The University of Edinburgh Admitted Student Profiles & Alumni

Charles Darwin

Father of evolutionary theory

MA

1831

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor of the telephone

BA

1865

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Creator of Sherlock Holmes

MBChB

1881

Gordon Brown

Former Prime Minister of the UK

PhD

1982

Piers Sellers

NASA astronaut and climate scientist

BSc

1978

Katherine Grainger

Olympic gold medalist rower

PhD

2013

Chris Hoy

Six-time Olympic gold medalist cyclist

BSc

1999

David Hume

Influential philosopher and economist

MA

1726

James Clerk Maxwell

Theorist of electromagnetism

MA

1854

Joseph Black

Discoverer of carbon dioxide, foundational figure in chemistry

MA

1754

Sir Walter Scott

Novelist and poet (Ivanhoe, Rob Roy)

MA

1786

Dario Fo

Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright

N/A

Honorary

Sir Michael Atiyah

Mathematician, Fields Medalist

MA

1947

Ian Charleson

Actor (Chariots of Fire, Gandhi)

MA

1970

Alistair Moffat

Historian, writer, TV executive

MA

1972

Joanna Cherry

Scottish MP and legal expert

LLB

1986

Laura Kuenssberg

BBC Political Editor

MA

1998

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter author (Honorary Degree)

N/A

Honorary (2004)

Ncuti Gatwa

Actor (Sex Education, Doctor Who)

BA

2013

Tony Blair

Former UK Prime Minister (studied briefly before transferring)

N/A

N/A

Alexander McCall Smith

Author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

PhD

1981

Iain Glen

Actor (Game of Thrones)

BA

1985

Sir Ian Wilmut

Lead scientist in cloning Dolly the sheep

PhD

1971

Neil MacGregor

Former Director of the British Museum

MA

1967

Sigrid Rausing

Philanthropist and publisher

PhD

1993

A.C. Grayling

Philosopher, author, public intellectual

MA

1975

David Mitchell

Author of Cloud Atlas

MA

1994

Andrew Greig

Scottish poet and novelist

MA

1974

Tilda Swinton

Academy Award-winning actress

MA

1983

Robert Sibbald

Founder of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

MD

1660