14 Notable alumni of University of Sunderland
Updated: June 03, 2026 EliteDegrees
University of Sunderland is ranked #1,515 in the world and #101 in United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 14 notable alumni from University of Sunderland sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with University of Sunderland won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Alex Hanna
1964-. (aged 62)
painter
Alex Hanna is an English artist. He studied Fine Art at Sunderland Polytechnic from 1983 to 1986. His paintings display arrangements of disposable packaging and objects which have little or no material value. These objects are arranged in a traditional still life format and painted using process based and traditional painting techniques.
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2. Brendan Cleary
1958-. (aged 68)
writer
Brendan Cleary is a poet who was born in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland but lives in England.
3. Michael Short
1975-. (aged 51)
university teacher
researcher
engineer
Michael Short is Professor of Control Engineering and Systems Informatics and leads the Centre for Sustainable Engineering at Teesside University in the UK. He received a BEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) in 1999 and a PhD (Robotics) in 2003 from the University of Sunderland. In 2012 he was also awarded a PGCHE from Teesside University. He was previously at the...
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4. Ortis Deley
1973-. (aged 53)
disc jockey
television presenter
actor
presenter
Ortis Deley is a British television presenter, comedian, singer, radio DJ and actor. He is of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent, best known for presenting the Children's BBC Saturday morning flagship series Live & Kicking. As of November 2021, he is a presenter on The Gadget Show. He has also co-presented Police Interceptors in the UK, with Rick Edwards. He appeared...
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5. Terry Deary
1946-. (aged 80)
theatrical director
stage actor
writer
historian
children's writer
William Terence Deary is a British children's author of 351 books, selling over 38 million copies in over 45 languages, best known as the writer of the Horrible Histories series. Since 1994 he has been one of Britain's best-selling authors. In 2012, he was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and was voted Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author of the...
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6. Carl I. Hagen
1944-. (aged 82)
public relations executive
politician
Carl Ivar Hagen is a Norwegian politician and former Vice President of the Storting, the Norwegian parliament. He was the leader of the Progress Party from 1978 to 2006, when he stepped down in favour of Siv Jensen. Under his leadership, he was the undisputed leader and, in many ways, personally controlled its ideology and policies.
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7. Azzam Tamimi
1955-. (aged 71)
political scientist
academic
politician
Azzam Tamimi is a British-Palestinian Jordanian academic and political activist. He is currently a freelance presenter at Alhiwar TV Channel. He headed the Institute of Islamic Political Thought until 2008. Tamimi has written several books on Middle Eastern and Islamic politics, including "Power-Sharing Islam", "Islam and Secularism in the Middle East", Rachid Ghannouchi, Democrat within Islamism and Hamas: A History...
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8. Tony Lawson
1950-. (aged 76)
economist
Tony Lawson is a British philosopher and economist. He is professor of economics and philosophy in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cambridge. He is a co-editor of the Cambridge Journal of Economics, a former director of the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies, and co-founder of the Cambridge Realist Workshop and the Cambridge Social Ontology Group....
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9. Mike Rumbles
1956-. (aged 70)
politician
Michael John Rumbles is a former Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland, from 2016 to 2021. He previously represented West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine before being defeated at the 2011 election in the successor constituency of Aberdeenshire West).
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10. Andrew Singleton
1972-. (aged 54)
neuroscientist
neurogeneticist
Andrew B. Singleton is a British neurogeneticist currently working in the USA. He was born in Guernsey, the Channel Islands in 1972, where he lived until he was 18 years old. His secondary education was conducted at the Guernsey Grammar School. He earned a first class degree in Applied Physiology from Sunderland University and his PhD in neuroscience from the...
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11. Peter McArdle
1965-. (aged 61)
painter
Peter McArdle is an English artist, member of the Stuckists art group, and gallery owner.
12. Jordan North
1990-. (aged 36)
radio personality
podcaster
Jordan Levi North is a British radio DJ and television presenter from York, England. Since April 2024, he has been the host of Capital Breakfast, and formerly hosted lunchtime and drivetime shows on BBC Radio 1.
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13. Steve Cram
1960-. (aged 66)
middle-distance runner
athletics competitor
marathon runner
announcer
track and field coach
Stephen Cram, CBE is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle-distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his home town, Cram set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer...
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14. Ross Pearson
1984-. (aged 42)
mixed martial arts fighter
Ross Pearson is a retired English mixed martial artist and professional boxer. A 26-fight veteran of the UFC, he was a three-time "Fight of the Night" winner and was the lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 9.
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