Alumni
The sub-headings are given as a general guide and some names might fit under more than one category.
- Abbreviations used in the following tables
- M – Year of matriculation at University College (a dash indicates that the individual did not matriculate at the college)
- G – Year of graduation / conclusion of study at University College (a dash indicates that the individual graduated from another college)
- DNG – Did not graduate: left the college without taking a degree
- ? – Year unknown; an approximate year is used for table-sorting purposes.
- (F) after name – later became a Fellow of University College, and included on the list of Fellows
- (HF) after name – later became an Honorary Fellow of University College
- Degree abbreviations
- Undergraduate degree: BA – Bachelor of Arts
- Postgraduate degrees:
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The subject studied and the degree classification are included, where known. Until the early 19th century, undergraduates read for a Bachelor of Arts degree that included study of Latin and Greek texts, mathematics, geometry, philosophy and theology. Individual subjects at undergraduate level were only introduced later: for example, Mathematics (1805), Natural Science (1850), Jurisprudence (1851, although it had been available before this to students who obtained special permission), Modern History (1851) and Theology (1871). Geography and Modern Languages were introduced in the 20th century. Music had been available as a specialist subject before these changes; medicine was studied as a post-graduate subject. [2]
Politicians and civil servants
| Name | M | G | Degree | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clement Attlee (F) | 1901 | 1904 | BA Modern History (2nd) | British Prime Minister | [3] |
| Sir Jeremy Beecham | 1962 | 1965 | Law (1st) | Labour politician | - |
| Kofi Abrefa Busia | 1941 | 1947 | BA PPE, DPhil | Prime Minister of Ghana | - |
| Robert Cecil | ? | ? | Law | A founder of the League of Nations, Nobel Peace Prize 1937. | - |
| Bill Clinton (HF) | 1968 | 1970 | [DNG] | 42nd President of the United States of America | - |
| William de Silva | ? | ? | ? | Ceylonese politician | - |
| Andrew George | ? | 1981 | MA Agricultural Economics | Liberal Democrat MP | - |
| Richard Fuller | ? | ? | ? | Conservative MP | - |
| Philip Hammond | ? | ? | PPE | Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer 2016–present, Foreign Secretary 2014–2016 | - |
| Bob Hawke (HF) | ? | ? | BLitt | Australian Prime Minister (Labor) | - |
| Festus Mogae (HF) | ? | ? | Economics | President of Botswana | - |
| Colin Moynihan | 1974 | 1977 | BA PPE | Silver medal 1980 Olympics, Conservative MP 1983–92, Minister for Sport 1987–90, Chairman British Olympic Association 2005 | - |
| Robert Reich | 1968 | 1970 | PPE | 22nd United States Secretary of Labor (Democratic Party) | - |
| David Renton (HF) | ? | ? | Law | MP | - |
| John Scott | ? | 1770 | BA | Lord Chancellor of Great Britain | - |
| Roger Short | 1963 | 1967 | Literae humaniores | British consul-general to Turkey | - |
| Rajiva Wijesinha | ? | ? | Literae humaniores | University teacher; Sri Lankan Liberal Party MP, 2010–15 | - |
| Tan Jee Say | 1973 | 1976 | PPE | Singaporean politician and former civil servant | - |
| Henry Thrale | 1744 | ? | ? | MP | - |
| William Weld | ? | ? | Economics | governor of Massachusetts | - |
| Andrew Theophanous | ? | 1973 | MLitt Philosophy | Australian Labor Party, first Australian federal MP to be imprisoned for corruption. | - |
| Sir Edgar Whitehead | ? | ? | ? | Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia | - |
| Sir Rowland Whitehead | ? | ? | History (1st) | KC MP | - |
| Thomas A. Shannon Jr. | 1980 | ? | Politics | American diplomat, former acting United States Secretary of State | |
| John Maxton | ? | ? | ? | Labour MP for Glasgow Cathcart, 1979–2001 | - |
| Josh Frydenberg | ? | ? | MPhil International Relations | Treasurer of Australia, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia | - |
| Alan Williams | ? | ? | PPE | Labour MP for Swansea West, 1964–2010 | - |
| James Plaskitt | ? | ? | PPE | Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, 1997–2010 | - |
| Chris Philp | ? | ? | BA Physics | Conservative MP for Croydon South | - |
| Simon Clarke | 2003 | 2006 | History | Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland | - |
| Bongbong Marcos | 1975 | 1978 | DNG [4] [5] [6] | Governor, Senator, 17th President-elect of the Philippines | [4] [5] [6] |
| Huw Pill | ? | 1989 | PPE | Chief Economist of the Bank of England | [7] |
- Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool, longest-serving President of the Board of Trade, namesake of the Hawkesbury River
- William Windham, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
- William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell, Camden Reader of Ancient History, judge of the Admiralty Court, MP for Oxford University
- Sir Roger Newdigate, MP for Middlesex and for Oxford University, establisher of the Newdigate Prize
