This is a list of notable people associated with Brasenose College, Oxford. Some individuals fall into several categories. They are sorted alphabetically by surname.
This list of notable alumni consists predominantly of men, due to the fact that women first studied at Brasenose as undergraduates in 1974, the college being among the first to go mixed at this point.
Alumni See also Former students of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Politicians and civil servants
Sir Donald Acheson, Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom (1983–1991) Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1801–1804) Sir Tim Barrow, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union Mamoun Beheiry, former Sudanese finance minister and governor of the Central Bank of Sudan John Brademas, American politician and educator John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist, historian and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010–2016) Kurt M. Campbell, American diplomat and businessman serving as United States Deputy Secretary of State Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice Pete Dawkins, Rhodes Scholar, U.S. Army brigadier general, and Republican candidate for Senate Stephen Dorrell, British Conservative politician John Gorton, Prime Minister of Australia Mark Harper, British politician Marcia Hutchinson, British politician Alyson King, British diplomat and Principal-elect of Brasenose College Tanvir Ahmad Khan, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Bill O'Chee, Australian politician Amin Osman, Egyptian politician John Profumo, British politician Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia Melanie Joly, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eylon Levy, Israeli Government Spokesman in the Gaza war Sir Herbert Thompson, Indian Civil Service (British India)
Judges and lawyers
Charles Onyeama, Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court (1964–67), Judge on the International Court of Justice (1967–76) George Baker, President of the Family Division (formerly of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division) of the High Court of Justice, 1971–1979 Jack Beatson, Lord Justice of Appeal Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley English nobleman, judge and statesman who served as Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor William Robert Grove, Welsh judge and physical scientist William Hulme, 17th-century lawyer and landowner Kris Kobach, 31st Secretary of State of Kansas and Republican candidate in the state's 2018 gubernatorial election Anthony McCowan, British barrister and judge of the High Court of Justice and Court of Appeal Jeremy McMullen, barrister, judge, trade unionist and expert on employment law John Mortimer, British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author John Port, judge Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman, English judge and barrister Sir John McIntosh Young AC KCMG, Chief Justice of Victoria (1974-1991)
Clergy Richard Barnes, bishop in the Church of England (1567–1579) William Webb Ellis, Anglican clergyman; allegedly the inventor of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School The Rt Revd Gordon Mursell, Bishop of Stafford George Nichols (martyr), martyr John Robinson, English diplomat, Bishop of Bristol and London. Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1980—1991 Dom Illtyd Trethowan, English priest, philosopher and author The Very Reverend Henry Wace, principal of King's College London (1883–1897) and Dean of Canterbury (1903–1924)
Military personnel Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, field marshal, British senior officer during World War I Michelle D. Johnson, first female superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy Charles Herbert Little, Canadian Director of Naval Intelligence during the Second World War; author John S. Grinalds, Marine Corps Major General and 18th President of The Citadel
Classicists and archaeologists Arthur Evans, British archaeologist
Historians and antiquarians
Elias Ashmole, antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy Colin B. Bailey, art historian Rev. Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, historian (folklore) and science fiction John Robert Martindale, historian, specializing in Roman and Byzantine prosopography"Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire", in The Journal of Roman Studies 40 (1950), p. 189 Robert O'Neill, military theorist and historian Tudor Parfitt, historian, orientalist and writer G. C. Peden, economic historian
Language and literature academics Robert Burton, scholar at Oxford University Francis Pott, Classical languages scholar and Anglican hymnwriter
Philosophers and theologians John Foxe, English historian and martyrologist Alexander Nowell, Anglican Puritan theologian and clergyman, served as dean of St Paul's David Pearce, Utilitarian philosopher, founder of the World Transhumanist Association Thomas Traherne, English poet, clergyman, theologian, and religious writer Dom Illtyd Trethowan, English priest, philosopher and author William Whittingham, English Biblical scholar and religious reformer, dean of Durham
Mathematicians, medics and scientists
Colin Clark, economist and statistician Paul Frampton, particle phenomenologist William Robert Grove, Welsh judge and physical scientist Michael Kosterlitz, Nobel Prize winner in Physics Graham Richards, head of chemistry at the University of Oxford (1997–2006) Richard Robson, Nobel prize winner in Chemistry Sir Michael Stratton, third director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; currently heads the Cancer Genome Project Sir Thomas Taylor, chemist and academic administrator
Educators Frank Aydelotte, U.S. educator Keith Ingram, former Dragon School headmaster Robert Lindgren, president of Randolph-Macon College Tim Peto, professor of medicine at the University of Oxford
Artists and writers
