List of University of Essex people

The following is a list of notable University of Essex people (in chronological or alphabetical order).

Chancellors

 * Rab Butler (1966–1982)
 * Sir Patrick Nairne (1982–1997)
 * Michael Nolan, Baron Nolan (1997–2002)
 * Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury (2003–2014)
 * Shami Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti (2014–2017)
 * John Bercow (2017–2021)
 * Sarah Perry (2023–)

Vice-Chancellors

 * Sir Albert Sloman (1963–1987)
 * Sir Martin Harris (1987–1993)
 * Ron J. Johnston (1993–1995)
 * Sir Ivor Crewe (1995–2007)
 * Colin Riordan (2007–2012)
 * Anthony Forster (2012–present)

Economics

 * George Christopher Archibald - Professor (1964–1971)
 * Anthony Barnes Atkinson - Professor of Economics (1971 to 1976)
 * Rex Bergstrom - Professor of Economics (1970–1992)
 * Graciela Chichilnisky - Chair in Economics (1980 to 1981)
 * Sanjeev Goyal - Professor of Economics (2003-2006)
 * Oliver Hart - Lecturer in Economics (1974 to 1975)
 * Ravi Kanbur - Professor in economics (1983–87)
 * David Laidler - Lecturer (1966–1969)
 * Richard Lipsey - Head Professor of Economics (1963–1969)
 * Michio Morishima - Visiting Professor of Economics (1968 to 1970)
 * Abhinay Muthoo - Head of Department of Economics (2000 to 2007); Professor of Economics (1998 to 2008); Reader (1995 to 1998); Lecturer (1992 to 1995).
 * Motty Perry - Professor of Economics
 * Peter C.B. Phillips - Lecturer in Economics (1972 to 1976)
 * Anthony Shorrocks - Professor of Economics
 * Anthony Venables - Lecturer in Economics (1978 to 1979)

Sciences

 * George Alfred Barnard - Professor of Mathematics (1966 to 1975)
 * Richard Bartle - FRSA, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Professor of Computer Science
 * Mohammed Ghanbari - Professor, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (1996 - )
 * Martin Henson - FRSA, Professor of Computer Science
 * Owen Holland - Professor of Computer Science
 * Rodney Loudon - Professor of Theoretical Physics
 * Edward Tsang - Director of Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents; Professor of Computer Science
 * Yorick Wilks - Professor of Computer Science and Linguistics

Humanities

 * Robert D. Borsley - Professor of Linguistics (2000 - )
 * Peter Carruthers - Lecturer, Philosophy Department (1985–1991)
 * Donald Davie - Professor of Literature (1964–1968)
 * Peter Kenneth Dews - Professor of Philosophy (1988 - )
 * Elaine Feinstein - Assistant Lecturer, English Literature (1967–1970)
 * David Musselwhite - Senior Lecturer, English Literature (1974–2010)
 * José Emilio Pacheco - Visiting Professor of Literature
 * Michael Podro - Professor of Art History (1973 to 1997)
 * Mark Sacks - Professor of Philosophy (1993–2008)
 * Derek Walcott - Nobel Laureate 1992, Professor of Poetry (2010 - 2015)
 * Dawn Adès, CBE - Professor of Art History

Law

 * Steve Peers, Professor of European laws

Social sciences

 * Brian Barry - Professor of Politics
 * Robin Blackburn - Professor of Sociology
 * Jean Blondel - Professor of Politics (1964 to 1984)
 * Kevin Boyle - former Director, Human Rights Centre (3 terms)
 * Hugh Brogan - Professor of History, (1974 to 1998)
 * Ian Craib - Professor of Sociology (1973–2003)
 * Vic Gatrell - Professor of British History (2003 - )
 * Paul Hunt - former Director, Human Rights Centre (2001 to 2003)
 * Bob Jessop - Professor, Department of Government (1975 to 1989)
 * Anthony King - Professor, Department of Government
 * Alan Knight - Lecturer, History Department (1973 to 1985)
 * Ernesto Laclau - Visiting Professor, Department of Government
 * Michael Mann
 * Geoffrey Martin - Professor, Department of History
 * Harvey Molotch - Professor of Sociology
 * Sir Nigel S. Rodley - current Head of Human Rights Centre (also a graduate: see below)
 * John Scott - Professor of Sociology (1994-2008) and Honorary Doctorate
 * Fatos Tarifa - guest lecturer
 * Peter Townsend - founding professor of Sociology

