53 Notable alumni of Keele University
Updated: June 22, 2026 EliteDegrees
Keele University is ranked #628 in the world and #54 in United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 53 notable alumni from Keele University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Keele University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Joanna Killian
1965-. (aged 61)
Joanna Elizabeth Killian is a local government official, who has been Chief Executive of the Local Government Association since March 2024.
2. Sean Corbett
1964-. (aged 62)
military personnel
Air Vice-Marshal Anthony Sean Corbett, CB MBE is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer.
3. Phillida Bunkle
1944-. (aged 82)
politician
Phillida Bunkle is a former New Zealand politician. She represented the Alliance in Parliament from 1996 to 2002, when she retired. Bunkle was for many years a lecturer at Victoria University.
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4. Ian Norman
1952-. (aged 74)
psychologist
nurse
Ian James Norman is a British nursing researcher and author, based in Surrey, UK. His research and writing is focused primarily in the fields of psychiatric and mental health nursing, and psychological treatments for people with mental health difficulties. Norman is Emeritus Professor of Mental Health in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's College London. He...
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5. Robert Cooling
1957-. (aged 69)
naval officer
Vice Admiral Robert George Cooling CB is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff.
6. Joan Stringer
1948-. (aged 78)
political scientist
Professor Dame Joan Kathleen Stringer, DBE, FRSE, FRSA is a British political scientist and former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of both Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
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7. Iain R. Edgar
1948-2021 (aged 73)
anthropologist
Iain Ross Edgar was an English social anthropologist at Durham University. He was an expert in the field of dreams and dreaming, and a specialist in altered states of consciousness and mental health. Starting his career in social work, Edgar received a PhD from the University of Keele, where he studied under Ronnie Frankenberg. His thesis Dreamwork, Anthropology and the...
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8. Nick Partridge
LGBTQ rights activist
Sir Nicholas Wyndham Partridge, OBE, is a British health advocate and public policy leader, best known for his work in HIV/AIDS awareness and for his leadership of the Terrence Higgins Trust, the United Kingdom’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, where he served as chief executive from 1991 to 2013.
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9. Rachel Griffith
1963-. (aged 63)
researcher
economist
Dame Rachel Susan Griffith DBE FBA FAcSS is a British-American academic and educator. She is professor of economics at the University of Manchester and a research director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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10. Maggie Atkinson
1956-. (aged 70)
civil servant
Margaret Elizabeth Atkinson is an English educator and the former Children's Commissioner for England. After a career in teaching, she moved into public service administration, initially in education, but later in Children Services. Her appointment and tenure as Children's Commissioner was notable for a series of controversies.
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11. Robin Grimes
scientist
Professor Sir Robin William Grimes is a British nuclear scientist who was chief scientific adviser in the Ministry of Defense for nuclear science and technology and is a professor of materials physics at Imperial College London. From February 2013 to August 2018 he served as chief scientific adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Since November 2021 he has...
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12. Jayne Bryant
politician
Jayne Bryant is a Welsh Labour Party politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government since July 2024. Since May 2016 she has represented Newport West in the Senedd.
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13. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau
1954-. (aged 72)
politician
minister
Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau CFR GSS, psc, ndc, fwc is a retired Nigerian army general and politician who served as Chief of Army Staff from 2008 to 2010 and in President Muhammadu Buhari's Cabinet as Minister of the Interior from 2015 to 2019. Dambazau is a renowned strategist, especially In National and regional security issues. He is a skillful writer with...
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14. Keith Dowding
1960-. (aged 66)
political scientist
philosopher
writer
Keith Martin Dowding is a British political scientist. He is Professor of Political Science and Political Philosophy at the Australian National University (ANU). In 2006 he held a position in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics.
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15. Kath Pinnock
1946-. (aged 80)
politician
council member
Kathryn Mary Pinnock, Baroness Pinnock is a British Liberal Democrat politician, life peer, and former school teacher. Since 1987, she has been a member of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. She was leader of the council's Lib Dem group from 1991 to 2014, and leader of the council from 2000 to 2006. She was created a life peer in 2014 and...
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16. John Duncan
1919-1988 (aged 69)
lawyer
politician
John Stewart Duncan OBE is a British diplomat. He was Ambassador for Multilateral Arms Control and Disarmament and UK Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 2006–11. In June 2013, he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the British government, to represent the Queen as Governor of the British Virgin Islands, and to act as...
