List of Australian National University people

Alumni

Academia

• Robert Addo-Fening, historian and academic
• Des Ball, security specialist and ANU Professor
• Andrew Barker, British classicist
• Joanna Bourke, historian and academic
• Rosi Braidotti, feminist
• Bob Brissenden, poet, novelist, critic and academic
• Harold Brookfield, academic
• Verity Burgmann, academic
• Dipesh Chakrabarty, historian and theorist
• Yang Hi Choe-Wall, Koreanist
• Peter Coutts, archaeologist
• Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne since 2005
• John Deeble, architect of Medicare
• Peter Drysdale, economist
• Alan Dupont, academic
• Stevan Eldred-Grigg, historian and novelist
• Nicholas Evans, linguist
• Alan Finkel, historian
• John Frow, academic
• Bill Gammage, historian
• Ross Garnaut, economist
• Geoffrey Garrett, political scientist, dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
• Alan Gilbert, Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne 1996–2004; Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester 2004–2010
• Malcolm Gillies, Vice-Chancellor of London Metropolitan University
• Nicholas Gruen, economist
• William Hale, academic
• Allan Hawke, diplomat and ANU Chancellor
• Chris Heyde, probabilist
• Brij Lal, historian
• Marcia Langton, anthropologist, geographer
• Donald Laycock, linguist
• Michael McRobbie, President of Indiana University
• Toby Miller, academic
• David Nash, linguist
• Harjot Oberoi, academic
• Patrick O'Farrell, historian
• Diane Pearson, Professor in Environmental Management
• John Quiggin, economist
• Margaret Reeson, historian
• Ralph Regenvanu, anthropologist, artist and politician
• Elizabeth Anne Reid, academic
• Leslie Lloyd Robson, historian
• Michael Roe, historian
• Jessa Rogers, Aboriginal educator
• Leonie Sandercock, academic
• Carmel Schrire, anthropologist
• Bernard Smith, art historian
• Clem Tisdell, economist
• Hrvoje Tkalčić, geophysicist
• Donald Tuzin, social anthropologist
• Tarisi Vunidilo, Fijian archaeologist and curator
• Rolf Zinkernagel, Nobel Prize winning medical researcher
• Pamela Gutman, Burmese art historian

Business

• Graham Tuckwell, investor and founder of ETF Securities, an Australian asset management firm
• Rob Scott, CEO of Wesfarmers
• Elizabeth Bryan, business executive and former CEO of Deutsche Asset Management
• John Bryant, CEO of Kellogg's
• Cheong Choong Kong, former CEO of Singapore Airlines and current Chairman of OCBC Bank
• Swarnim Wagle, economist from Nepal, worked in World Bank and Asian Development Bank, former vice chairman of National Planning Commission of Nepal
• Chris Corrigan, former CEO of Patrick Corporation and current Chairman of Qube Holdings
• Sam Prince, founder of Zambrero, one of the largest Australian fast food restaurant franchise serving Mexican cuisine

Government

Politicians

Prime Ministers of Australia

• Bob Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia 1983–1991
• Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia 2007–2010, 2013

  Other federal politicians

• Phil Barresi, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1996–2007
• Kim Beazley Sr, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1945–1977; Federal Minister 1972–1975
• Bob Catley, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1990–1993
• Barry Cohen, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1969–1990
• Stephen Conroy, Member of the Australian Senate since 2006; Federal Minister 2007–2013
• Craig Emerson, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 1998; Federal Minister 2007–2013
• Chris Gallus, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1990–2004
• Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Member of the Australian Senate 2005-2022
• Peter Garrett, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004; Federal Minister 2007–2013
• Gary Gray, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2007; Federal Minister since 2010–2013
• Alan Griffin, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 1993; Federal Minister 2007–2010
• Dame Margaret Guilfoyle, Member of the Australian Senate 1971–1987
• Harry Jenkins, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 1986; Speaker of the House 2008–2011
• Michael Keenan, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 2004-2019
• John Kerin, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1972–1993; Federal Minister 1983–1993
• Catherine King, Member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001; Federal Minister 2013
• Joe Ludwig, Member of the Australian Senate since 1999; Federal Minister 2007–2013
• Brett Mason, Member of the Australian Senate since 1999
• Sam Mostyn, Governor General of Australia since 2024
• Nick Minchin, Member of the Australian Senate 1993–2011; Federal Minister 1997–2007
• Susan Ryan, Member of the Australian Senate 1975–1988
• Zed Seselja, Member of the Australian Senate 2013-2022
• Warwick Smith, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1984–1998; Federal Minister 1996–1998
• Warren Snowdon, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1987-2022; Federal Minister 2007–2013
• Alex Somlyay, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1990–2013; Federal Minister 1997–1998
• Peter White, Member of the Australian House of Representatives 1981–1990

