36 Notable alumni of University of Zimbabwe
Updated: May 10, 2026 EliteDegrees
University of Zimbabwe is ranked #2,012 in the world and #1 in Zimbabwe by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 36 notable alumni from University of Zimbabwe 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 Zimbabwe won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. 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.
+ show more
2. Xoliswa Sithole
1967-. (aged 59)
filmmaker
film director
film producer
film actor
Xoliswa Sithole is a South African actress and documentary filmmaker, raised in Zimbabwe. she won a BAFTA in 2004 for her documentary Orphans Of Nkandla. She won a Peabody Award in 2010 and a BAFTA in 2011 for her documentary Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children.
+ show more
3. Virginia Mabiza
diplomat
lawyer
Virginia Mabiza, is a Zimbabwean lawyer and politician in Zimbabwe. In 2018 she was permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
+ show more
4. Mike Nicholas Sango
1955-. (aged 71)
diplomat
military personnel
Mike Nicholas Sango is a Zimbabwean diplomat, Major general (rtd) and Zimbabwe's ambassador to Russia. He served in the Zimbabwe Liberation War as a member of the ZANLA from 1975 to 1980, which led to the country's attainment of independence and multiracial democracy.
+ show more
5. Pride Chigwedere
1974-. (aged 52)
scientist
physician
Pride Chigwedere, a Zimbabwean national, is a Harvard trained physician-scientist working in global health. He is most notable for leading a team of Harvard researchers who demonstrated that South African President Thabo Mbeki's AIDS policies led to more than 300 000 deaths. While South Africa's policies were condemned by many, Chigwedere's contribution was in developing and applying methods to quantify...
+ show more
6. Julian Harston
1942-. (aged 84)
civil servant
Julian Harston, son of Colonel Clive Harston, King's African Rifles, is an independent consultant on International Peace and Security matters. He retired as an Assistant Secretary-General in the United Nations. His last post was as the Representative of the Secretary-General in Belgrade, Serbia. Prior to this until March 2009 he was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General heading MINURSO Western...
+ show more
7. Henry Mwandumba
scientist
Henry Charles Mwandumba is a Malawian Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme. He works on the tuberculosis phagosome in the University of Malawi College of Medicine, and serves as President of the Federation of African Immunological Societies. In 2019 Mwandumba was awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize.
+ show more
8. Oppah Muchinguri
1958-. (aged 68)
politician
minister
Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri is a Zimbabwean politician who serves as minister of defence in the cabinet of Zimbabwe since 2018. She has also served as Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Women's Affairs. Muchinguri ran as the ZANU-PF candidate for Mutasa Central constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election, but was defeated by Trevor Saruwaka of the Movement...
+ show more
9. Betty Makoni
1971-. (aged 55)
activist
Hazviperi Betty Makoni is a Zimbabwean women's rights activist who in 1999 founded the Girl Child Network, a charity which supports Zimbabwe's young sex abuse victims. The network has since expanded to the US, Europe, and various countries in Africa.
+ show more
10. Sibusiso Moyo
1960-2021 (aged 61)
minister
military personnel
politician
Sibusiso Busi Moyo was a Zimbabwean politician and army Lieutenant general. He was noted for announcing the ousting of Robert Mugabe on national television during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état. He went on to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in the cabinet of Emmerson Mnangagwa from November 2017 until his death.
+ show more
11. Tendai Biti
1966-. (aged 60)
politician
minister
Tendai Laxton Biti is a Zimbabwean politician who served as Finance Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He is the second Vice President of Citizens Coalition for Change. He was the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change and the subsequent Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T) political parties and a Member of Parliament for Harare East until...
+ show more
12. James Manyika
partner
business executive
James M. Manyika is a Zimbabwean-American academic consultant, and business executive. He is currently a Senior Vice President at Google-Alphabet and a member of the senior leadership team. He is also known for his research and scholarship into the intersection of technology and the economy, including artificial intelligence, robotics automation, and the future of work. He is Google's first Senior...
+ show more
13. Gideon Gono
1959-. (aged 67)
politician
banker
Gideon Gono is a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, serving from 2003 to 2013, and is the former CEO of the CBZ Bank Limited.
14. Arthur Mutambara
1966-. (aged 60)
minister
engineer
politician
Arthur G.O. Mutambara is an academic and technology expert currently serving as the director and full professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa.
+ show more
15. Welshman Ncube
1961-. (aged 65)
minister
civil servant
politician
Welshman Ncube is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC). He is a practicing lawyer in the firm Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, where he is the senior partner at their Bulawayo offices....
+ show more
16. Robert Hayward
1949-. (aged 77)
politician
Robert Antony Hayward, Baron Hayward, OBE is a British Conservative Party politician and media commentator.
17. Petina Gappah
1971-. (aged 55)
novelist
jurist
journalist
commercial lawyer
short story writer
Petina Gappah is a Zimbabwean lawyer and writer. She writes in English, though she also draws on Shona, her first language. In 2016, she was named African Literary Person of the Year by Brittle Paper. In 2017 she had a DAAD Artist-in-Residence fellowship in Berlin.
+ show more
18. Fadzayi Mahere
1985-. (aged 41)
lawyer
politician
Fadzayi Mahere is a Zimbabwean lawyer and politician who quit as Member of Parliament for Mount Pleasant Constituency in Harare. She was the National Spokesperson for the Citizens Coalition for Change, a political party in Zimbabwe between 2022 and 2023. After a career in legal advocacy, she emerged around April 2016 first as an independent parliamentary candidate, and participated in...
