Birkbeck Effects
Throughout 2023, we’ve marked our 200th anniversary and the incredible contributions from Birkbeck’s diverse community by sharing the stories of inspirational people as part of the 'Birkbeck Effects' series. Read more about our people, past and present, who’ve made an impact in their respective fields.
A-C
- Aaron Klug, Biophysicist, chemist and Nobel Laureate
- Abi Daré, Novelist
- Alan MacKay, Scientist
- Albert Gregorio Hines, Economist and first black professor at Birkbeck
- Alex Gerard, Executive director of Tiyeni
- Alexandra Pitchford (nee Cardenas), Head of corporate affairs and former Law Society chief of staff
- Alfred Russel Wallace, natural historian
- Alison Stamps, Alumna and quality development manager
- Alwyn Ruddock, Historian
- Amr Sohby, Egyptian information activist and entrepreneur
- Andrew and Kathleen Booth, Computer pioneers
- Andrew Bazeley, Law student
- Annette Anthony, Co-founder of Impact X Capital Partners
- Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Neurocognitive scientist at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
- Annie Besant, Women’s rights activist
- Arthur Wing Pinero, Dramatist and stage director
- Avtar Brah, Founder of Southall Black Sisters
- B. J. Hiley, Physicist
- B. S. Johnson, Novelist and poet
- Barbara Hardy, Professor of English literature
- Ben Pimlott, Former professor of politics and contemporary history
- Benjamin Robert Haydon, Artist and lecturer
- Bernard Crick, Political theorist
- Betty Lockwood, Labour politician, gender equality campaigner and President of Birkbeck 1983-89
- Bisi Alimi, Gay rights activist
- Brian Harwood, Academic registrar and founder of Birkbeck’s disability service
- Brooke Johnson, Geology student
- Camilla Simpson, CEO of Zehna Therapeutics
- Caroline Edwards, Lecturer of English
- Caroline McDonald, Director of Access and Engagement
- Cecil Terence Ingold, Mycologist
- Charles Wesley Hume, Founder of UoL Animal Welfare Society
- Chris Corbin, Co-founder of Corbin and King restaurants
- Chris Giles, Financial Times economics commentator
- Christina Pagel, Mathematician and professor of operational research, UCL
- Claus Moser, Social statistician and director of National Office for Statistics
- Costas Douzinas, Professor of law and director of Birkbeck Institute of Humanities
- Cyril Edwin Mitchison Joad, Public intellectual
D-F
- David Bohm, Physicist
- David Ruebain, Human rights barrister
- Denis Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for Defence, Birkbeck President 1993-99
- Derek Barton, Organic chemist and Nobel Prize Laureate
- Dickon Edwards, Student of English Literature
- Douglas Dakin, Classicist
- Edith “Biddy” Lanchester, ‘new woman’ and socialist
- Edwin Cameron, Professor of Law and campaigner for LGBTQ+ equality
- Elaine Hawkins, Programme director
- Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, Museum director and librarian
- Emma “Ma” Francis, Canteen worker
- Emma Rees, Tech entrepreneur
- Eric Hobsbawm, Professor of history
- Erica King, VP of Chicago Neighbourhood Initiatives Micro Finance Group at Citibank
- Ernst Gunther Michaelis, Physicist
- Esther Adegoke, Politics student
- Eva Pascoe, Angel investor and e-commerce consultant
- Frances Ames-Lewis, Art historian
- Francis Place, Tailor and co-founder of London Mechanics’ Institute
- Francis Ravenscroft, Founder of Birkbeck Land and Building Society and Birkbeck Bank
G-I
- Geoffrey de Ste-Croix, Classicist
- George Armitage-Smith, Master of Birkbeck 1896-1918
- George Birkbeck, Philanthropist and founder of London Mechanics’ Institute
- Geraldine Sundstrom, Pimco managing director
- Gilane Tawadros, Whitechapel Gallery director and chair of Stuart Hall Foundation
- Gillian Bates, Professor of molecular neuroscience
- Harren Jhoti, Birkbeck Fellow and structural biologist
- Harveen Chugh, University entrepreneur
- Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, Dame and botanist
- Helen Saibil, Bernal professor of structural biology
- Helen Sharman, First British astronaut
- Helena Kennedy KC, Human rights lawyer and civil liberties advocate
- Henry Brougham, Founder of London Mechanics’ Institute
- Hetan Shah, British Academic chief executive and deputy chair of Ada Lovelace Institute
- Hilda Keet, Secretary of Birkbeck 1906-1949
- Isaac Rosenberg, Artist and poet
- Isabella Ghawi, Biomedicine student and founder of Birkbeck Biological Society
- Isabelle Habib, Access manager, Compass project
- Ishmael Hamoud, Compass project student of politics
- Isobel Armstrong, Professor of English
J-L
- J. D. Bernal, X-ray crystallographer
- JJ Bola, Author
- Jack Beaumont, Olympic rowing medallist
- Jacqui Oatley, Sports broadcaster
- James Lovelock, Chemist and Gaia hypothesis theorist
- Jan Etienne, Feminist theorist and lecturer in psychosocial studies
- Jean Floud, Wartime campaigner
- Jennifer Chen, Social enterprise founder
- Jo Yarker, Reader in occupational psychology and co-founder of Affinity Health at Work
- Joan Bakewell, Journalist and presenter
- Joanna Bourke, Historian of Birkbeck
- Joanna Elson, Researcher and speechwriter in House of Commons
- Joe Curl, law student and QC
- Joel Barnett, Labour politician, Fellow of Birkbeck and Birkbeck Appeal fundraiser