State Premiers and territory Chief Ministers

State Premiers

• Jeff Kennett, Premier of Victoria 1992–1999
• Barry O'Farrell, Premier of New South Wales 2011–2014

  Territory Chief Ministers

• Andrew Barr, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory since 2014
• Katy Gallagher, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory 2011–2014
• Gary Humphries, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory 2000–2001
• Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory 2001–2011
• Shane Stone, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory 1995–1999

  Other State and territory politicians

• Michael Pettersson, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016
• Alistair Coe, ACT Opposition Leader, and Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 2008-2021
• Roslyn Dundas, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 2001–2004
• John Hannaford, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1984–2000; State Minister 1990–1995
• Kate Jones, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 2007–2012; State Minister 2009–2011
• Andrew McIntosh, Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1999
• Michael Moore, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1989–2001
• Shane Rattenbury, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2008; Speaker of the Assembly 2008–2012
• Chris Steel, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016
• Zed Seselja, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2004; Leader of the Opposition 2007–2013
• Andrew Tink, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1988–2007
• Michael Yabsley, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council 1984–1994; State Minister 1988–1992

Civil servants

• Glenys Beauchamp, Secretary of the Department of Industry since 2013
• Peter Boxall, Secretary of the Department of Finance 1997–2002
• Stephen Brady, Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia since 2008
• Blair Comley, Secretary of the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency 2011–2013
• Peta Credlin, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott 2013–2015
• Gordon de Brouwer, Secretary of the Department of the Environment since 2013
• Paul Dibb, Director of the Joint Intelligence Organisation 1986–1988 and Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence of the Department of Defence 1988–1991
• Bernie Fraser, Secretary of the Australian Treasury 1984–1989
• Paul Grimes, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture since 2013
• Jane Halton, Secretary of the Department of Health (Australia) since 2001
• Stuart Hamilton, Secretary of the Department of Environment 1993–1996
• Allan Hawke, Secretary of the Department of Defence 1999–2002
• Chris Higgins, Secretary of the Australian Treasury 1989–1990
• Michael Keating, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet 1991–1996
• Renée Leon, Secretary of the Department of Employment since 2013
• Bill McLennan, Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995–2000
• Simon Overland, Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police 2009–2011
• Martin Parkinson, Secretary of the Australian Treasury 2011–2014
• Lisa Paul, Secretary of the Department of Education (Australia) since 2004
• Finn Pratt, Secretary of the Department of Social Services since 2009
• Don Russell, Secretary of the Department of Industry 2011–2013
• Patricia Scott, Secretary of the Department of Communications 2007–2009
• Rod Sims, Chairman of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
• Dennis Trewin, Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2000–2007
• Nick Warner, Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service

  Diplomats

• Richard Butler, Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations 1992–1996
• Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Bangladeshi Ambassador to the United Nations 2001–2007; Foreign Minister ; Principal Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
• Martin Indyk, United States Ambassador to Israel 1995–1997 and 2000–2001
• Sione Ngongo Kioa, Tongan Ambassador to 10 countries
• Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary-General for the Environment and Climate Action, Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
• Feleti Teo, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat 2008
• Peter Woolcott, former Australian Ambassador to Italy
• Rathakit Manathat, former Thai Ambassador to China

  United Nations officials

• Robert Piper, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, with the rank of United Nations Assistant Secretary General; founding member of the Doug Anthony Allstars
• Mai Sato, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran

  Foreign officials

• Chirayu Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, Director of the Crown Property Bureau of Thailand and the Chief Economic Advisor in the Privy Council of H.M. The King of Thailand
• Chatib Basri, Finance Minister in the Indonesian Government 2013–2014
• Don Brash, Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand 2003–2006, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand 1988–2002
• Patricia Hewitt, Member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 1997–2010; British Minister 2001–2007
• Carlos Jarque, Mexican Government Minister 1995–2000
• Prince Katsura, Member of the Imperial House of Japan
• Gordon Darcy Lilo, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands since 2011
• Marty Natalegawa, Foreign Minister of Indonesia 2009–2014
• Mari Pangestu, Minister in the Indonesian Government since 2004
• Kuini Speed, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji 1999–2000
• Teuea Toatu, the Vice-President and Minister for Finance & Economic Development of Kiribati since 2019 and 2016, respectively.
• Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Foreign Minister of Mongolia since 2017
• Jian Yang, Member of the House of Representatives of New Zealand since 2011
• Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, the Crown Prince of Tonga since 2012

