Notable alumni

BSc Chemistry 1984, Hon DSc 2017

Scientist and astronaut

Helen Sharman made history when she became the first Briton to go into space in 1991. The Sheffield-born scientist spent eight days on the Mir Space Station investigating the effects of weightlessness on physical, chemical and biological systems. She is now a leading ambassador for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and is President of the Institute of Science & Technology (IST).

LLB Law 1977, Hon LittD 2009

Author

Lee Child is an internationally renowned crime writer and the creator of the Jack Reacher series of novels and films. The books have been published in 49 languages and have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Lee's philanthropic work includes funding over 50 Jack Reacher Scholarships at the University, as well as returning to Sheffield to inspire current students.

BSc Psychology 2007, Hon LittD 2010

Olympic gold-medal winning athlete

Sheffield-born Jessica Ennis-Hill is one of Great Britain's most decorated athletes. Her achievements include winning heptathlon gold at the 2012 Olympics in London and heptathlon silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In 2011 she was awarded an MBE, and in 2013 she received a CBE for services to athletics and was made a Dame in 2016.

BJur Law 1973, Hon LittD 2005

Author

Hilary Mantel is the two-time winner of the Booker Prize for her best-selling novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Sales for both books have reached over 5 million copies worldwide. She is the author of fourteen books, including A Place of Greater Safety, Beyond Black, and the memoir Giving Up the Ghost. Hilary was awarded a CBE in 2006 and a made a Dame in 2014 for services to literature.

BA History 1998, MA Journalism Studies 1999, Hon LittD 2019

Sports Journalist

Dan is one of the hosts of BBC Breakfast and has been a longstanding figure of BBC Sport. He is the host of Football Focus and has covered a huge number of events, including several World Cups and Wimbledon tournaments. Dan still lives in Sheffield and is an active member of the Department of Journalism.

Former student, Hon LittD 2006

Comedian and campaigner

Eddie Izzard is one of Britain’s leading comedians, actors and writers. Her career began here in Sheffield at the Drama Studio. She’s also well known for her political activism and fundraising achievements, once running 43 marathons in 51 days in aid of Sport Relief. Eddie was elected as the Honorary President of Sheffield Students’ Union in 2010.

BA English Literature 1982, Hon LittD 2001

Director and producer

Stephen Daldry is a BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony and Laurence Olivier award-winning winning theatre and film director and producer. He started his career at Sheffield's Crucible theatre. His work includes the films Billy Elliott, The Hours, The Reader and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and the Netflix series, The Crown.

BA Architectural Studies 1986, Hon LittD 2019

Designer

In 1996 Douglas co-founded ‘Goods of Desire’ (G.O.D.) a creative house, designing and selling their own interior household products. G.O.D. now operates eight stores throughout Hong Kong and Singapore, and is one of the most celebrated brands to come out of Hong Kong.

BA English Literature 2002

Screenwriter and playwright

Lucy Prebble is a successful playwright and screenwriter, best known for writing on Succession, I Hate Suzie, and for creating the television series Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Her theatre work includes ENRON and A Very Expensive Poison. In 2018 Lucy was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

LLB Law 1971, Hon LLD 2005

Lady Justice of Appeal, Chancellor of the University of Sheffield

Lady Justice Rafferty served as a Lord Justice of Appeal following her appointment to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2011 until her retirement in 2020. Through her career, she has presided over numerous high-profile cases and has made a substantial contribution to our legal system. She was appointed Chancellor of the University in 2015.

BA Politics 1972, Hon LittD 2016

Former Member of Parliament and Home Secretary

David became the youngest ever councillor in Britain, aged just 22 whilst studying at Sheffield, and was elected as MP for Sheffield Brightside in the 1987 general election. Following that, he served as the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, and later became Home Secretary, and finally Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

BSc Chemistry 1980, Hon LLD 1994

Company Director

Penny is the former director and chair of companies including Coca-Cola UK & Ireland, Gap, The Body Shop, Vodafone, RBS, Morrisons and Aston Martin Lagonda. Currently she is Chair of The Gym Group and Riverstone.

BSc Chemistry 1965, PhD Chemistry 1968, Hon DSc 1994

Nobel Prize winning Chemist and Molecular Biologist

Sir Richard is a Nobel Prize winning Chemist and Molecular Biologist, whose research has focussed around the structure of genes and DNA, as well as their restriction and modification. His work with the common cold virus, for which he won his Nobel Prize, has had immense significance for both medical treatments and evolution.

BA Latin, French and Economics 1925

Aviator 

Amy followed her studies at Sheffield by training to become a pilot, obtaining her licence and qualifying as the first British female ground engineer, working on and maintaining planes. In 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia.

BA Economics 1955, Hon LittD 1984

Former Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury and Former Chancellor of University of Sheffield

Sir Peter spent most of his career working in the Treasury, and served with nice Chancellors as the Permanent Secretary. After leaving the Civil Service, he joined Barclays Bank becoming Group Chairman, before retiring in 2004. He also served as Chancellor of the University from 1999 to 2015.

BA Archaeology & Prehistory 2001, Hon DMus 2013

Opera Singer

Elizabeth is a renowned opera singer whose voice has been described as “one of the most beautiful Britain has produced in a generation”. Having toured the world she was made an honorary Doctor of Music by the University in 2013 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 2017.

