List of University of Glasgow people facts for kids

The University of Glasgow overlooking the River Kelvin and Kelvingrove Park

The following list of University of Glasgow people provides a selection of the well-known people who have studied or taught at the University of Glasgow since its inception in 1451. Historical lists of Chancellors, Rectors and Principals of the University are contained in those offices' respective articles.

Nobel laureates

Frederick Soddy

William Young Sellar

Sydney MacEwan

Sir Derek Barton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sir James Black, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, biologist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Sir William Ramsay, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Frederick Soddy, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
David MacMillan, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Arts

Sir Drummond Bone, Byron scholar and Master of Balliol College, Oxford
Hannah Frank, artist and sculptor
Alexander Stoddart, Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland
Peter Mullan, actor and filmmaker
Alison Yarrington, art historian

Classics

Nan Dunbar, known for her 1995 edition of Aristophanes' The Birds.
Richard Claverhouse Jebb, classical scholar and politician
Douglas Cairns, Professor of Classics at the University of Edinburgh
Lewis Campbell, classical scholar
Sir James Frazer, author of The Golden Bough; a founder in the field of anthropology
Gilbert Highet, classicist and literary historian
William Young Sellar, classical scholar
D. B. Campbell, ancient historian
Gilbert Murray, classical scholar

History

John Bannerman, historian, noted for his work on Gaelic Scotland
Robert Browning, Byzantinist
Sir William Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I., historian, Indologist
Sir Richard Lodge, historian
John Duncan Mackie, Scottish historian
F. Marian McNeill, social historian and author of The Silver Bough
Charlotte Methuen, church and Reformation historian
Hew Strachan, historian
Bernard Wasserstein, historian

Musicians

Paul Buchanan, Robert Bell and Paul Joseph Moore of The Blue Nile
Neil Clark, Lloyd Cole, Blair Cowan, Lawrence Donegan and Stephen Irvine of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Isaac Hirshow, cantor and composer
Sydney MacEwan, tenor, singer of Scottish and Irish traditional songs
Stuart Murdoch, musician and songwriter; principal member of Belle & Sebastian
Simon Neil, lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of Biffy Clyro
Dr Albert Lister Peace, the university's organist between 1870 and 1880
Emeli Sandé, R&B, soul and breakbeat singer/songwriter
Ramesh Srivastava, musician and songwriter; principal member of Voxtrot

Philosophy and theology

John Abernethy, Irish Presbyterian leader
David Stow Adam, theologian
William Adam, Baptist minister, missionary, abolitionist
William Menzies Alexander, medical and theological writer
John Anderson, Scottish-Australian philosopher, founded the empirical brand of philosophy known as Australian realism
Alexander Bain, philosopher
William Barclay, theologian
David Beaton, cardinal and Archbishop of St. Andrews
James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow and St. Andrews, Primate of Scotland
Zachary Boyd, theologian
John Caird, theologian and preacher, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow (1873–98)
Alexander Campbell, co-founder of the Restoration Movement
Neil Campbell, minister, Principal of the University of Glasgow (1727 to 1761)
Tom Campbell, philosopher and jurist
Semyon Desnitsky, legal scholar, professor of the Moscow University
William Elphinstone, statesman and bishop, founder of the University of Aberdeen
William Hugh Clifford Frend, early church historian
Francis Hutcheson, philosopher
David Jasper, leader in study of literature and theology
John Knox, religious reformer and theologian
Kung Lap-yan, a Hong Kong public theologian
Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
David Livingstone, missionary
John Macquarrie, leading 20th century theologian and Professor of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary (NY) and Oxford
William McIntyre, minister and educator
Andrew Melville, theologian and religious reformer
George Newlands, theologian
Thomas Reid, philosopher
Adam Smith, economist and philosopher
Dugald Stewart, philosopher
Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury
R Guy Ramsay, Baptist minister and President of the Baptist Union of Scotland, 1948–49
Daniel Sandford, Bishop of Tasmania
Patrick Forbes, Chancellor of Aberdeen University and Bishop of Aberdeen
Alexander Peden, one of the leading figures in the Covenanter movement in Scotland.