- Lord Butler of Brockwell, civil servant, college master
- Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor, MP for Salisbury
- Sir Banastre Tarleton, British military leader during the American Revolutionary War and later Whig MP for Liverpool
- Sir Angus Mackintosh, British diplomat
Clergy
- George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (1611–33)
- John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (1737–47)
- Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York (1606–28)
- Anthony Fisher, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney 2014–present, Bishop of Parramatta 2010–2014
- Richard Fleming, bishop of Lincoln (1420–31)
- George Horne, bishop of Norwich (1790–92)
- Herbert Sidney Pelham, bishop of Barrow-in-Furness 1926–1944
- Richard Godfrey Parsons, bishop of Middleton 1927–32, bishop of Southwark 1932–41, bishop of Hereford 1942–48
- Grandage Edwards Powell, bishop of Penrith 1939-44
- Tom Longworth, bishop of Pontefract 1939–49, bishop of Hereford 1949–61
- Peter Mumford, bishop of Hertford 1974–81, bishop of Truro 1981–89
- Malcolm Menin, bishop of Knaresborough 1986–97
- Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark 2011–present, Bishop of Woolwich 2005-2011
- Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster 1863–81, Rector of St Andrews 1874-77
- Charles Boyd, Archdeacon of Colombo (1891-1901)
Architects
- Jack Diamond, architect of Mariinsky Theatre II and Sidney Harman Hall
- Sir Philip Dowson, architect of four accommodation blocks at Stavertonia
Artists and writers
- Edwin Arnold, poet, journalist, translator from Hindi
- Peter Bayley, literary critic
- Augustus Hare, writer
- Michael Brand, composer
- W. G. Collingwood, artist
- Kodwo Eshun writer, theorist and filmmaker
- Maurizio Giuliano, writer, traveller, and United Nations official
- Ivo Graham, comedian and writer
- Fred Harrison (born 1944), author and economist
- Armando Iannucci, comedian, writer, satirist and radio producer
- Richard Ingrams, co-founder of Private Eye
- Richard Jago, poet
- Gerard Langbaine, biographer
- C. S. Lewis, writer, critic; student there from 1919 to 1923 (originally joined in 1917 but left soon afterwards after being called up for action in the Great War); Philosophy tutor from 1924 to 1925 [8]
- Peter McDonald, poet
- Cecil Mercer, novelist
- Andrew Motion, British Poet Laureate
- Neel Mukherjee, novelist
- Shiva Naipaul, novelist and writer
- Sir V. S. Naipaul, writer and Nobel Laureate
- Andrew Robinson, author and former newspaper editor
- Aubrey de Sélincourt, writer and classicist
- William Shawcross, chairman of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, writer
- Desmond Shawe-Taylor, artist
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet
- Sophie Solomon, violinist, songwriter and composer
- Charles Sorley, poet
- Stephen Spender, poet and writer
- Mams Taylor, recording artist/songwriter, mixed-martial arts fighter and activist
- Rajiva Wijesinha, writer
- Fabian S. Woodley, poet
- Braham Murray, theatre director
Philosophers and theologians
- F. H. Bradley, Idealist philosopher
- Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, orientalist and religious thinker
- A. C. Ewing, philosopher
- A. D. Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker, Scottish political philosopher and historian of philosophy, Master of Balliol College, Oxford
- R. G. Collingwood, Idealist philosopher and archaeologist
- Gareth Evans, philosopher of language and mind, Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy
- Kwasi Wiredu, Ghanaian philosopher
- Willie E. Abraham, Ghanaian philosopher, first African fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
- John Finnis, Australian legal philosopher
- Mark de Bretton Platts, philosopher of language
- Peter Singer, Australian moral and political philosopher, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics (Princeton University)
- Jeremy Waldron, New Zealander political and legal philosopher, former Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory
- Owen Fiss, American jurist, Sterling Professor (Yale University)
- Mortimer Sellers, American jurist
- Irving Singer (did not take degree), American philosopher
- David O. Brink (visiting student), American moral and political philosopher
Broadcasters, journalists and entertainers
- Peter Beinart, The New Republic 1999–2006, editor-at-large 2006–
- Nick Denton, founder of Gawker media
- Edward Enfield, broadcaster and writer
- Paul Foot, journalist and socialist
- Richard Francis, managing director of BBC radio
- Paul Gambaccini, presenter of and writer on pop music
- Christopher Hitchens, Atheist, Vanity Fair Writer
- Gordon Honeycombe, actor and playwright
- Tom Hooper, Academy Award-winning director
- Aboubakr Jamaï, journalist
- Owen Jones, author and journalist
- Christina Lamb, journalist and author
- Warren Mitchell, actor
- James Owen, writer and journalist
- Nigel Playfair, actor and theatre manager
- Mike Ratledge, keyboardist and composer
- James Ridley, author
- Nick Robinson, journalist and BBC political editor
- Rajdeep Sardesai, journalist
