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The University of Western Australia has seen many notable people pass through its doors over its 113-year history, both as students and staff.
Notable alumni
Main category: University of Western Australia alumniPolitics
- Rozaina Adam, Maldivian Member of Parliament
- Colin Barnett, former Premier of Western Australia
- Kim Beazley, former Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Prime Minister and Ambassador to the United States, current Governor of Western Australia
- Kim Beazley Sr., former Whitlam government Cabinet Minister
- Boediono, former Vice President of Indonesia
- Alan Carpenter, former Premier of Western Australia
- Richard Court, former Premier of Western Australia
- Peter Dowding, former Premier of Western Australia
- Peter Durack, former Federal Attorney General
- Geoff Gallop, former Premier of Western Australia
- Sir Paul Hasluck, 17th Governor-General of Australia
- Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia
- Carmen Lawrence, former Premier of Western Australia, Federal Minister and President of the Australian Labor Party
- Donton Samuel Mkandawire, former MP for Mzimba District, Malawi and Minister of Education for Malawi
- Wangdi Norbu, Bhutanese Finance Minister
- Stephen Smith, former Australian Minister for Defence
- Billy Snedden, former Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
- Daryl Williams, former Federal Attorney General
- Yeo Cheow Tong, former Minister of Transport in Singapore
Business
- Michael Chaney, former CEO of Wesfarmers; former chancellor of UWA
- Rod Eddington, former CEO of British Airways
- Andrew Forrest, mining magnate and founder of Fortescue Metals Group
- Richard Goyder, former CEO of Wesfarmers, chair of AFL Commission and Qantas
- Janet Holmes à Court, businesswoman
- Robert Holmes à Court, entrepreneur
- John Hay, former vice-chancellor of University of Queensland
- Peter Lim, Singaporean billionaire
- Michael Malone, iiNet founder
- Ken Michael, former Governor of Western Australia; former Chancellor of UWA
- Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad, current Executive Director and President of Ranhill Berhad
- Sarfraz Nawaz President of Cricket
- Peter Smedley, CEO of Colonial Group, Mayne Nickless
Public service and community
- Ameer Ali, former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
- Nicholas Blain, former Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
- Herbert Cole Coombs, first Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia
- Margaret Feilman, architect and town planner
- Allan Fels, former Chairman of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
- Ron Fitch, commissioner of the South Australian Railways
- David Irvine, Director-General of Security; former Director-General of Australian Secret Intelligence Service; former Australian High Commissioner to PNG; Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
- Michael Sheldrick, policy entrepreneur advocating for polio eradication
- Ralph Townsend, headmaster of Winchester College
Law
- James Edelman, former Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, current Justice of the High Court of Australia
- Robert French, former Chief Justice of Australia, current Chancellor UWA
- Zarah Garde-Wilson, criminal lawyer
- David Indermaur, criminal psychologist
- Wayne Martin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia
- Neville Owen, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, current Chair of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council
- Christopher Steytler, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia
- John Toohey, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
- Ronald Wilson, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
Science, medicine, engineering and mathematics
- Caroline Bower, medical researcher and professor of medicine
- Michelle Harvey, forensic entomologist
- Sue Hatcher, Ph.D. Animal Science, 1995, animal genetics researcher
- Barry Marshall, physician, 2005 Nobel Prize laureate
- Dick Norris, entomologist
- Matt Parker, recreational mathematics author and communicator
- Richard G. Pestell, physician scientist, cancer biologist
- Cheryl Praeger, mathematician, Australian Scientist of the Year 2009
- Hugo Rietveld, Ph.D. Physics 1964, crystallographer, inventor of the Rietveld Method
- Gordon Royle, Ph.D. Mathematics 1987, co-author of Algebraic Graph Theory
- Dorothea Sandars, Parasitologist
- Amanda Sainsbury-Salis, molecular scientist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, educator and author
