List of University of Kent people

A list of people related to the University of Kent.

Officers

Several positions did not technically exist prior to the formal incorporation of the University by approval of its Charter on 4 January 1965. However several were appointed beforehand as nominal "officer designates", performing the same duties. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was not formally installed as Chancellor until 30 March 1966.

Chancellors

1963–1968 Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
1970–1990 Jo Grimond – see University of Kent at Canterbury Chancellor election, 1970
1990–1995 Sir Robert Horton
1996–2006 Sir Crispin Tickell
2006–2014 Sir Robert Worcester
2014–2024 Gavin Esler
2024–present YolanDa Brown

Vice-Chancellors

1963–1980 Geoffrey Templeman
1980–1994 David J.E. Ingram
1994–2001 Robin Sibson
2001–2007 Sir David Melville
2007–2017 Dame Julia Goodfellow
2017–2024 Karen Cox

Pro Chancellors

1960–1971 Wykeham Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis
1971–1977 Sir Paul Chambers
1977–1984 Robin Leigh-Pemberton
1984–1993 Reverend David Say
1993–1999 John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne
1999–2005 Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield

Title changed to:

Chair of the Council

2005–2011 Valerie Marshall
2011–2014 John Simmonds
2014–present Sir David Warren

Visitors

The Visitor of the university is the Archbishop of Canterbury ex officio. The following Archbishops have served:

1965–1974 Michael Ramsey
1974–1980 Donald Coggan
1980–1991 Robert Runcie
1991–2002 George Carey
2002–2012 Rowan Williams
2013–2025 Justin Welby

Notable staff

Dominic Abrams – Professor of Social Psychology & Vice President of the British Academy
Andy Alaszewski – Emeritus Professor of Health Studies
Harry Bloom – South African former political activist, author
Upamanyu Chatterjee – author
David Corfield – philosopher
Elizabeth Cowie – professor of film studies at the University of Kent
Frank Furedi – founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Professor of Sociology
Robin Gill – Anglican priest and theologian
Roy Goodman – freelance conductor, violinist and organist
Matthew Goodwin – professor and researcher of British politics
Abdulrazak Gurnah – writer
Rosalyn Higgins – President of the International Court of Justice
Rosemary Hunter – Legal scholar and researcher Professor of Law
Michael J. L. Kirby – former Canadian Senator
Elena Korosteleva – Professor and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development University of Warwick
Bill MacMillan – Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia
Molly Mahood – literary scholar
David McLellan (political scientist)
Murray Smith – philosopher and film theorist; Professor of Film at the University of Kent
Hamish Swanston, the first Catholic to head a Department of Theology at a British university since the Reformation
David Turner – computer scientist, designer of the Miranda programming language
Sarah Turner – filmmaker, and Director of Research, School of Music and Fine Art
Glenn White – astronomer
John Zarnecki – space scientist and principal on the Huygens probe

Notable alumni

'''All bachelor's degrees unless stated otherwise'''

Academia

Anuwar Ali – – economist, exponent of higher education, second Vice-Chancellor and President of Open University Malaysia
Jo Fox – Director Institute of Historical Research University of London
Adrian Franklin – Professor of Sociology at the University of Tasmania
Colin Hughes – Emeritus Professor of Microbiology University of Cambridge, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
Belinda Jack – Fellow and Tutor in French at Christ Church, Oxford at the University of Oxford
Homa Katouzian – – Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Oxford
Robert Lethbridge – Former Master of Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge
Lisa Roberts – – Vice Chancellor University of Exeter
Ralph Townsend – former Headmaster of Winchester College
Patrick Collinson – Notable Elizabethan historian; – former Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge
Rupert Wegerif – Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge Fellow of Hughes Hall
Lorraine Whitmarsh – environmental psychologist, Professor at the University of Bath

Theatre film and entertainment

Farah Zeynep Abdullah – Turkish actress and singer including film The Butterfly's Dream
Heather Agyepong – Actor/performer, photographer, visual artist.
Andrew Burt – actor – the original Jack Sugden in Emmerdale
Daragh Carville – playwright and screenwriter including The Bay
Jackie Clune – actor, singer, and comedian
Alan Davies – comedian, actor, and author: work includes television QI, Bob & Rose and Jonathan Creek and book Just Ignore Him
Richard Denton – producer and director of television documentaries including Comrades and Kingswood – a Comprehensive
Lyn Gardner – theatre critic, children's writer and journalist, founding member of City Limits magazine
Mark Gillis – actor, including for the Royal Shakespeare Company, writer / director including for the indie film Sink
Stuart Hazeldine – screenwriter and film director including The Shack
Kim Ismay – actor including Royal Shakespeare Company and singer
Bruce Langley – actor, known for playing the role of Technical Boy on American Gods
Rebecca Lenkiewicz – playwright and screenwriter including Ida, Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards 2015 and She Said (film)
Laura Lexx – comedian and writer
Matthew Morsia – fitness influencer, team member Gladiators
Mark Simmons – stand-up comedian
Megan Swann – magician, President of The Magic Circle
Paul Telfer – actor, NCIS and Days of Our Lives
Ramon Tikaram – actor, This Life and EastEnders
Michelle Tsiakkas – professional dancer including Strictly Come Dancing series 22
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade – screenwriters of the film Let Him Have It and eight James Bond films including Casino Royale, Skyfall and No Time to Die
Ariel Vromen – Israeli screenwriter and film director including The Iceman
Tom Wilkinson – actor, including The Full Monty and Academy Award nominee for In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton.