Academia in economics

 * Erkin Bairam - Professor of Economics, University of Otago (1991–2001)
 * Panicos O. Demetriades - Professor of Financial Economics, University of Leicester
 * Jean Drèze - Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
 * Colm Kearney - Professor of International Business, University College Dublin
 * Graham Loomes - Professor of Economics, University of Warwick
 * Christopher A. Pissarides - Nobel Laureate 2010 British-Cypriot Economists, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics
 * Michael Riordan - Professor of Economics, Columbia University
 * Norman Schofield - Professor of Political Economy, Washington University in St. Louis
 * Richard J. Smith - Professor of Econometric Theory and Economic Statistics, University of Cambridge
 * Yanis Varoufakis - Professor of Economics, University of Athens; Finance Minister of Greece (2015 onward)
 * John Whalley - Professor of International Trade at University of Western Ontario

Academia in other areas

 * Martin J. Ball - Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, Bangor University, Cymru/Wales
 * Stephen J. Ball - Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the Institute of Education of University College London
 * Richard Barbrook - Senior Lecturer in Humanities and Social Science, University of Westminster
 * Manuel Barcia, Professor of Global History University of Leeds
 * John Barrell - Professor of English, University of York
 * David M. Barrett - Professor of Political Science, Villanova University
 * Eva Collins - Professor of Management, University of Waikato
 * John Fauvel - historian of mathematics, Open University
 * James Gomez - Associate Professor at the School of International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia
 * Stephen F. Jones - academic in the field of Eastern European affairs
 * Kusuma Karunaratne - Sri Lankan academic; university administrator; professor and scholar in the fields of Sinhalese language, comparative literature, and sociology, University of Colombo
 * Ernesto Laclau - Post-Marxist political theorist at Northwestern University; Visiting Professor at Essex's Department of Government
 * Jill Marsden - scholar of the work of philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche; lecturer at the University of Bolton
 * Maxine Molyneux - Professor of Sociology, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London
 * John Warwick Montgomery - American lawyer, theologian and academic known for his work in the field of Christian apologetics; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought at Patrick Henry College
 * Farish Ahmad Noor - Senior Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
 * Alberto Pérez-Gómez - Professor of Architectural History, McGill University
 * David Robertson - Professor of Politics, Oxford University
 * Nigel S. Rodley - international human rights lawyer and academic, University of Essex
 * Deborah Sugg Ryan - Professor of Design History and Theory, University of Portsmouth
 * Michael Tappin - academic associated with Keele University
 * Michael Taylor - Professor of Politics, University of Washington
 * Nathan Widder - Professor of Political Theory, Royal Holloway, University of London
 * Jonathan Wilson - Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate; Director of the Center for Humanities, Tufts University
 * Wong Chin Huat - Malaysian political scientist, activist and columnist

Politics and government



 * Martin Docherty-Hughes - Scottish National Party politician
 * Óscar Arias - President of Costa Rica and 1987 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
 * Ian Austin - Former MP for Dudley North
 * Sima Sami Bahous - Jordanian Executive Director of UN Women
 * John Bercow - Speaker of the House of Commons
 * John Biehl - Chilean lawyer, political scientist and diplomat
 * Thozamile Botha - South African politician
 * Virginia Bottomley - Conservative Party politician
 * Dragiša Burzan - Serbian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, former Foreign Minister of Montenegro
 * Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury - Speaker of the Bangladesh National Assembly
 * Fátima Choi - Director of Audit, Macau SAR, China
 * James Duddridge - Conservative Party politician, MP for Rochford and Southend East
 * Sean Farren - former Northern Irish politician
 * Anne Gibson, Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen - British trade unionist
 * Reshef Hen - former member of the Knesset
 * Peter Housden - Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government
 * John Howarth - Labour Party Politician, MEP for South East England
 * Ibrahim Jazi - Jordanian Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs
 * Omar Asghar Khan - Pakistani social activist, economist and politician
 * Leung Yiu-chung - member of the Hong Kong SAR Legislative Council
 * Siobhain McDonagh - Labour Party politician
 * Priti Patel - Conservative Party politician
 * Donald C. Pogue - Chief Judge, United States Court of International Trade
 * Dimitrij Rupel - first Foreign Minister of Republic of Slovenia
 * Mark Shields - Deputy Commissioner of the Jamaica Constabulary Force from 2005 to 2009
 * Duncan Shipley-Dalton - former Northern Irish politician
 * David Triesman, Baron Triesman - Labour Party Member in the House of Lords; Chairman of the English Football Association
 * Yanis Varoufakis - Professor of Economics, University of Athens; Finance Minister of Greece (2015 onward)
 * Hoshyar Zebari - Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs

