University of Leeds Admitted Student Profiles & Alumni

Keir Starmer

Prime Minister of the UK

LLB

1985

Mark Knopfler

Lead guitarist, singer & songwriter (Dire Straits)

BA (English)

N/A

Corinne Bailey Rae

Grammy-nominated singer & songwriter

BA (English Language & Literature)

2000

Alistair Brownlee

Olympic gold medalist triathlete

BSc (Sports Science & Physiology)

2010

Jonathan Brownlee

Olympic & World-champion triathlete

BA (History)

2012

Chris Pine

Actor (“Star Trek” reboot, etc.); studied at Leeds on exchange

Undergraduate exchange

2001

Emma Mackey

Actress (Sex Education, etc.)

BA (English Language & Literature)

2016

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Kenyan writer and academic; major figure in postcolonial literature

MA

N/A

Jack Straw

Former UK Foreign Secretary & Home Secretary

BA (History)

N/A

Mark Gatiss

Actor, writer, comedian (Sherlock, etc.)

Drama degree

N/A

Wole Soyinka

Nobel Prize in Literature (1986)

Graduate studies

N/A

Tony Harrison

Poet, dramatist, and critic

Classics

1958

Andy Kershaw

Broadcaster & world music DJ

N/A

N/A

Sayeeda Warsi

Politician & former Cabinet Minister

N/A

N/A

Clare Short

Former UK Cabinet Minister

N/A

N/A

Jacky Fleming

Cartoonist & illustrator

Fine Art

1978

John Elderfield

Chief curator; artist & art historian

Fine Art / MPhil

mid-1960s / early-70s

Piers Sellers

Astronaut and climate scientist

PhD in a science field

N/A

José Ángel Gurría

Secretary General of OECD; Mexican diplomat

Economics or similar

N/A

D. G. Hessayon

Author & scientist known for gardening-science books

N/A

N/A