- Fiona Stanley, epidemiologist, 2003 Australian of the Year
- Mark Stevenson, epidemiologist
- Eric Underwood, B.Sci.Ag 1928, Dean of faculty, Agriculture 1946 to 1970
- Akshay Venkatesh, 2018 recipient Fields Medal
- Robin Warren, UWA Emeritus Professor, Nobel Prize laureate
- Fiona Wood, UWA Professor of Medicine, 2005 Australian of the Year
Arts, literature and religion
- Frederick Alexander, historian
- Geoffrey Bolton, historian
- Greg Egan, writer
- Tracy Farr, writer and scientist
- Geoff Gibbs, actor and WAAPA principal
- Gracie Gilbert, actress
- Rolf Harris, performer and artist
- Dorothy Hewett, writer
- Barry Hickey, Catholic Archbishop of Perth
- John Kinsella, writer
- John Andrew La Nauze, the first Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University (1978)
- Niall Lucy, writer and scholar, known for his work on Jacques Derrida and deconstruction
- Philippa Maddern, writer, historian and scholar, Winthrop Professor of History and founding Director of the Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions
- Sally Morgan, writer and artist
- Randolph Stow, writer
- Shaun Tan, artist and writer
- Arlene Textaqueen, artist
- Josephine Wilson, writer
Sport and entertainment
- Sandra Angelia, Miss Indonesia 2008
- Peter F. Bell, former captain of the Fremantle Dockers
- Ric Charlesworth, former Australia national field hockey team Kookaburras Captain and Hockeyroos coach
- Michael Fitzpatrick, former captain of the Carlton Football Club; current Chairman of the Australian Football League
- Darren Glass (MBA 2015), former captain of the West Coast Eagles
- Rachel Kum, Miss Singapore 2009
- Matthew Pavlich, captain of the Fremantle Dockers
- Ben Purser, basketball player who studied law and commerce
- Jarrad Seng, photographer
- Shirley Strickland, Olympic track and field athlete
- Kylie Wheeler, Olympic heptathlete
- Joshua Yong, Olympic swimmer
Music
- Mili Davies, classical guitarist
- Sara Macliver, soprano
- Tim Minchin, pianist and comedian
- Roger Smalley, pianist and composer
Notable administrators
- George Alexander Currie, second Vice Chancellor (1941–1952)
Chancellors
The Chancellor of The University of Western Australia is its most senior officer:
| Term start |
Term end |
Name | Other positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | 1916 | Sir John Winthrop Hackett | Editor and proprietor of The West Australian Member of the Legislative Council (1890–1916) |
| 1916 | 1922 | Charles Riley | Bishop of Perth (1894–1914) Archbishop of Perth (1914–1929) |
| 1922 | 1929 | Athelstan Saw | Member of the Legislative Council (1915–1929) |
| 1930 | 1936 | Sir Walter James | Premier of Western Australia (1902–1904) |
| 1936 | 1943 | James Battye | |
| 1943 | 1948 | Sir Walter Murdoch | |
| 1948 | 1956 | E. W. Gillett | |
| 1956 | 1968 | Sir Alexander Reid | |
| 1968 | 1981 | Sir Lawrence Jackson | Chief Justice of Western Australia (1969–1977) |
| 1981 | 1990 | Donald Aitken | |
| 1990 | 1998 | Geoffrey Kennedy | Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia |
| 1998 | 2000 | Alexander Cohen | |
| 2001 | 2005 | Ken Michael | Governor of Western Australia (2006–2011) |
| 2005 | 2017 | Michael Chaney | |
| 2017 | present | Dr Robert French | Chief Justice of Australia (2008–2017) |
| Incoming | Diane Smith-Gander | ||
Notable faculty
Notable past and present members of faculty include:
- Christopher Chantler, physicist
- David Indermaur, psychologist
- James R. Lawler, foundation professor of French Studies
- Jill Milroy, Dean and Winthrop Professor at the University of Western Australia School of Indigenous Studies
- Eric Saint, foundation professor of the Medical School
References
- Zika, Charles; Broomhall, Susan (2014). "Philippa (Pip) Maddern (1952–2014)". Australian Historical Studies. 45 (3): 450–451. doi:10.1080/1031461x.2014.947673. S2CID 143522568.
- Hope, Shayne (25 August 2011). "Purser cashes in on chances". The West Australian. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- Masters, Melita (2 September 2014). "Jarrad Seng » Spirit of the Masaai". Oh 8. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- Former officers of the University – The University of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- "Robert French named UWA's 15th Chancellor". News | The University Of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- Mckenzie, Matt (10 June 2024). "Smith-Gander in class of her own as new UWA chancellor". The West Australian. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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