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17. Hso Khan Pha
1938-2016 (aged 78)
politician
human rights defender
Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe was a prince of Yawnghwe. He was a son of Sao Shwe Thaik, the last Saopha of Yawnghwe and Sao Nang Hearn Kham, the Mahadevi (consort). He was a consulting geologist based in Canada.
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18. Daphne Hampson
1944-2021 (aged 77)
theologian
Margaret Daphne Hampson is an English theologian. Educated at Oxford and at Harvard, she held a personal Chair in "Post-Christian Thought" at the University of St Andrews. Hampson's distinctive theological position has both gained her notoriety and been widely influential. Holding that Christianity is neither true nor moral (in not being gender inclusive), she believes the overcoming of patriarchal religion...
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19. Charles Landry
1948-. (aged 78)
urban planner
opinion journalist
Charles Landry is an author and international adviser on the future of cities best known for popularising the Creative City concept. His book The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators became a movement to rethink the planning, development and management of cities.
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20. Tarique Ghaffur
1958-. (aged 68)
police officer
Tarique Ghaffur CBE QPM is a former Ugandan-born British police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. His last post was as Assistant Commissioner–Central Operations.
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21. John Howkins
1945-. (aged 81)
writer
John Anthony Howkins is a British author and speaker on Creative Industries, particularly the development of this economic sector in China. He is the visiting professor of University of Lincoln, England, and vice dean and the visiting professor of Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theater Academy, China.
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22. Martine Dennis
1961-. (aged 65)
journalist
news presenter
Martine Dennis is a British news anchor. She was most recently a presenter with Al Jazeera English, and before that BBC World News.
23. Jack Brereton
1991-. (aged 35)
politician
council member
Jack Edgar Brereton is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency from the 2017 general election until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he is a former councillor on Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
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24. Gareth Snell
1986-. (aged 40)
politician
Gareth Craig Snell is a British politician who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central. He regained the seat at the 2024 general election having represented it from 2017 to 2019. A member of Labour Co-op, he was Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council from 2012 to 2014.
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25. Janet Fitch
1955-. (aged 71)
writer
novelist
journalist
university teacher
Janet Fitch is an American author. She wrote the novel White Oleander, which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College.
26. Fiona Woolf
1948-. (aged 78)
solicitor
lawyer
businessperson
politician
Dame Catherine Fiona Woolf, DBE, DStJ, DL is a British corporate lawyer. She served as the Lord Mayor of London (2013–14), acting as global ambassador for UK-based financial and business services. She has held and still holds many other significant positions in the City of London.
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27. Terry Milewski
1949-. (aged 77)
journalist
Terry Milewski is a Canadian journalist, who was the senior correspondent for CBC News until his retirement in 2016.
28. Don Foster
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Donald Michael Ellison Foster, Baron Foster of Bath PC, is a British politician and life peer who served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Comptroller of the Household from 2013 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath from 1992 to 2015.
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29. Francis Beckett
1945-. (aged 81)
biographer
trade unionist
historian
journalist
author
Francis Beckett is an English author, journalist, biographer, playwright and contemporary historian. He has written biographies of Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He has also written on education for the New Statesman, The Guardian and The Independent and has been the editor of Third Age Matters, the national magazine published by the University of...
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30. Khaled al-Obaidi
1958-. (aged 68)
politician
Khaled Miteb Yassin Hassan Al-Obaidi is an Iraqi politician and former military officer who served as Minister of Defense of Iraq from 2014 to 2016. His tenure took place during a critical period in the country’s fight against the Islamic State, particularly following the fall of Mosul in 2014.
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31. Marina Lewycka
1946-2025 (aged 79)
writer
novelist
teacher
university teacher
Marina Lewycka was a Ukrainian-British lecturer and novelist. Her 2005 debut comic novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, was translated into over 30 languages.
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32. Zulfikar Ghose
1935-2022 (aged 87)
novelist
poet
writer
Zulfikar Ghose was a Pakistani-American novelist, poet and essayist. His works are primarily magical realism, blending fantasy and harsh realism.
33. John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
barrister
John David Beckett Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick is a member of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In 1996, at the age of 44, he became one of the youngest people in the upper house.
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34. Graeme Clark
1935-. (aged 91)
inventor
physician
Graeme Milbourne Clark AC FRS FAA FRACS is an Australian Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne. He has worked in ENT surgery, electronics and speech science, and contributed towards the development of the multiple-channel cochlear implant. His invention was later marketed by Cochlear Limited.
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35. Peter Lee Ka-kit
1963-. (aged 63)
justice of the peace
politician
Peter Lee Ka Kit, GBM, GBS, JP,, is a businessman and philanthropist from Hong Kong, the elder son of real estate tycoon and majority owner and founder of Henderson Land Development, Lee Shau-kee.