- John Enderby, Physicist
- Jonathan A. Smith, Professor of psychology
- Joseph Clinton Robertson, Founder of London Mechanics’ Institute
- Judith Butler, Gender and feminist theorist
- Judith Mayhew Jonas, Solicitor, local politician and former chair of Royal Opera House
- Julia Goodfellow, Professor of biomolecular sciences and president of Universities UK
- Juliet Davenport, Renewable energy supply founder
- Julio Bruno, Founder of Br1 Creative and former CEO of Time Out Group
- Juswinder Singh, Cancer researcher
- Keith Ajegbo, Chair of Stephen Lawrence Trust
- Kemi Badenoch, Fellow, former law student and MP
- Kerry Harman, Lecturer in psychosocial studies
- Kevin Gordon, Family law barrister
- Kevin Teo, Lecturer in organizational psychology
- Kojo Koram, Lecturer in law and author
- Lara Bloom, President and CEO of Ehlers-Danlos Society
- Laura Mulvey, British Film Institute and professor of film
- Lena May Chivers (née Jeger), Labour peer and former Student Union president
- Leon Wright, Mentivity co-founder
- Les Moran, Professor of law and LGBTQ+ rights activist
- Leslie Primo, Art historian
- Lillian Penson, First female PhD, professor of history and university VC
M-O
- Maeve Heneke, Lecturer in psychosocial studies
- Marai Larasi, Anti-violence campaigner and Birkbeck Fellow
- Marcus Garvey, Pan-Africanist Leader
- Margaret Sharp, House of Lords Liberal Democrat
- Marianne Elliott, Fellow, peace campaigner and lecturer in history
- Marinos Diamantides, Professor of constitutional law and political theory
- Mark Johnson, Professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience and founder of BabyLab
- Mark Lowcock, Distinguished Non-resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development
- Mark Pimm, Disability service manager
- Mark Robinson, Barrister
- Martin Eve, Lecturer of literature, technology and publishing and founder of Open Library of Humanities
- Matthias Jugel, Co-founder and CTO of UBIRCH GmbH
- Melanie Dawes, Chief executive of Ofcom
- Mia Cooman, Law student
- Michael O’Neill, Chair of Citigroup and CEO of Bank of Hawaii
- Michelle Mitchell, Chief executive, Cancer Research UK
- Mike Bintley, Lecturer and personal tutor in English
- Mike Hough, Co-founder and director of Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research
- Mil Vukovic-Smart, Performance artist, writer, choreographer
- Miriam Zukis, Professor of adult education
- Nadia Wassef, Co-founder of Diwan bookstores and author
- Naheed Memon, CEO of Oracle Power
- Nazanin Derakhshan, Professor of experimental psychopathology and founder of Centre for Building Resilience in Cancer
- Nikolaus Pevsner, Writer, editor, broadcaster and professor of art history
- Odessa Hamilton, Birkbeck student governor
P-R
- Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Physicist and Nobel laureate
- Paul Dienes, Professor of mathematics
- Paul Hirst, Politics lecturer
- Peter Goodrich, Co-founder of Birkbeck Law School
- Philip Dewe, Vice-Master
- Philip Powell, Former dean of Business, Economics and Informatics
- Pia de Keyser, Law student
- Rachel Lewis, Reader in occupational psychology and co-founder of Affinity Health at Work
- Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland 1929-35
- Reginald Francis Clements, Poet
- Richard Evans, Professor of British history
- Rob Martin, Learning development tutor
- Robert A. Shaw, Chemist
- Robert Browning, Classicist and Greek historian
- Roderick Floud, Historian
- Roger Penrose, Physicist
- Ronald Tress, Economist and Master of Birkbeck 1968-77
- Rosalind Franklin, Chemist and X-ray crystallographer
- Roy Foster, Historian of Ireland
- Ryan Wilson, Economics student
S-U
- Sami Zubaida, Sociologist
- Samir El-Youssef, Writer and critic on Palestine
- Samuel Kasumu, Special advisor to the Prime Minister
- Sanjib Bhakta, Professor of molecular microbiology and biochemist
- Sarah Weir, Fellow of Birkbeck
- Shola Mos-Shobabimu, Political and women’s rights activist
- Sidney Webb, Fabian and founder of London School of Economics
- Simon Fourmy, Director of Julia and Rans Rausing Foundation
- Siobhan Baker, STEM Learning UK and ‘Coding Black Females’
- Slavoj Žižek, Philosopher
- Sophie Bray, Olympic and Commonwealth hockey medallist
- Stephen Frosh, Psychosocial studies
- Steven Connor, Professor of English and cultural phenomenology
- Stewart Sutherland, House of Lords and philosopher of religion
- Sundeep Donthamshetty, Co-founder and director of WEGoT Utility Solutions
- Tasneem Abdur-Rashid, Author
- Tessa Blackstone, Baroness and Master 1987-97
- Thomas Hodgskin, Lawyer, Lord Chancellor and defender of London Mechanics’ Institute
- Tom Blundell, Biologist and former professor of biochemistry
- Tony Atcherley, Legion d’Honneur (WWII)
- Tyson Holmes Lewis, Mentivity co-founder and COO
- Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Lecturer in organizational psychology and AD Equality
V-X
- Vanessa King, Lecturer in history
- William Mattieu Williams, Phrenologist
- William Temple, President of Birkbeck 1942-44 and Archbishop of Canterbury
Y-Z
- Yakama Manty Jones, Economist, entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Yousuf Joondan, CEO of Birkbeck Students’ Union
- Zehra Miah, Bonnart Trust scholar