File:Abdullah Gül 2011-06-07.jpg|
Abdullah Gül, 11th
President of Turkey File:Sajid Javid (cropped).jpg|
Sir Sajid Javid, former
Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Home Secretary File:Vanessa Kirby 2018.jpg|
Vanessa Kirby, actress File:J. K. Rowling 2010.jpg|
J.K. Rowling, author of the
Harry Potter series File:Patrick Sanders inspects (cropped 3-4).jpg|
Sir Patrick Sanders,
Chief of the General Staff File:Zara Phillips cropped but without a crop.jpg|
Zara Tindall, Olympic medalist and granddaughter of
Queen Elizabeth II A number of Exeter's alumni have made significant contributions in many fields, including science, academia, government and law, arts, journalism and sport.
Government and law Notable alumni in the fields of government and law include
Abdullah Gül, the 11th
President of Turkey,
Ameenah Gurib, 6th
President of Mauritius,
Mehmet Şimşek, former
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey,
Zewde Gebre-Sellassie former Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia,
Prem Nababsing, former Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius,
Sigrid Kaag, Dutch
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (Netherlands) since October 2017,
Lau Kong Wah, former
Secretary for Home Affairs of Hong Kong,
Tengku Zafrul Aziz,
Minister of Finance (Malaysia),
Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland since September 2019, and Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury between 2011 and 2019,
Ambiga Sreenevasan, Malaysian lawyer and human rights advocate (LLB Law, 1970s),
Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan human rights advocate, legislator, and an
Amnesty International prisoner of conscience,
Tito Karnavian, retired police general and Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Police Studies, 1993),
Patrick Kwateng Acheampong, former
Inspector General of Police of the Ghana Police Service (MA Police Studies and Criminal Justice, 1990),
Ahmad Shah of Pahang,
Sultan of Pahang, constitutional monarch, and head of state of Malaysia (1979–1984),
George L. Savvides, Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus and former Minister of Justice and Public Order,
Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, ruler of the
Sharjah emirate, and Libyan permanent ambassador to the
United Nations,
Lamia Abusedra.
Politics In UK domestic politics and government, alumni include
Sajid Javid, former
Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Home Secretary of the United Kingdom (Economics and politics),
James Brokenshire, former Minister for Security and former
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government,
Jeremy Wright QC, former
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,
Mark Lancaster, former
Minister of State for the Armed Forces since June 2017,
John Pullinger, the
National Statistician,
Andrew Lansley, former
Secretary of State for Health, and
Leader of the House of Commons (BA Politics),
Caroline Lucas, MP and former leader of the
Green Party of England and Wales (BA English, 1983, PhD, 1990),
Fiona Shackleton, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, family law solicitors and personal solicitor to
Prince William and
Prince Harry (Law, 1970s),
Luke Pollard,
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and
Lynne Owens,
Director-General of the National Crime Agency.
Arts and entertainment Alumni in arts, journalism and entertainment include
J. K. Rowling, author of the
Harry Potter books (French and Classics, 1986),
Robert Bolt,
Tony Award-winning playwright and two-time
Academy Award award-winning screenwriter,
Vanessa Kirby,
BAFTA award-winning actress in
Netflix's
The Crown (English, 2008),
Dolly Alderton, author of
Everything I Know About Love, and
Stephen Dillane, BAFTA and Tony Award-winning actor best known for his work in
Game of Thrones (History and political science),
Mark Labbett, professional quizzer and TV personality on
The Chase (PGCE),
Thom Yorke, lead singer of
Radiohead (English and Fine Arts),
Nina Allan, author of
speculative fiction and winner of the
Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel in 2014 (Russian literature),
Steve Backshall,
BAFTA award-winning television presenter,
Samantha Baines, actress and comedian (BA(Hons) Drama),
Steve Bell, political cartoonist,
Tom Deacon, comedian and Radio 1 DJ (Drama, 2007),
Frank Gardner, the BBC's Security Correspondent (Arabic, 1980s),
Tim Montgomerie, British political activist and blogger,
Clemmie Moodie, associate features editor at the
Daily Mirror (English, 2003),
James Pearce, journalist and presenter for
BBC Sport (Politics),
Rob Walker, British sports commentator and television presenter,
Ben Collins, racing driver known for being
The Stig on the BBC motoring television show
Top Gear (Law, 1997),
Matthew Wright, broadcaster and journalist (English and Drama), and
Will Young, singer (Politics).
Academia In academia, graduates include
Andrew D. Hamilton, president of
New York University and former vice-chancellor of
University of Oxford (Chemistry),
Sir Michael Berry FRS and is known for the
Berry Phase in quantum mechanics and receiving an
Ig Nobel Prize for magnetically levitating a frog (BSc Physics, 1962),
Imogen Coe, biochemist and Dean of
Ryerson University,
James Mourilyan Tanner, British paediatric endocrinologist known for the
Tanner scale.
Business In business, graduates include
Neil Woodford, British fund manager and the founding partner of Woodford Investment Management,
Belabbes Benkredda, Algerian-German social innovator, founder of
The Munathara Initiative (MA in Middle East Politics),
Dennis Gillings, British-born American billionaire statistician and entrepreneur, and the founder of the
Fortune 500 company
Quintiles (BA, 1966 and PhD, 1972), and
Henry Staunton, chairman of
WHSmith.
Military Graduates within the military include
General Sir Patrick Sanders,
Chief of the General Staff, Admiral
Sir Jonathon Band, former
First Sea Lord of the United Kingdom (Economics, 1970s), Lieutenant Colonel
Lucy Giles, first female College Commander at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst commanding New College and
Otto Kretschmer (Silent Otto), the most successful German
U-boat commander in the Second World War.
Royalty The Princess Royal's two children attended the university: •
Peter Phillips (
Sport Science, 2000) •
Zara Tindall,
silver medallist at the
London 2012 Olympic Games with the
Great Britain Eventing Team, (Equine Science, Physiotherapy, 2002). Other royal alumni include: •
Infanta Elena of Spain, eldest daughter of
King Juan Carlos and
Queen Sofía (Sociology and Education, 1990) •
Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, ruler of the
Sharjah emirate in the
United Arab Emirates (PhD, 1985) •
Ahmad Shah of Pahang,
Sultan of Pahang, constitutional monarch, and head of state of Malaysia (1979–1984)
Sports Graduates within sport include:
Giselle Mather (née Prangnell), English rugby union international and coach, part of the
1994 Women's World Cup winning side;
Henry Slade, two time rugby
Six Nations champion and
World Cup runner up with
England (Sport and Exercise Science);
Sam Skinner, two time
Premiership Rugby champion,
Champions cup winner and
Scotland rugby international (Business and Economics) and Wales international
Christ Tshiunza (Sport Science, 2023).
Izzy Moore, a
biomechanist specialising in human movement, is also an alumni and her research focuses on female athlete health and postpartum return to sport. ==See also==