Writers and poets

James Boswell

John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir

Sir John Sinclair

Lin Anderson, writer
Julie Bertagna, writer
James Boswell, writer
William Boyd, writer
James Bridie (Osborne Henry Mavor), dramatist and founder of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre
Christopher Brookmyre, writer
Luke Brown, writer
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, writer and Governor General of Canada
Robert Williams Buchanan, poet
C. Delisle Burns, atheist and secularist writer and lecturer
Thomas Campbell, poet
Robert Crawford, poet, Professor of English at the University of St Andrews
A. J. Cronin, physician and writer who's given credit for inspiring the National Health Service
Ann Marie Di Mambro, playwright and scriptwriter
Hal Duncan, writer
Jane Duncan (Elizabeth Jane Cameron), writer
Dimitra Fimi, writer and academic
Fraser Frisell, friend of Chateaubriand
Janice Galloway, writer
Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore, poet and politician
Alasdair Gray, writer and artist
David Gray, poet
Janice Hally, playwright and scriptwriter
Robert Henryson, poet (probably taught)
James Herriot, writer
Philip Hobsbaum, poet and critic
John Jamieson, lexicographer
James Kelman, writer
Walter Kennedy, poet
Tom Leonard, poet and essayist
Liz Lochhead, poet and dramatist
Helen MacInnes, "queen of spy writers"
Alistair MacLean, writer
Ken MacLeod, writer
Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, Gaelic bard and Jacobite captain
Aonghas MacNeacail, Gaelic poet
Laura Marney, writer
Angus Matheson (1912–1962), inaugural Professor of Celtic at the University of Glasgow
William McIllvanney, writer
Caroline Moir, writer
Edwin Morgan, poet
Seamus Perry, academic and writer
Robert William Service, poet and writer
Jane Shaw, writer
J David Simons, writer
Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet, writer and the first person to use the word "statistics" in the English language
Tobias Smollett, writer
Derick Thomson, Gaelic writer and academic
Alexander Trocchi, writer
John Wilson, writer
Thomas Hamilton, Among the 'Glasgow School' of early nineteenth century Scottish novelists
Archibald Alison, Scottish episcopalian priest and essayist
Sir Daniel Keyte Sandford, Scottish politician and Greek scholar
Alexander Carlyle, church leader, and autobiographer.

Business

James Blyth, Baron Blyth of Rowington, Chairman of Diageo
Keith Cochrane, Chief Executive of Weir Group
Douglas Flint, Chairman of HSBC
Alexander Fleck, 1st Baron Fleck, FRS, KBE, and chairman of ICI
Fred Goodwin, former Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Hugh Grant, Chief Executive of the Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri, US
David MacBrayne, founder of the shipping company that later became Caledonian MacBrayne, now David MacBrayne, Ltd.
James McGill, Scottish-Canadian fur-trader and philanthropist, endowed McGill University
Tom McKillop, former Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group
David Nish, Chief Executive of Standard Life plc

Civil service

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of world's largest NGO, BRAC
Mushtaq Ahmad, Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire
David Bell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, previously Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education
Henry Beveridge, famous orientalist and member of Indian Civil Service joined in 1857; elected president of The Asiatic Society of Bengal (1890–91).
James Bonar, civil servant, political economist and historian of economic thought
John Cairncross, in 1936, scored double first (domestic & foreign service) in Civil Service exam, alleged to be one of the Cambridge Five
Sir Matthew Campbell, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland
Sir Oliver Franks, influential civil servant in postwar Britain
Sir Bill Jeffrey, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence
Paul Johnston, British diplomat
Ken McCallum, Director General of MI5
Francis J. Meehan, 1924-2022, American diplomat involved in events depicted in the 2015 Steven Spielberg, film "Bridge of Spies"
Sir Muir Russell, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Executive
Francis Richard John Sandford, 1st Baron Sandford, instrumental in implementing the Elementary Education Act of 1870.