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36. Stephen Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate
1951-. (aged 75)
scientist
Stephen Michael Wedgwood Benn, 3rd Viscount Stansgate, is a British hereditary peer and Labour member of the House of Lords.
37. Ned Naoko
1960-. (aged 66)
lawyer
politician
Prince Chinedu Munir Nwoko, popularly known as Ned Nwoko, is a Nigerian lawyer, philanthropist, and politician who serves as the senator representing Delta North senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency, Delta State. In January 2020, he undertook a symbolic expedition to Antarctica to...
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38. Jem Finer
1955-. (aged 71)
banjoist
guitarist
songwriter
entertainer
artist
Jeremy Max Finer is an English musician, artist and composer. He is one of the founding members of the Pogues.
39. Clare Short
1946-. (aged 80)
politician
Clare Short is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003.
40. Kojo Annan
1973-. (aged 53)
businessperson
Kojo Adeyemo AnnanListen is a Ghanaian-Nigerian businessman and son of the late former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. From 1995 to 1997, Kojo Annan worked in West Africa for the Swiss-based inspection company Cotecna, as a marketing consultant. He came to public attention when questions were raised about whether a contract, won by Cotecna, was due to Annan's connections. An IIC...
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41. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
1952-. (aged 74)
politician
minister
Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, nicknamed NNN, is a Namibian politician who has been the fifth and current president of Namibia since 21 March 2025. She is the country's first female president. Previously, she served as the third vice president under President Nangolo Mbumba between 2024 and 2025. She held various high level political and ministerial position as well as various responsibility...
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42. Michael Mansfield
1941-. (aged 85)
barrister
Michael Mansfield KC is an English barrister and head of chambers at Nexus Chambers. He was recently described as "The king of human rights work" by The Legal 500 and as a leading Silk in civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police).
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43. Ash Regan
1974-. (aged 52)
politician
Ashten Regan is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016. Initially elected to parliament for the Scottish National Party (SNP), she defected to the Alba Party in 2023, before becoming an independent MSP in 2025. Regan served under First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as the Minister for Community Safety from...
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44. Priti Patel
1972-. (aged 54)
politician
Dame Priti Sushil Patel is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Witham since 2010. She is...
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45. Innes McCartney
1964-. (aged 62)
explorer
historian
archaeologist
anthropologist
author
Innes McCartney is a British nautical archaeologist and historian. He is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University in the UK.
46. Paul Clark
1962-. (aged 64)
musician
Paul Gordon Clark is a British former Labour Party politician and who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gillingham from 1997 to 2010. During his time in government, Clark served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Derry Irvine, Charles Falconer, John Prescott, and Ed Balls, before being promoted in 2008 to the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at...
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47. Madeleine Moon
1950-. (aged 76)
politician
Madeleine Moon is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bridgend from 2005 to 2019, when she lost her seat to the Welsh Conservative candidate Katie Wallis.
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48. Alun Michael
1943-. (aged 83)
politician
Alun Edward Michael is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative retired politician. He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 1998 to 1999 and then as the first First Secretary of Wales (later known as First Minister) and Leader of Welsh Labour from 1999 to 2000. He went on to serve as South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012...
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49. Eva Nogales
1965-. (aged 61)
university teacher
biophysicist
biologist
Eva Nogales is a Spanish-American biophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as head of the Division of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology (2015–2020). She is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
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50. Des MacHale
1946-. (aged 80)
university teacher
scientist
mathematician
Desmond MacHale is an Irish mathematician who is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at University College Cork. He is an author and speaker on several subjects, including George Boole, lateral thinking puzzles, and humour. He has published over 80 books, some of which have been translated into languages including Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, German, Korean, and Japanese.
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51. Stefan Oster
1965-. (aged 61)
Catholic priest
Catholic bishop
university teacher
theologian
Stefan Oster S.D.B. is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the Latin Church bishop of Passau since 2014.
52. Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo
1945-2013 (aged 68)
businessperson
Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo was a Zimbabwean nationalist who was part of the first group of Gonakudzingwa restriction camp political prisoners. He was also a pioneer insurance executive, business magnate, academic, philanthropist, conservationist, pioneer Indigenous businessman and entrepreneur.
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53. Ian Taylor
1945-. (aged 81)
politician
Sir Ian Lemuel Taylor KNZM is a New Zealand businessman and former television presenter based in Dunedin.