Business and economics

 * Richard Douthwaite - economist, co-founder of Feasta
 * Már Guðmundsson - Former Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland
 * Hanif Lalani - ex-CEO of BT Global Services
 * Charles Mbire - Ugandan businessman, entrepreneur and industrialist
 * Thorarinn G. Petursson - Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Iceland
 * George Provopoulos - Governor of the Bank of Greece and European Central Bank Governing Council Member.

Actors and directors

 * Nick Broomfield - documentary filmmaker
 * Stephen Daldry - film and theatre director (East 15 Acting School), BAFTA award-winner
 * Rhys Frake-Waterfield - producer, writer and director of horror films
 * Blake Harrison - actor (Neil from The Inbetweeners) (East 15 Acting School)
 * Vera Kolodzig - actress in theatre productions and several Portuguese soap operas (East 15 Acting School)
 * Mike Leigh - film and theatre director (East 15 Acting School)
 * Alison Steadman - actress (East 15 Acting School), twice nominated for BAFTA award
 * David Yates - multi-BAFTA winning English film and television director

Law and order

 * Mariela Belski – lawyer; Executive Director, Amnesty International Argentina
 * Peter Joslin - Chief Constable of Warwickshire
 * Michael J. Todd - Chief Constable of Greater Manchester from 2002 until 2008
 * Mark Watson-Gandy – barrister

Media and journalism

 * Dotun Adebayo - radio presenter on BBC FiveLive
 * Chris Boucher - television screenwriter, script editor and novelist
 * Brian Hanrahan - BBC foreign correspondent
 * Nick Margerrison - radio presenter on Kerrang! Radio

Musicians

 * Gilad Atzmon - Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist
 * Clint Boon - keyboardist and lead singer of the Inspiral Carpets
 * John Etheridge - British jazz/fusion guitarist associated with the Canterbury Scene
 * Steve Chandra Savale - Asian Dub Foundation guitarist

Architecture and urban planning

 * Daniel Libeskind - architect of the Freedom Tower and Memory Foundations on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City

Philosophy

 * Simon Critchley - British philosopher, academic at the New School for Social Research
 * William McNeill - British philosopher, academic at DePaul University

Literary figures and artists

 * Kee Thuan Chye - Malaysian dramatist, poet and journalist
 * Charlie Connelly - author and broadcaster
 * Nick Dear - writer for stage, screen and radio
 * Mark Felton - author and historian
 * Fraser Harrison - English writer
 * Nigel Jenkins - Welsh poet and writer
 * John Lawton – novelist
 * Marianne Majerus - photographer
 * Okello Oculi - Ugandan novelist and poet
 * Ben Okri - Booker Prize winner
 * Douglas Oliver - English contemporary poet and novelist
 * Kate Rhodes - British poet
 * Mike Ripley – novelist
 * Michelene Wandor - English playwright and poet
 * Nathan Zach - Israeli poet
 * The Kipper Kids - Performance Artists (at East 15 Acting School)

Science and technology

 * Richard Bartle - co-creator of MUD1, the first ever MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)
 * Phil O'Donovan - Bluetooth engineer & CSR plc co-founder
 * Nigel Roberts - Internet naming pioneer, Board Director at ICANN
 * Roy Trubshaw - co-creator of MUD1, the first ever MUD (Multi-User Dungeon)
 * Rodolfo Neri Vela - Mexico's first astronaut

Human rights

 * Akram H. Chowdhury - founder of the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims
 * Alex Neve - Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada
 * Carry Somers - Founder and Global Operations Director of Fashion Revolution UK
 * Lyal S. Sunga - expert in international human rights law, humanitarian law and international criminal law