Law

Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey

James Dalrymple,1st Viscount of Stair

Robert Malcolm Kerr

Joseph Beltrami, Glasgow defence lawyer who secured the first Royal Pardon issued in Scotland
Sir David King Murray, Lord Birnam (1884–1955), Solicitor-General for Scotland, Senator of the College of Justice
Harald Leslie, Lord Birsay, Chairman of the Scottish Land Court
Iain Bonomy, Lord Bonomy, Senator of the College of Justice and Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
James Boyle, legal academic, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law
James Chadwin QC, barrister who represented Peter Sutcliffe (the "Yorkshire Ripper")
Matthew Clarke, Lord Clarke, Senator of the College of Justice
Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, first woman judge in Court of Session
James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, 17th century Scottish jurist
Charles Dickson, Lord Dickson, Lord Advocate and Lord President of the Court of Session
George Emslie, Lord Emslie, Lord President of the Court of Session
Henry Erskine, former Lord Advocate
Brian Gill, Lord Gill, Lord Justice Clerk
John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, former Lord Advocate and Lord President of the Court of Session, and former Rector of the University
Thomas Miller, Lord Glenlee, former Lord Advocate and Lord President of the Court of Session, and former Rector of the University
Arthur Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, Lord President of the Court of Session
Ian Hamilton, advocate, Scottish Nationalist
Lord Irvine of Lairg, former Lord Chancellor
Douglas Jamieson, Lord Jamieson, former Lord Advocate and Senator of the College of Justice
Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, Senator of the College of Justice and literary critic
Robert Malcolm Kerr, Judge of the Guildhall Court in the City of London for 43 years
Sir Neil MacCormick, Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations, University of Edinburgh
Hugh Macmillan, Baron Macmillan, former Lord Advocate and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Alexander Munro MacRobert, former Lord Advocate
Professor Gerry Maher, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Edinburgh, former Law Commissioner
Hugh Matthews, Lord Matthews, Senator of the College of Justice
Robin McEwan, Lord McEwan, Senator of the College of Justice
William Rankine Milligan, Lord Milligan, former Lord Advocate and Senator of the College of Justice
David Murray (1842–1928), Glasgow solicitor, antiquarian, book-collector, and legal scholar
Ann Paton, Lady Paton, Senator of the College of Justice
Ralph Risk (1891–1961), solicitor, lawyer, president of the Law Society of Scotland and senior partner in Maclay Murray & Spens
Lord Roger of Earlsferry, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde, former Lord Advocate and Lord President of the Court of Session
Alan Watson, Civil Law scholar (former Douglas Professor of Civil Law)
John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, former Lord Advocate and Lord Justice Clerk, established Scottish Legal Aid system
Lord Wilson of Langside, former Lord Advocate and Senator of the College of Justice
Norman Wylie, Lord Wylie, former Lord Advocate and Senator of the College of Justice
Robert Hodshon Cay, Judge Admiral of Scotland overseeing naval trials and maternal grandfather of James Clerk Maxwell.
Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet, politician, lawyer, judge and composer.

Media

Gerard Butler

Fraser Nelson

Ruaridh Arrow, documentary filmmaker
Raman Bhardwaj, sports broadcaster, STV News
Gerard Butler, actor
Susan Calman, comedian and panellist
Glenn Campbell, Scottish news and current affairs broadcaster
Andrew Cotter, sports broadcaster
John Grierson, filmmaker, "father of the documentary film"
Duncan Hamilton, columnist for The Scotsman
Eileen Hayes, author, broadcaster and columnist
Greg Hemphill, comedian, performer, actor, half of the team in "Still Game"
Armando Iannucci, satirist, writer, director, creator of The Thick of It and Veep
Ford Kiernan, comedian, performer, second half of the team in "Still Game"
Iain Martin, political commentator, former editor of The Scotsman
John MacKay, STV News journalist, main anchor
Anne MacKenzie, television presenter and news anchorwoman
Robin McKie, science editor, The Observer
Hugh Dan MacLennan, sporting academic and broadcaster
Ian McCaskill, weatherman
Stephen Moffat, television writer and producer, showrunner of Doctor Who from 2010 to 2017, co-creator of Sherlock
Tom Morton, journalist and broadcaster
Shereen Nanjiani, Scottish journalist
Andrew Neil, journalist and broadcaster
Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator
Neil Oliver, archaeologist, historian, author and broadcaster
David Paisley, actor
Shantha Roberts, artist and TV presenter
Sarah Smith, news presenter