BSc Chemistry 1949, PhD Biochemistry 1953, Hon DSc 1979

Biochemist

Sir Hans studied at Sheffield with Nobel Prize winner Sir Hans Krebs, and went on to become a notable biochemist himself. His work has focussed the molecular basis of metabolic processes that enable micro-organisms to utilize simple compounds for energy and growth, and has held senior posts at the Universities of Leicester, Cambridge and Boston.

PhD Law 1965, Hon LLD 2009

Former President of Dominica

Dr Liverpool held several senior state positions in his native Dominica, including Chairmanships of the Police and Telecommunications commissions, and ultimately being appointed as President of the Commonwealth of Dominica. He was so successful in this role that the Prime Minister and leader of the opposition jointly requested he stay on as President for a second term.

BA English Literature 1979, Hon DMus 2012

Musician

Martin Fry came to prominence as the lead singer of 1980s pop band ABC. Between 1982 and 1991, the band had a string of hits with songs such as Poison Arrow, The Look of Love and Tears Are Not Enough.

LLB Law 1964, PhD Law 1971, Hon LLD 2003

Retired Lord Justice of Appeal

Lord Justice Kay became the first Sheffield graduate to be appointed a Justice of the High Court in 1995, and in 2004 was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, the second-highest level of judge in the English legal system, assessing appeals, reconsidering rulings, and making judgements on cases from lower courts.

BA Music & Politics 1981, Hon LittD 2014

Journalist

Paul is a noted business and economics journalist, and has worked across the BBC and Channel 4. He has since gone on to write freelance and has written several books, covering the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring, and the history and development of China.

BA English Literature 1953, Hon LittD 1998

Playwright

Jack was one of the early writers for Coronation Street, writing almost 130 episodes. Following this, Jack branched out into a variety of television dramas including The Dustbinmen and The Lovers, as well as his most successful drama: Bar Mitzvah Boy, for which he won three BAFTA awards.

Executive MBA 1999, Hon LLD 2013

Former Head of the Metropolitan Police

Lord Hogan-Howe spent much of his career in Merseyside Police, where he took the force from 42nd to the first in public confidence. In 2011, he rose to become Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service responsible for policing for the Olympics, counter-terrorism, and serious organised crime.

BA Economics 1978, MA Economics 1980, Hon LittD 2014

Economist

Lord O’Neill spent much of his earlier career working across a variety of international banks, ultimately becoming head of global economics research at Goldman Sachs where he coined the term BRIC. He later served as the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury serving on several senior investigative commissions.

MB ChB Medicine 1914

Doctor and Medical Officer

As a member of the Sheffield University Officer Training Corps Major Allen joined the Royal Army Medical Corps just days after the start of the First World War. During his service, he was twice awarded the Military Cross, and in 1916 the Victoria Cross "for most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty", becoming one of the most decorated medical officers to serve in the British armed forces.

BEng Civil & Structural Engineering 1969, PhD Civil Engineering 1972, Hon DEng 2006

Engineer

John is a renowned engineer, responsible for some of the UK’s best-known public attractions including what was the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in the world - the Pepsi-Max Big One, the British Airways i360 observation tower on the Brighton seafront, and the most popular paid for visitor attraction in London - the London Eye.

BSc Chemistry 1961, PhD Chemistry 1964, Hon DSc 1995

Nobel Prize winning Chemist

Sir Harry was best known for the discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, third form of carbon alongside diamond and graphite, for which he was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. After his award he continued his investigations into the formation and potential uses for the molecule, and had two buildings at the University named after him.

BA Geography, Economic & Social History 1977, Hon LittD 2007

Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff

Sir Stuart has served as the UK’s Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, and in 2017 was elected as the next Chairman of the NATO Military Committee by the Allied Chiefs of Defence. He spent his entire career in the armed forces, both in active and intelligence roles, and as an instructor for fellow recruits, before retiring in 2021.

BA English Literature, History and Latin 1955, Dip Ed 1956

Theatre director

Peter was a celebrated theatre director with a career spanning over 400 productions over 36 years. He was a pioneer of theatre in the round and led the first purpose-built theatre-in-the-round in Europe. In 1998, he was appointed CBE for his services to drama, and in 2009, he received the Young Vic award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to theatre-making in the UK.

BA Politics 1969

Sports presenter and former Executive Director of the FA

David is a former BBC sports presenter and has held various roles in the FA including Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Head of Football Affairs, Director of International Strategy, and culminating in becoming its Executive Director.

BSc Physics 1943, PhD Physics 1950

Science writer and presenter

Tom is most well known as one of the founding editors of New Scientist magazine, but also wrote and presented for the BBC and ITV with a passion for sharing science in the mainstream, the basis behind the establishment of New Scientist. 

BA Economics 1961, Hon DSc 2012

Financial expert and Philanthropist

Jeremy is a world-renowned financial expert, who foresaw several recent economic crashes, and also a leading philanthropist and a strong advocate for environmental issues. Together with his wife Hanne he established the Grantham Foundation which supports research into a range of environmental issues, and which made the largest individual gift ever received by the University to set up the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.

BSc Mathematics 1964, MSc Probability & Statistics 1966

Mathematician and cricket aficionado

Tony was a distinguished mathematician with a passion for sport. Along with numerous teaching and research roles, he is best known for co-creating the Duckworth-Lewis Method for determining the result of one-day cricket matches that are unable to be completed. The D/L Method has been widely praised and adopted worldwide, and has been in use for over 20 years in the professional game. 

Read our profile with Tony.