Richard Barham, English cleric of the Church of England, novelist, and humorous poet John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist, historian and Unionist politician, served as Governor General of Canada Jessie Burton, author and actress Helen DeWitt, novelist J. G. Farrell, novelist Michael Freeman William Golding, English novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Tim Harford, economist and journalist David Langford, science fiction writer John Marston Simon Mawer, English writer Grace McCleen, novelist George Monbiot, English writer Sir John Mortimer, British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author Rev. James Noyes, Puritan scholar and author; founder of Newbury, Massachusetts Rolfe Arnold Scott-James, literary critic David Szalay, novelist Sarah Vaughan, writer and journalist William Edward Vickers (Roy Vickers), English mystery writer Sara Wheeler, English travel writer and biographer Toby Young, British journalist Henry Zeffman, political journalist
Broadcasters and entertainers
Wilton Barnhardt, former reporter for Sports Illustrated; author Laura Corcoran, member of musical comedy cabaret double act Michael Palin, comedian, actor, writer and television presenter Mark Williams, actor Will Macdonald, television producer, executive and writer
Musicians Mylo (Myles MacInnes), Scottish electronic musician and record producer
Sports people
Wilfred Bleaden, 1908 Olympic athlete Brian Boobbyer, rugby union and cricketer John Cherry, rower who competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics Colin Cowdrey, cricketer William Webb Ellis, Anglican clergyman; allegedly the inventor of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School Tom Edwards-Moss, rower who competed in the Boat Race four times and twice won the Diamond Challenge Sculls; later a Conservative politician James Fulton, cricketer Arnold Jackson, British athlete 1912 Olympic 1500m gold medallist, Army Officer (DSO with Three Bars) and barrister Prince Alexander Obolensky, represented England in International Rugby Union Cuthbert Ottaway, first captain of the England football team Edward Shaw, cricketer and British Army officer Han Willhoft-King, footballer Walter Bradford Woodgate, Boat Race winner and multiple-time Henley Royal Regatta champion
Other people in public life Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK (AIUK) Mamoun Beheiry, economist, first commissioner of the Bank of Sudan and first president of the African Development Bank Andrew Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree Camilla Cavendish, Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice Martin Fiennes, venture capitalist and peer Denys Finch Hatton, aristocratic big-game hunter Robin Janvrin, Baron Janvrin, Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II (1999—2007) Bruce Kent, British political activist and former Roman Catholic priest Andrew Lindsay, former Olympic gold medal-winning rower at the 2000 Summer Olympics and CEO of Telecom Plus Philip Moore, Baron Moore of Wolvercote, Private Secretary to the Sovereign (1977–1986) Paul Pester, CEO of TSB Bank Amanda Pullinger, Philanthropist Guy Spier, Investor Philip Yea, British businessman and private equity investor
Fellows and Principals
J. L. Ackrill, Emeritus Professor of the History of Philosophy Richard Adams, theologian The Rev. Thomas Adams, English academic and theological writer John Anderson, Camden Professor of Ancient History (1927–1936) Konstantin Ardakov, mathematician John Barnard, supporter of James II of England Richard Barnes, Bishop in the Church of England (1567–1579) John Barnston, divine Llewellyn John Montfort Bebb, British academic, Principal of St David's College (1898–1915) The Rt. Rev. James Bell, Bishop of Knaresborough Bryan John Birch, British mathematician Peter Birks, Regius Professor of Civil Law Vernon Bogdanor, Research Professor at the Institute for Contemporary British History at King's College London Robert Bolton, clergyman and academic The Rt. Hon. George Bowen, British author and colonial administrator Gerard Baldwin Brown, art historian Peter Brunt, ancient historian at Oxford University Arthur Chandler, Bishop of Bloemfontein, Chaplin Ralph Churton, churchman Richard Cooper, Professor of French at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford Jonathan Culler, Professor of English at Cornell University George Edmundson, clergyman and academic historian Sos Eltis, Fellow and tutor in English of Brasenose College, author Russell G. Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience
John Foxe, English historian and martyrologist John Freeman, retired British politician, diplomat and broadcaster James Garbett, Archdeacon of Chichester Reginald Halse, Archbishop of Brisbane Francis J. Haverfield, British historian and archaeologist Douglas Higgs, researcher at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford Jonathan A. Jones, University lecturer in atomic and laser physics at Oxford University Kurt Josten, curator of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford Harry Judge, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Education
Otto Kahn-Freund, professor of comparative law, University of Oxford Nicholas Kurti, physicist Falconer Madan, librarian of the Bodleian Library Fergus Millar, British historian and Camden Professor of Ancient History Reginald Owen, Archbishop of New Zealand (1952—1960) Simon Palfrey, English scholar at Oxford University Walter Pater, English essayist, critic of art and literature, and writer of fiction Henry Francis Pelham, English scholar and historian William Petty, English economist, scientist and philosopher Edward Hayes Plumptre, English divine and scholar Leighton Durham Reynolds, British classicist and Emeritus Professor of Classical Languages and Literature Samuel Harvey Reynolds, divine Graham Richards, Head of Chemistry (1997–2006) at the University of Oxford Gareth Roberts, Welsh physicist Arthur William Rucker, physicist