Military

Sir David Henderson

General Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet, Scottish soldier who achieved high office
Lieutenant Robert Blair, received the Victoria Cross
Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Boyd, British Army officer and Governor of Gibraltar
Captain Lord Archibald Hamilton, Lord of the Admiralty
General William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart, Commander-in-Chief of Scotland and Ambassador to Russia during the Great Patriotic War of 1812
Lieutenant Colonel James Hamilton, Commandant of the Scots Greys at the Battle of Waterloo
Colonel William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, Royalist Commander during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Lieutenant General Sir David Henderson, commander of the Royal Flying Corps and instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Hereditary chief of Clan Campbell, and a Royalist supporter during the latter stages of the Scottish Civil War and its aftermath.
Lieutenant General James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton and 1st Duke of Brandon, major investor in the failed Darien Scheme and British ambassador to Louis XIV of France
Major General David Tennant Cowan CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC. Distinguished for leading the Indian 17th Infantry Division during almost the entire Burma Campaign.
Major-general Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet KCB. East India Company Army officer and statesman.
Colonel James Lennox Dawson VC. Recipient of the Victoria Cross
Donald MacKintosh (VC). Recipient of the Victoria Cross
Harry Ranken. Recipient of the Victoria Cross
Sir John Snell. Royalist Soldier in the English Civil War. Founded the Snell Exhibition.
Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat, 20th MacShimidh (chief) of Clan Fraser of Lovat.
General Simon Fraser of Lovat, the 19th Chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Air Marshal Stuart Atha, senior officer of the Royal Air Force.
Wing Commander Hector Maclean, Battle of Britain fighter pilot.

Politics

Lord Melbourne

John Crowley, Irish Sinn Féin politician and medical practitioner
John Maclean, leading figure of the Red Clydeside era
James Maxton, leader of the Independent Labour Party
Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, dominant political leader in Scotland in the 18th century.
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister
James Allison Glen, Canadian parliamentarian and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, last Lord High Commissioner before the Act of Union
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale, Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and a representative peer for Scotland in the House of Lords.

Conservative Party

Liam Fox

Bonar Law

Eric Forth, MP
Sir Liam Fox, MP
Tam Galbraith, long-time MP for Glasgow Hillhead whose death in 1982 led to the historic election of Roy Jenkins and formation of the new Social Democratic Party (UK)
James Gray, MP
John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Bonar Law, Conservative Prime Minister
Mark Menzies, MP
Sir Teddy Taylor, MP
Sir David Robertson, MP

Labour Party

Donald Dewar

Wendy Alexander, MSP
John Baird, MP for Wolverhampton 1945-64
Sarah Boyack, MSP
Des Browne KC, Secretary of State for Defence
Margaret Curran, MSP
Donald Dewar, former First Minister of Scotland
Andrew Faulds, MP
Sam Galbraith, former Minister (UK Government)
Jim Gallagher, Head of Justice Department for the Scottish Executive
Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg KC, former Lord Chancellor
Thomas Johnston, former Secretary of State for Scotland
Johann Lamont, MSP
Anne McGuire, MP
Bridget Prentice, MP
Gordon Prentice, MP
William Ross, Baron Ross of Marnock, former Secretary of State for Scotland
John Smith, former Labour party leader and UK Cabinet Minister
Michael Shanks, MP
Paul Sweeney, MSP
John Wheatley, Lord Wheatley; politician, lawyer and Judge of the Court of Session
Tony Worthington, MP
Hector McNeil, Secretary of State for Scotland
Tom Johnston, Secretary of State for Scotland
Willie Ross, Baron Ross of Marnock, Secretary of State for Scotland

Liberal Party/Liberal Democrats

Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Charles Kennedy

Elspeth Attwooll, former MEP for the Liberal Democrats
John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, Liberal politician, British ambassador to the US in 1907-13
Sir Vince Cable, former leader of the Liberal Democrats
Sir Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal Party Prime Minister
Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland
Charles Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrats
Sir William Sutherland, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1922
Alan Reid, former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Argyll and Bute

Scottish National Party

Nicola Sturgeon

Humza Yousaf

Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Marco Biagi, MSP for Edinburgh Central
Mhairi Black, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Aileen Campbell, MSP, youngest MSP in the 2007 - 2011 Session
Angela Constance, MSP
Annabelle Ewing, former MP
Fergus Ewing, MSP
Margaret Ewing, MSP, former MP
Winnie Ewing, former SNP President, former MP, MSP and MEP
Linda Fabiani, MSP Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture
Ian Hamilton, repatriator of the Stone of Destiny and King's Counsel
Jamie Hepburn, MSP
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs
John MacCormick, founder of the National Party of Scotland
Neil MacCormick, MEP
Derek Mackay, MSP (did not graduate)
Jim Mather, MSP Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
Alasdair Morgan, MSP Deputy Presiding Officer
Shona Robison, MSP
Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister of Scotland, SNP Leader, MSP
Andrew Welsh, MSP, former MP
Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland, SNP Leader, MSP