+ show more
19. Peter McLaughlin
1956-. (aged 70)
historian
author
Peter McLaughlin is an Irish academic, historian, and educator. He is the CEO of Max Learning Limited, the educational arm of the Max Group. He was Headmaster of The Doon School. Before joining Doon in 2009, he served as Headmaster of Douai School, and Principal of the British International School in Cairo and of Casterton School in England. McLaughlin retired...
+ show more
20. Trevor Ncube
1962-. (aged 64)
journalist
Trevor Vusumuzi Ncube is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher now living in South Africa and publishing in both countries. As an editor and publisher, he was a critical voice in media of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government.
+ show more
21. Tendai Huchu
1982-. (aged 44)
writer
Tendai Huchu who also writes as T. L. Huchu is a Zimbabwean author, known for his novels The Hairdresser of Harare (2010), The Maestro, The Magistrate & The Mathematician (2014), and The Edinburgh Nights series.
+ show more
22. Tawana Kupe
Tawana Kupe is a Zimbabwean academic. He was the vice-chancellor of the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Prior to this appointment he held several senior positions at the University of Witwatersrand, including deputy vice-chancellor and vice-principal, where he also founded the Media Studies Department. He also lectured at Rhodes University. Before Rhodes, he worked in various academic capacities at...
+ show more
23. Frederick Shava
1949-. (aged 77)
diplomat
minister
politician
Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava is a Zimbabwean politician who was appointed Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology on 15 October 2024. He was formerly the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2 March 2021 to 15 October 2024. He also serves as a member of the Senate representing Midlands Province, having been sworn in on 17 March...
+ show more
24. Auxillia Mnangagwa
1963-. (aged 63)
politician
Auxillia Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician and has served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe since November 2017, as the wife of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. After spending over ten years at the Ministry of Manpower and Development, she joined the Prime Minister's office in 1992. She was elected as a ZANU–PF Member of Parliament in 2015, serving for the same...
+ show more
25. Grace Mugabe
1965-. (aged 61)
politician
Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, politician and the widow of the late President Robert Mugabe. She served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1996 until her husband's resignation in November 2017, a week after he was ousted from power in the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état. Starting as a secretary to Mugabe, she rose in the ranks of...
+ show more
26. Lucian Msamati
1976-. (aged 50)
playwright
television actor
stage actor
actor
Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati is a British-Tanzanian actor, director, producer, and writer. He is known for his work in theatre, film, television and radio. His notable screen roles include Salladhor Saan in the HBO series Game of Thrones, J.L.B. Matekoni in the BBC/HBO adaptation of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, David Runihura in the Netflix/BBC thriller Black Earth Rising,...
+ show more
27. Nelson Chamisa
1978-. (aged 48)
minister
lawyer
politician
Nelson Chamisa is a Zimbabwean politician and the former President of the Citizens Coalition For Change. He served as Member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana East, Harare. Chamisa was the MDC Alliance's candidate for president in the 2018 general election, having previously been the leader of the party's youth assembly. He was the Presidential candidate for...
+ show more
28. John McDowell
1942-. (aged 84)
university teacher
philosopher
John Henry McDowell FBA is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, ancient philosophy, nature, and meta-ethics, McDowell's most influential work has been in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. McDowell was one of three recipients of the...
+ show more
29. Tonderai Kasu
1999-2004 (aged 5)
municipal clerk
official
business consultant
researcher
philanthropist
Tonderai Kasu is a community and corporate leader in Zimbabwe. A medical doctor by training, he was the substantive Director of Health and Environmental Services for Chitungwiza, and has been the Acting Town Clerk or Acting Chief Executive, of the Chitungwiza Municipality.
+ show more
30. Thokozani Khuphe
1963-. (aged 63)
politician
minister
Thokozani Khupe is a Zimbabwean politician, trade unionist and CCC party member. She was Deputy Prime Minister 2009–13.
31. Levi Nyagura
mathematician
Levi Martin Nyagura is a Zimbabwean academic. He was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe in January 2003 and was subsequently reappointed for a second, third and a fourth term, the latter of which ended in mid 2018.
+ show more
32. Rebecca Kadaga
1956-. (aged 70)
minister
lawyer
politician
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga is a Ugandan lawyer and politician who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 19 May 2011 until 21 May 2021. She is the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda and the Minister for East African Community Affairs, in the Cabinet of Uganda.
+ show more
33. Jessie Majome
1971-. (aged 55)
lawyer
politician
Fungayi Jessie Majome was a Member of the National Assembly of the Parliament of Zimbabwe for Harare West constituency on an MDC-T ticket elected 1st in 2008 and then in 2013. She was the Chairperson of Parliament of Zimbabwe's Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. She was a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee and the Portfolio Committee...
+ show more
34. Chenjerai Hove
1956-2015 (aged 59)
poet
writer
Chenjerai Hove, was a Zimbabwean poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both English and Shona. "Modernist in their formal construction, but making extensive use of oral conventions, Hove's novels offer an intense examination of the psychic and social costs - to the rural population, especially, of the war of liberation in Zimbabwe." He died on 12 July 2015 while...
+ show more
35. Lulama Xingwana
1955-. (aged 71)
politician
minister
Lulama "Lulu" Marytheresa Xingwana is a South African politician who served as Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities from November 2010 to May 2014. Previously she held the position of Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy from 2004 to 2006, was Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs from 2006 to 2009, succeeding Thoko Didiza, and was Minister of...
+ show more
36. Manuel de Araújo
1970-. (aged 56)
politician
economist
Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo is a Mozambican politician who has been Mayor of Quelimane since December 2011.