

[Sheffield-3] University of Sheffield Professor Stephen A. Billings

[4] "University of Sheffield alumni make history at Court of Appeal - Read More Latest News - Latest News - Alumni - the University of Sheffield". Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

[UC-5] Sheffield, University of. "Where are they now? Professor Adam Hart - News - Alumni - The University of Sheffield" . Retrieved 17 December 2016.

[Outstanding_Sheffield_Alumni-6] 1 2 3 4 5 "Outstanding Sheffield Alumni". University of Sheffield. Retrieved 24 June 2015.

[7] "Graduate publishes Kung Fu grandmaster´s astonishing life story in book", The University of Sheffield , Sheffield, 13 April 2012.

[8] "University of Sheffield celebrates Class of 2020 with virtual graduation". University of Sheffield. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.

[Helen_Sharman_OBE-9] "Helen Sharman OBE". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2015.

[10] "THE WORK OF RAF BOMB DISPOSAL SQUADS IN THE UK AND GERMANY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR" . Retrieved 17 December 2016.

[11] September 2020, Sophie Hurcom 15 (15 September 2020). "The rapid rise of Lizzy Banks". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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