Scottish Unionist Party

Walter Elliot, former Scottish Secretary
Robert Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Albert Russell, Scottish Unionist Party member and MP

Miscellaneous

Charles Allan Cathcart, former MP and British Ambassador to China
William Steel Dickson, radical Ulster Presbyterian and Irish republican revolutionary, member of the United Irishmen
Regina Ip, first woman to be appointed as Secretary for Security of Hong Kong
Nasharudin Mat Isa, Member of the Parliament of Malaysia; Deputy President of the opposition PAS
Yanis Varoufakis, Greek Minister of Finance from January to July 2015

Sciences

Medical

Gavin Arneil, paediatric nephrologist
John Bell, 18th-century adviser to the Tsar and author of a travelogue from St. Petersburg to Beijing
Robert Broom, physician
Sir Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
Sir Kenneth Calman, Scottish cancer researcher, former Chief Medical Officer, current Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
Murdoch Cameron, Regius Professor of Midwifery; performed first modern Caesarian section in 1888; father of Samuel James Cameron
Maud Perry Menzies, community health physician; RAMC captain during World War II
Hani Gabra, professor of Oncology at Imperial College London
Samuel James Cameron, Regius Professor of Midwifery; son of Murdoch Cameron; collector of Scottish art
Stuart Campbell, obstetrician and gynaecologist
William Cullen, physician, chemist, agriculturalist, professor at Edinburgh Medical School
Ian Donald, pioneer of diagnostic and obstetric medical ultrasound
Ian Hart, neurologist
John Hunter, surgeon
William Hunter, anatomist and physician
James Jameson, surgeon general, Army Medical Service
Bryan J. Jennett, with Sir Graham Teasdale, co-inventor of the Glasgow Coma Scale
R. D. Laing, psychiatrist
Sir Alan Langlands, former chief executive of the NHS, vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds
William Boog Leishman, pathologist credited with first successful anti-typhoid inoculation
Joseph Lister, surgeon
David Livingstone, "Dr. Livingstone," 19th century medical missionary to Africa (didn't graduate)
Donald MacAlister, also Principal of the University of Glasgow, 1907–29
Sir William Macewen, pioneer of neurosurgery
Elizabeth Janet MacGregor, medical doctor and cancer researcher
Dame Louise McIlroy, obstetrics and gynaecology consultant; first woman to receive M.D. from the University
Quintin McKellar, veterinary surgeon and vice-chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire
Anderson Gray McKendrick, epidemiologist
Janet Niven, histologist and pathologist
Priscilla Nzimiro, physician
Delphine Parrott, endocrinologist and immunologist, Gardiner Professor of Immunology 1980-1990
David Shannon (gynaecologist), physician, academic, World War I medical officer, foundation fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
James McCune Smith, first university trained African-American physician; abolitionist and public intellectual in New York
Alexander Stewart-Wilson, foundation fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
John Hammond Teacher, pathologist, researcher and medical academic
Sir Graham Teasdale, with Bryan J. Jennett, co-inventor of the Glasgow Coma Scale
Thomas Thomson (botanist), Scottish surgeon with the British East India Company
Robert Thomson,a pioneer of sanitation
Donald James MacKintosh, Scottish physician, soldier and public health expert.
Sir Gilbert Blane, Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy.
John Moore, Scottish physician and travel author.
Edward Provan Cathcart, Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow
Mujibur Rahman, Medical scientist, recipient of Ekushey Padak.
Merbai Ardesir Vakil, physician, first Asian woman to graduate from a Scottish university

