38 Notable alumni of University of Calicut

Mamiyil Sabu formerly Head of the Department of Botany, University of Calicut and currently working as CSIR-Emeritus Scientist at Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute for Plant Sciences, Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. He worked for over 37 years on the research of gingers, (Order Zingiberales) which include families such as Cannaceae, Marantaceae (arrowroot family), Zingiberaceae (ginger family), Heliconiaceae, Costaceae, Musaceae (banana...

Thiruvizha Jayashankar is an Indian classical musician and a well known nagaswaram expert in South India.

M. R. Raghava Varier, also M. R. Raghava Warrier, is an Indian epigraphist and historian, formerly a Professor at the University of Calicut, from Kerala. He currently lives in Cheliya, Edakkulam-Koyilandi in Kerala. Varier is generally considered as left historian by political analysts.

Manoj Varghese Parecattil is an Indian film director and writer, who works in Malayalam films. He made his directorial debut with Cuban Colony.

Venkiteswaran Chittur Subramanian is an Indian film critic, professor, documentary filmmaker, and writer. He was born in Chalakudi, Kerala, India. He won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2009 and the National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film in 1995.

K. K. N. Kurup is an historian of India and a former vice-chancellor of the University of Calicut. He has specialised in the history of the Malabar region of South India.

Suhair Vadakkepeedika, commonly known as VP Suhair, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Odisha.

Khadija Mumtaz is a Malayalam author from Kerala state, India. She is a medical doctor by profession and is known for her second novel Barsa which won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010.

Rajan Gurukkal is a leading Indian social scientist, historian, professor and writer. He has written many books and articles on different topics. He has also received awards for his works.

Sithara S. is an Indian writer in Malayalam from Kerala. She often highlighted women's issues, gender conflict and lesbian rights in her books. She is also a translator.

N. Samsudheen is currently a member of 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. He represents Mannarkkad. He was member of 13th and 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly and represented Mannarkkad (State Assembly constituency) both times. He belongs to Indian Union Muslim League.

Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh is a research scientist/academician in the domain of interdisciplinary chemistry, and the former Director of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology. He is known for his studies on supramolecular assemblies, organogels, photoresponsive materials, chemosensory and security materials systems and is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. the National Academy of...

C.S. Chandrika is an Indian author in Malayalam from Kerala who writes fiction and non-fiction and is also a social scientist, activist, and columnist involved in women's and human rights and environmental and development concerns.

A. Vijayaraghavan is an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India, and was the Convener of Left Democratic Front in Kerala and former Acting Secretary of CPI(M) Kerala State Committee. He was born at Malappuram district. He was a Member of the Parliament of India representing Kerala in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament. He...

P. Sreeramakrishnan is an Indian politician from Kerala. He served as the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2016 to 2021 and represented the Ponnani constituency as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 2011 to 2021, representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Since November 2021, he has served as resident vice chairman of NORKA-Roots, the state...

Bobby Aloysius is an Indian athlete from Kerala, who competes in the high jump event. Currently, she is residing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She held the Indian and South Asian records in high jump between 1995 and 2012 of 1.91m. Bobby participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics, won silver in 2002 Busan Asian Games and won gold in the Jakarta Asian...

Rajesh Touchriver is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works in English, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi language films. He received various National and International honors for his works. In 2002 he directed In the Name of Buddha which was later screened in the Spotlight on India section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. In 2013, he...

Thalappil Pradeep is an Indian chemist and Institute Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where he holds the Deepak Parekh Institute Chair Professorship. His research focuses on molecular materials and surfaces, including nanomaterials, atomically precise metal nanoclusters, microdroplets and ice.

Mohammed Faizal Padippura is an Indian politician and social worker and Ex Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Union Territory of Lakshadweep. He was elected as the party whip of the Nationalist Congress Party in the 16th Lok Sabha. In January 2023, Faizal and four others were sentenced to 10 years in jail in a case of attempt to murder....

Richard Hay is an Indian politician, representing Bharatiya Janata Party, and was a Member of Parliament from Kerala as a nominated member of the Lok Sabha, representing the Anglo-Indian community from 2015 to 2019.

M. B. Rajesh is an Indian politician who has served as the State Minister for Local Self-Governments and Excise of Kerala, since 2022 and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, since 2024. He previously served as the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2022 and represents Thrithala State Assembly Constituency since 2021.

V. T. Balram is an Indian politician from Kerala and a member of the Indian National Congress and vice-president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. He was a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly representing Thrithala constituency for two consecutive terms. Later he was defeated by M. B. Rajesh of Communist Party of India (Marxist) by a vote margin of 3173.

R. Bindu is an Indian politician of CPI, who serves as Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice, Government of Kerala.

T. V. Chandran is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor, predominantly working in Malayalam cinema. Born in a Malayali family in Thalassery, Chandran worked as a Reserve Bank of India employee before entering the film industry. He started his film career as an assistant director to P. A. Backer. He also acted the lead role in Backer's highly acclaimed...

Mohiyuddin Nadukkandiyil Karassery, commonly known as M. N. Karassery, is an Indian writer and critic of Malayalam language. He is known for his writing and lectures on politics, literature, art and culture, and is a recipient of K.M. Seethi Sahib Memorial Human Fraternity Award and holds the distinguished chair in Malayalam studies at University of Calicut.

Vineeth Kumar is an Indian actor, director and screenwriter known for his work in the Malayalam film industry. He has had a career spanning decades, transitioning from a child artist to an accomplished director.

Shyamaprasad is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor who works in Malayalam films.

Jimmy George was an Indian volleyball player and captain of the Indian national volleyball team. Often dubbed the God of Indian volleyball, he is considered as one of the greatest volleyball players of all time.

Binu Padmadalakshan, known Professionally as Binu Pappu, is an Indian actor and assistant director who works in Malayalam films. He is known for his roles in films such as Helen, One, Operation Java and Bheemante Vazhi. In addition to acting, he has worked as an assistant director, assisting Aashiq Abu in his films Virus and Naradan (2019). He also worked...

K. Satchidanandan is an Indian poet and critic, writing in Malayalam and English. A pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam, a bilingual literary critic, playwright, editor, columnist and translator, he is the former editor of Indian Literature journal and the former secretary of Sahitya Akademi. He is also social advocate for secular anti-caste views, supporting causes like environment, human rights...

K. T. Jaleel is an Indian politician from Kerala and a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Thavanur and has served as Minister of Higher Education, Welfare of Minorities, Waqf and Hajj in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) -led ministry. He was first elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2006. He was an Associate Professor of History at P. S....

Ranjith Balakrishnan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. Ranjith made his directorial debut in 2001 with Ravanaprabhu, the sequel to Devaasuram. He has won three National Film Awards, including one for his film Spirit, which received the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues. His films Thirakkatha and Indian Rupee won...

Anju Bobby George is an Indian former long jumper. She made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal at the World Championships jumping 6.70 metres (22.0 ft). She went on to win the gold medal at the World...

Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which...

John Abraham is an Indian actor, writer and film producer who works in Hindi films. He is a recipient of one National Film Award along with four Filmfare Awards nominations. Abraham has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2017.

M Swaraj is an Indian politician of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a former representative of Thripunithura constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He is also a former Kerala State Secretary of Students' Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India.

Sathyabhama Das Biju is an Indian amphibian biologist, wildlife conservationist and heads the Systematics Lab at the University of Delhi, Department of Environmental Studies and is currently in Harvard University as a Radcliffe Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He is dubbed as the "Frogman of India" by media for his passion for frogs and for bringing fresh...