Law

Justices of the High Court of Australia

• Stephen Gageler, Chief Justice of Australia since 2023; Justice of the High Court of Australia since 2012; Solicitor-General of Australia 2008–2012
• Geoffrey Nettle, Justice of the High Court of Australia 2015–2020

Judges of the Federal Court of Australia

• Tony Whitlam, Judge of the Federal Court of Australia 1993–2005

Judges of the Supreme Courts of Australian states and territories

• Peter Buchanan, Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 1997
• Terence Higgins, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory since 2003
• Catherine Holmes, Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland since 2000
• Geoffrey Nettle, Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 2002
• Janine Pritchard, Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia since 2010

President of the Chamber of the Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand

• Rathakit Manathat, President of the Chamber of the Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand since 2022

Federal Magistrates of Australia

• John Pascoe, Chief Federal Magistrate of Australia since 2004

Legal practitioners

• Tupou Draunidalo, Fijian Lawyer
• Jennifer Robinson, human rights and WikiLeaks lawyer; Rhodes Scholar 2006

Law professors

• George Williams, Vice Chancellor at Western Sydney University; constitutional law expert
• Megan Davis, Scientia Professor at the UNSW Faculty of Law; constitutional law expert

Humanities

Arts

• David Bradbury, filmmaker
• Michael Brand, art scholar
• Ronny Chieng, comedian
• Jim Cotter, composer
• Jessica Cottis, conductor
• Ian Cresswell, composer
• Will Firth, translator
• Hannah Gadsby, comedian
• Alister Grierson, director and scriptwriter
• Emma Holland, comedian
• Geoffrey Lancaster, classical pianist and conductor
• Henry Nixon, actor
• Tim Rogers, musician
• Richard Roxburgh, actor
• Nagita Slavina, Indonesian actress
• Adam Spreadbury-Maher, theatre director and producer
• Katia Tiutiunnik, composer
• Sally Whitwell, ARIA Award-winning pianist

Journalism and media

• Bettina Arndt, journalist
• Cynthia Banham, journalist and academic
• Alice T. Days, documentary filmmaker
• Toby Hendy, science communicator and YouTuber
• Ann Jones, environmental journalist, radio and television presenter
• Paul McDermott, comedian and television host
• Stephen Rice, journalist
• Peter Thompson, journalist

Literature, writing and poetry

• Don Aitkin, writer
• Diane Bell, anthropologist, author
• Michael Byrne, poet
• Kevin Hart, poet and literary critic
• Matussin Omar, writer
• Debra Oswald, scriptwriter
• Guy Pearse, author
• Gayla Reid, writer
• Pierre Ryckmans, writer, translator, sinologist
• David Vernon, writer and sceptic
• Gerard Windsor, author and literary critic
• Vanessa Woods, author
• Shahnon Ahmad, prose writer, Malaysian National Laureate

Military

• Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, Vice Chief of the Defence Force

Sciences

Astronomy

• Jessie Christiansen, exoplanetologist
• Don VandenBerg, astronomer

Biology

• Nerilie Abram, climate scientist
• Leanne Armand, marine scientist
• Ian Brooker, botanist
• Kirsten Parris, urban ecologist
• Susanne von Caemmerer, plant physiologist

Chemistry

• John Shine, biochemist
• Roland Stocker, biochemist
• G. S. R. Subba Rao, bio-organic chemist

Mathematics

• John Coates, mathematician
• Michael Cowling, mathematician
• Peter Hall, statistician
• Adrian Pagan, econometrician
• Charles E. M. Pearce, mathematician

Medicine

• Colin Butler, physician and humanitarian
• Anne Castles, cognitive scientist of reading and language
• Sir William Liley, perinatal physiologist
• Adrian Liston, immunologist
• Rodolfo Llinás, neuroscientist
• Robert Webster, virologist

Physics

• Rodney Jory, physicist
• Ross H. McKenzie, physicist
• Keith Nugent, physicist

Sport

• William Cheung, kung fu practitioner
• David Gallop, CEO of the Football Federation Australia
• Lincoln Hall, mountain climber
• Tal Karp, female Australian football player
• Stephen Larkham, rugby player, World Cup winner
• Tim Macartney-Snape, mountaineer

Other

• Brian George Farran, bishop
• Bettina Gorton, wife of John Gorton, Prime Minister of Australia
• James Popple, CEO of the Law Council of Australia
• Naomi Rono, World Bank advisor
• Teretia Tokam, women's rights activist
• Andrew Tridgell, computer programmer
• Barbara Vernon, birth activist
• Tom Worthington, computer programmer