- Peter Sissons, television newsreader
- Philippa Thomas, journalist and chief presenter at BBC World News
- Alex Thomson, television journalist
- Michael York, actor
- Andy Zaltzman, political comedian
Scientists, inventors and engineers
| Name | M | G | Degree | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Bowen | 1974 | 1977 | MA | Computer scientist | - |
| Edmund Cartwright | ? | ? | ? | Clergyman and loom-inventor | - |
| Stephen Hawking | 1959 | 1962 | BA | Theoretical physicist | - |
| John Radcliffe | ? | ? | ? | Royal Physician to William & Mary and politician | - |
| Sir Simon Wessely | ? | 1981 | BM BCh | Psychiatrist | - |
- Bob Allen, surgeon
- Bill Roscoe, computer scientist
- Paul Thompson (neuroscientist), neuroscientist
Social scientists, historians and philologists
- Ernst Badian, classical scholar, John Moors Cabot Professor of History Emeritus at Harvard University
- James Franck Bright, historian, Master of University College, Oxford
- Hedley Bull, Australian scholar of international relations
- Robin Darwall-Smith, archivist of University College
- E. R. Dodds, Irish classicist, Regius Professor of Greek (Oxford)
- Katharine Ellis, music historian
- Christopher Fyfe, historian of west Africa
- Norman Hampson, historian of the French Revolution
- Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin, historian
- Sir William Jones, Anglo-Welsh philologist, discoverer of Sanskrit's relationship to Latin and Greek
- Monier Monier-Williams, linguist, Boden Professor of Sanskrit
- Herman Ramm, archaeologist
- Geoffrey Serle, Australian historian
- Ernest de Sélincourt, literary critic and editor
- E. V. Gordon, Canadian philologist, editor and teacher of medieval Germanic languages
- Aly Kassam-Remtulla, Canadian anthropologist
Sports people
- John Allen, Australian teacher, rugby player and cricketer
- Francis Birley, three-time winner of the FA Cup in the 1870s
- Mark Evans, Canadian rower, Olympic Gold Medallist in the 8+, Los Angeles 1984 Olympics
- J. Michael Evans, Canadian rower, Olympic Gold Medallist in the 8+, Los Angeles 1984 Olympics
- Thomas Gubb, rugby union international, represented Great Britain on 1927 British Lions tour to Argentina
- Nick Mallett, rugby player and coach
- Charles Thomas McMillen, retired NBA professional basketball player, US congressman
- Richard Nerurkar, Olympic athlete
- Acer Nethercott, British coxswain, Olympic silver medallist for GB 8+, Beijing 2008 Olympics
- James Parker, rower
- Tom Solesbury, GB pair, Beijing 2008 Olympics, and GB quad, London 2012 Olympics
- Adrian Stoop, rugby player
- Ralph Williams, cricketer and barrister
Judges and lawyers
- Christian Cole, Inner Temple member and first black graduate of Oxford University
- Kenneth Diplock, judge and Law Lord
- Andrew Edis, judge
- Robert A. Gorman (born 1937), law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
- John Dyson Heydon, Justice of the High Court of Australia
- David Hodgson, Australian judge
- Jonathan Mance, Baron Mance, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- Evelyn Monier-Williams, circuit judge
- Walter Paton (1853–1937), English barrister who played for Oxford University in the 1873 FA Cup Final
- Geoffrey Robertson, human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster
- Joseph Santamaria, Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria
- Raymond Wacks, Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory, author
- Sir John Richardson, Puisne Judge of Common Pleas
- Sir David Edward KCMG PC QC FRSE, Scottish lawyer and academic, Judge of the European Court of Justice
- Oswald Cheung, barrister of Hong Kong, known as the "doyen of the bar"
Military
- Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, general, Governor-General of India
- Bernard W. Rogers, four-star general, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army
- John Rawlins, surgeon vice-admiral, Medical Director-General of the Royal Navy
Business people
- Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite and early-stage investor
- David Hatendi, banker, founder of Hatendi Private Equity Advisors, Zimbabwe's first black Rhodes Scholar.
- Bruno Schroder, billionaire banker
- Simon Thompson, chairman of 3i, former chairman of the Tarmac Group and Tullow Oil
- Edward W. Scott, founder of BEA Systems and former senior United States government official
Other
- G.G. Bradley, noted Latinist, college master
- Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill Clinton, the 42nd U.S. President, and the former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
- Michael Hoban, headmaster of Harrow School
- Luke McShane, chess Grandmaster
- Joseph Bennet Odunton, Ghanaian public servant, first black African to hold appointment at the Buckingham Palace
- Sir Alan Stewart, founding vice-chancellor of Massey University, New Zealand
- Edward Maunde Thompson, Principal Librarian British Museum 1888–98, Director and Principal Librarian 1898–1909
- Israel Tonge, conspirator
- John Webster, classical organist
- Felix Yusupov, participant in the murder of Grigori Rasputin
