Cambridge University Notable Alumni

University of Cambridge Notable Alumni: As of 2024, University of Cambridge is the top-ranked university in the United Kingdom according to all major league tables. Cambridge is ranked the world's second best university by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, ranked 3rd worldwide by Academic Ranking of World Universities, 6th by QS, and 7th by US News. According to the Times Higher Education ranking, no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects.

This 800-year old top league university has been the alma mater to the best of minds in every field, be it Physics, Politics, Business, Media, and so on. Each year Cambridge receives a surge of applications and last year, the number went up to 17000 student applications.

History of Cambridge University

There has been a constant unspoken yet healthy battle between Oxford University and the University of Cambridge to be in the top five universities of the world. We can trace back this healthy rivalry to their origin as they share many traditions and even history. Due to some political conflict and a dispute to townsfolk, a group of scholars and teachers left Oxford and established Cambridge University in 1209. Later, in 1231, it received a Royal Charter by King Henry III. However, the two universities have maintained their cordial relationship through various traditions like the Annual Boat Race event and together, they are referred to as the ‘Oxbridge’.

List of Cambridge’s Notable Alumni

It is impossible to pen down the complete list of Cambridge’s notable alumni for fear of missing out anyone. Hence, here is a compact list of famous and most successful Cambridge alumni, according to the colleges:

Sidney Sussex College

1. Oliver Cromwell—1617: The leader of Roundheads in the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell dropped out of Cambridge to win this war for Britain. He served as the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland until his death. Later, he was ranked as one of the best Britons of all time in 2002, through a BBC poll.
2. Carol Jean Vorderman—1981: Known for her hosting skills in the ‘Countdown’ show, Carol read Engineering at Sussex College before venturing into the field of media. She was the youngest woman ever admitted to the university during that time. However, she only got a Third (third class) in all three years of her study, leading her to join the famous ‘Nines Club’.
3. Baron Bilimoria—1988: Karan Faridoon Bilimoria or Baron Bilimoria, is a British-Indian entrepreneur and founder, currently Chairman, of the popular beer Cobra Beer. He studied Law at Sussex College. It was during his time in Cambridge that he came up with the idea of Cobra beer: a beer to go with his curry, which was refreshing like lager yet smooth like ale.

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Christ’s College

1. John Milton—1629: A Christ’s College graduate, Milton’s epic poem ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Paradise Regained’ is still considered a crucial work in the field of literature and philosophy. While in Cambridge, he ranked fourth in his batch and continued his study to attain a Master’s Degree in Arts.
2. Charles Darwin—1831: Father of Modern Biology and author of ‘The Origin of Species’, Darwin’s passion for natural science developed here. He was sent here to study Arts by his father in the hopes of seeing him become an Anglican country parson. However, he failed to qualify and instead took an ‘ordinary degree’.
3. Martin Stuart Sorrell—1966: He read Economics at Cambridge and went on to become the highest paid CEO in the UK (2015). Sorrell is a British Businessman, an advertising mogul and the founder of WPP plc, the world’s largest advertising and PR group.
4. Sacha Baron Cohen—1993: Sacha needs no introduction when it comes to the film industry. He is an English actor, screenwriter, film producer and top of all, a comedian. He is famous for his unique, satirical yet controversial characters like Admiral General Aladeen and Borat Sagdiyev. His love for drama and theatre began at Cambridge where he studied History.

King’s College

1. Alan Mathison Turing—1934: A math genius of King's College, Turing excelled in his studies, leading him to be selected for Britain’s codebreaking centre, Government Code and Cypher School (GC & CS) at Bletchley Park, that aimed at producing intelligence. He developed the Turing Machine that is considered a prototype of the general-purpose computer.

Clare College

1. Sir David Frederick Attenborough—1947: You may remember him as a presenter with BBC Natural History Unit who was in nine natural history documentary series. He is also the only person to receive BAFTA award for programmes in each of the categories such as black and white, colour, HD, 3D and 4K.

Trinity Hall College

1. Stephen Hawking—1966: Hawking joined Cambridge as a doctoral student after completing his undergraduate studies (Physics-First Class) at Oxford. It was here that he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) yet he continued to work and obtained his PhD Degree in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (General Relativity and Cosmology).
2. Rachel Weisz—1993: The Oscar-winning actress was a contemporary of Sacha Baron Cohen. She studies Arts at Trinity Hall and found her passion for theatre and acting by starring in various university and student’s dramatic productions. She also co-founded the student drama group ‘Cambridge Talking Tongues’ which won a Guardian Student Drama Award in the 1991 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Newnham College

1. Kamala Sohonie—1939: Sohonie was a pioneering Indian biochemist and the first Indian women to receive PhD Degree in Science. She studied Biological Natural Sciences Tripos at Newnham under the guidance of Dr Derek Richter in the Frederick G. Hopkins Laboratory. She returned to India to contribute towards the national struggle for freedom. Later, she received the Rashtrapati Award for her work on ‘Neera’ (nectar).
2. Emma Thompson—1980: Dame Emma Thompson is a two-time Oscar recipient and the only person to receive it for both Best Actress (1992) and Best Adapted Screenplay (1995). She is famous for her roles as Sybil Trelawney in the Harry Potter movies and Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. She studies English at Newnham and became the first women to join ‘Footlights’, Cambridge’s prestigious comedian’s club and earned the nickname ‘Emma Talented’.

With 31 constituent colleges and more than 100 academic departments, Cambridge has produced 7 Turing Awards recipients, 11 Field Medalists, 15 British Prime Ministers, and 118 Nobel Laureates. Cambridge also has its own university press (Cambridge University Press- CUP) which is the world’s oldest publishing house and second largest university press in the world after Oxford (OUP). 

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