Faculty

• Anthony Irvine Adams, public health physician
• Patrick Atiyah, English barrister and legal writer
• Arthur Llewellyn Basham, South Asian historian
• Michael Barnsley, mathematician and entrepreneur
• Bronwyn Parry, Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences
• Larissa Behrendt, academic; Professor of Indigenous Research
• Coral Bell, Senior Research Fellow in International Relations
• David Bensusan-Butt, economist
• Arthur Birch, organic chemist
• Boediono, Indonesian Vice President
• Richard P. Brent, mathematical scientist
• Miroslav Bukovsky, composer
• Sydney James Butlin, economist, historian
• Chilla Bulbeck, women's studies
• Hedley Bull, Professor of International Relations
• Harvey Raymond Butcher, astronomer
• John Caldwell, demographer
• Yang Hi Choe-Wall, Koreanist
• Manning Clark, historian
• John Coates, mathematician
• John Cockcroft, Nobel Prize- winning nuclear physicist, former chancellor
• H. C. Coombs, economist and public servant
• David P. Craig, research chemist
• Gavan Daws, historian and writer
• Rafe de Crespigny, sinologist
• Robert Dessaix, novelist and essayist
• Paul Dibb, Professor of Strategic Studies and Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre
• Peter C. Doherty, Nobel Prize-winning immunologist
• Thomas K. Donaldson, mathematician
• Robert M. Douglas, medical researcher
• Sir John Eccles, Nobel Prize-winning neurophysiologist
• Fred Emery, social scientist
• Kep Enderby, lawyer and politician
• Denis Evans, physicist and chemist
• Frank Fenner, scientist
• C. P. Fitzgerald, historian
• Michael Flood, sociologist
• Howard Florey, Nobel Prize-winning medical researcher, former chancellor
• Derek Freeman, anthropologist
• Robert Gilbert, polymer chemist
• Peter Godfrey-Smith, philosopher and author of the book Other Minds
• Colin Groves, anthropologist
• Fred Gruen, economist
• Wang Gungwu, specialist in studying the Chinese diaspora
• Sir (William) Keith Hancock, historian
• Peter Firman Harrison, architect and town planner
• Peter Dunstan Hastings, journalist and editor
• Anthony F. Hill, in synthetic, organometallic & coordination chemistry
• A. D. Hope, poet and essayist
• Leonard Huxley, physicist
• Ken Inglis, historian
• Edward A. Irving, geologist
• Zvonimir Janko, mathematician
• Frank Lancaster Jones, sociologist
• Rhys Jones, archaeologist
• James Jupp, political scientist
• Peter Karmel, economist
• Roger Keesing, anthropologist
• Ben Kerkvliet, political scientist
• Brij Lal, historian, novelist and writer of non-fiction
• Geoffrey Lancaster, musicologist and pianist
• Andrew Leigh, economist and federal politician
• Ian McAllister, Irish-Australian public opinion political scientist
• Gavan McCormack, Orientalist
• Helen McGregor, geologist and climate change researcher, a Fellow with the Research School of Earth Sciences
• Brendan McKay, computer scientist
• Warwick McKibbin, economist
• Lew Mander, organic chemist
• Henry Evans Maude, anthropologist
• Achdiat Karta Mihardja, novelist and writer
• T. B. Millar, historian and political scientists
• John Minford, sinologist and literary translator
• Pat Moran, statistician
• Fred Nadel, anthropologist
• Bernhard Neumann, mathematician
• Hanna Neumann, mathematician, first female professor of mathematics in Australia
• Cliff Ollier, geologist
• Sir Mark Oliphant, physicist and Governor of South Australia
• Sarah Pryke, ecologist
• Lindsay Pryor, botanist
• Leo Radom, research chemist
• Anthony Reid, historian of Southeast Asia
• James Mahmud Rice, sociologist
• Ted Ringwood, geologist
• Malcolm Ross, linguist
• Amin Saikal, political scientist
• Brian P. Schmidt, Nobel Prize winning physicist
• Peter Self, academic
• Thomas Smith, economist
• Allan Snyder, optical physicist, visual scientist
• Oskar Spate, geographer
• Trevor Swan, economist
• Sir Ernest Titterton, nuclear physicist
• Neil Trudinger, mathematician
• Royall Tyler, Japan specialist
• Jonathan Unger, contemporary China specialist
• Michael Vernon, scientist and consumer activist
• Carola Garcia de Vinuesa, Head of the Department of Pathogens and Immunity at the College of Medicine
• Ling Wang (Wang Ling), historian of Chinese science
• Hugh White, Professor of Strategic Studies and Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre
• Jack Waterford, journalist
• Anna Wierzbicka, linguist

Philanthropy

• Phyllis Duguid, teacher, Aboriginal and women's rights advocate.

Administration

Chancellors