Merbai Ardesir Vakil

Biology

Sir John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist, and Principal of the University of Strathclyde (1991-2000)
David Douglas, botanist
Alan Gemmell, Professor of Biology, Keele University 1950-77
Robert Thomson Leiper, parasitologist and helminthologist
Sheina Marshall, marine biologist
Muriel Robertson, protozoologist and bacteriologist at the Lister Institute
Sir William Jackson Hooker, Regius Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Thomas Hopkirk, botanist and lithographer.
John Hutton Balfour, Professor of Botany also becoming Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Botanist.
Isaac Bayley Balfour, Regius Professor of Botany and Sherardian Professor of Botany Oxford.
John Hope, Scottish physician and botanist. Best known as an early supporter of Carl Linnaeus's system of classification.
David Campbell, Professor of Materia Medica at Aberdeen University from 1930 to 1959. Won the Military Cross in 1918 due to his bravery serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Heather M. Ferguson, FRSE Professor Professor of Medical Entomology and Disease Ecology, co-chairs the WHO Vector Control Advisory Group on malaria
Guido Pontecorvo, the University's first Professor of Genetics
Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, one of the first geneticists to provide a diagnostic and counselling service to patients with genetic conditions.
Anne Ferguson-Smith, Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics.
Percy Wragg Brian, Regius Professor of Botany.

Chemistry

Thomas Andrews, chemist and physicist, received the Royal Medal in 1844 for his work on the heat developed in chemical actions
Joseph Black, physicist and chemist
Leroy (Lee) Cronin, chemist
Thomas Graham, chemist
George William Gray, chemist, pioneer of stable liquid crystals, awarded Kyoto Prize and Leverhulme Medal
Jōkichi Takamine, chemist
Alexander Todd, Baron Todd, chemist
Thomas Thomson, Regius Professor of Chemistry, gave silicon its name
Thomas Charles Hope, proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's experiment

Mathematics, physical sciences and engineering

James Watt

Colin Maclaurin

John Anderson, natural philosopher and founder of the Anderson's Institution in 1796 (predecessor to the University of Strathclyde)
John Logie Baird, inventor of television
Frank Barnwell, aeronautical engineer and pilot of first powered flight in Scotland in 1909
Bruce C. Berndt, mathematician
John Brown, Astronomer Royal for Scotland
A. Catrina Bryce, physicist, electrical engineer
Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astrophysicist
Ethel Currie, geologist
Henry Dyer, engineer
William Gemmell Cochran, statistician
Bernard Parker Haigh, engineer
Sam Karunaratne, electrical engineer and Sri Lankan academic
John Kerr, physicist
Colin Maclaurin, mathematician
Bill Napier, astronomer and novelist
Raymond Ogden, engineering mathematician
Percy Sinclair Pilcher, pioneer of powered flight
Robert Alexander Rankin, mathematician
William John Macquorn Rankine, engineer and physicist
Dorothy Rowntree the first woman graduate in engineering from the University and the first woman graduate in naval architecture in UK
John Scott Russell, naval engineer
Robert Simson, mathematician
Ian Sneddon, mathematician
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, mathematical physicist
Gavin Vernon, engineer, known for removing the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey
James Watt, mathematician and engineer
John Robison, physicist and mathematician. Inventor of the siren.
Hugh Blackburn, a member of the Cambridge Apostles, inventor of the Blackburn pendulum.
Gillian Wright, astronomer and director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre

Computing

Simon Peyton Jones, research in functional programming languages
Philip Wadler, research in functional programming languages

Social sciences

Sir James Frazer

Sally Baldwin, social policy researcher
Sir Alexander Cairncross, economist and Chancellor of the University of Glasgow (1972–96),
Sir James Frazer, social anthropologist
Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank
Sir Anton Muscatelli, economist and University Vice-Chancellor
Alexander Nove, Soviet economic historian
Alison Phipps (refugee researcher) UNESCO chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts
Ljubo Sirc, economist, author and Slovenian dissident during the Titoist regime

Sports

Katherine Grainger

Andrew Watson

John Beattie, rugby union international player
Jim Craig, Celtic F.C. player, member of the Lisbon Lions
Katherine Grainger, rower and Great Britain's most decorated female Olympian
Louis Greig, rugby union player and naval surgeon
RC Hamilton, Rangers F.C. player
Thomas Hart, cricket and rugby union player
Laura Muir, British record holder over 1500m and Olympic silver medalist
Euan Murray, rugby union player for British and Irish Lions
James Reid-Kerr, rugby union and cricket international player
Emma Richards, yachtswoman, became the first British woman and youngest ever person to complete the single-handed round the world yacht race with stops
David Robertson, golfer, won bronze at the 1900 Olympic Games
Arthur Smith, rugby union player, captained Scotland and the British and Irish Lions
Imogen Walsh, rower, 2011 lightweight women's quad World Champion
Andrew Watson, early Scotland international footballer and first black international player in the history of the game
Dave MacLeod, Scottish rock climber