Literature

Michael Baigent – – co-author of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
Valerie Bloom – poet
Debjani Chatterjee – poet
Fred D'Aguiar – novelist, playwright, poet, and academic
Abdulrazak Gurnah – academic and novelist including Paradise and 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
Jane Harper – author The Dry
Sir Kazuo Ishiguro – novelist, Man Booker Prize winner for The Remains of the Day and 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Screenwriter of Living (2022 film)
E. L. James – author Fifty Shades of Grey and film producer Fifty Shades of Grey
David Mitchell – novelist Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue
Sarah Waters – novelist Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet
David Wingrove – science fiction writer
Frederick Kambemba Yamusangie – novelist
Musaemura Zimunya – Zimbabwean contemporary author
John Lewis-Stempel – farmer and writer

Media

Rosie Boycott – journalist, former editor of The Independent and Daily Express
Janusz Bugajski – host of Bugajski Hour on several Balkan TV channels
Ian Collins – radio presenter and TalkRADIO host
Oliver Double – comedian and comedy historian
Gavin Esler – former BBC Newsnight presenter and BBC North America Editor
Shiulie Ghosh – former ITV news presenter
Fi Glover – BBC Radio 4 presenter including The Listening Project
Charlotte Green – BBC radio presenter
David Horsey – – Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
Mark Mardell – Presenter The World This Weekend BBC Radio 4, former BBC North America and Europe Editor
Matt Preston – Australian television presenter and food journalist
Carolyn Quinn – BBC Radio 4 political presenter
Paul Ross – journalist and presenter, former editor and presenter The Big Breakfast
William Sitwell – former editor of Waitrose magazine now Telegraph columnist and Masterchef presenter
Charlotte Smith – Presenter Countryfile and Farming Today
Peter White – BBC Radio 4 presenter of You and Yours and BBC Disability Affairs Correspondent
Patrick Wright – journalist, academic and author
Sahar Zand – British-Iranian journalist, television presenter and documentary maker

Music

YolanDa Brown – saxophonist, composer, broadcaster, philanthropist; double MOBO "Best Jazz" winner. Chair BPI music.
Jon DaSilva – DJ and Record Producer – House and Dance music – pioneer at The Haçienda Manchester.
Ana Free – Portuguese singer songwriter.
Barbara Gaskin – singer – recorded No 1 hit single "It's My Party" with Dave Stewart
Ellie Goulding – singer / songwriter albums include Lights
Steve Hillage – guitarist
Lami Phillips – Nigerian singer / songwriter and actress
Tiwa Savage – Nigerian singer / songwriter

Business

Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss – CEO Rock Creek, Former Chief Investment Officer World Bank, Carnegie Corporation of New York Great Immigrants, Great Americans list 2020
Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad - Qatari Businessman and Chairman of GSSG Holding
James Buckley-Thorp – Founder and Chief Executive Officer Bequest
Zameer Choudrey, Baron Choudrey – Chief Executive Bestway Group
Wayne Garvie – President International Production at Sony Pictures Television
Tristia Harrison – Chief Executive Officer TalkTalk Group
Max Hole – former Chairman and Chief of Global Operations Universal Music
Carolyn McCall – Chief Executive Officer ITV
Charles Wigoder – Executive Chairman Telecom Plus

Sports

Paul Ackford – former England Rugby and British and Irish Lions rugby player, The Sunday Telegraph sports journalist
Adam Ball – former England Under 19 Cricket Captain who played for Kent County Cricket Club
Natasha Brennan – Women's Rugby Union player – Won the gold medal with the 2014 Women's World Cup England Rugby team.
David Fulton – cricketer, former captain of Kent County Cricket Club
Adebola Oluwo - Professional footballer. Central defender for Salford City FC EFL League division 2.
Wayne Otto – British Karate Champion – Winner of multiple gold medals at Karate World Championships
Jamie Reeves – – semi-professional footballer who won the FA Vase twice; pundit on the ESPN Star Sports coverage of the Premier League
Susannah Townsend – Great Britain, England and Canterbury field hockey player, Gold medal winner 2016 Summer Olympics, Bronze medal winner 2020 Summer Olympics

Military

Joshua Leakey – known for courageous actions in the Afghanistan campaign in 2015; recipient of the Victoria Cross

Miscellaneous

Madeline Argy – Podcaster, Influencer
Chris Broad – YouTuber
Tom Frame – - Australian Christian minister of religion, historian, author, and social commentator
Akaliza Keza Gara – Rwandan IT activist
Rachael House – artist
Philip Howard – Michelin starred chef – The Square and then Elystan Street
Leon McCarron – Northern Irish adventurer, author, filmmaker, broadcaster. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Yale World Fellow 2024.
Duro Olowu – Fashion Designer
Martin Poll – Canon Chaplain of St George's Chapel Windsor Castle
Stephen Shaw - – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales
Johnny Yeo – artist and portraitist – his paintings are included in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London

Honorary doctorates

Andrea Arnold, film director, doctorate of arts
Giles Clark, conservationist, doctorate of science
Iain Dale, radio broadcaster and political commentator, doctor of the university
Michael Morpurgo, author and playwright, doctorate of letters
PinkPantheress, singer and producer, doctorate of music