The following is a list of notable alumni, faculty and affiliates of Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The list includes notable academics, artists, businesspeople, professionals, and athletes.
Notable Queen's alumni Academic leaders Emajuddin Ahamed – political scientist, author, educationist and former vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka John Hall Archer – first president of the University of Regina Herbert Basser – theologian, Harvard Starr Fellow Vijay Bhargava – researcher David Card – economist, winner of Nobel Prize in Economics and John Bates Clark Medal George Ramsay Cook – Canadian historian Beverley Diamond – pianist and feminist ethnomusicologist Herb Emery – economist Alfred Fitzpatrick – founder of Frontier College William Thomson Newnham – first president of Seneca College, 1967–1984 Frits Pannekoek (PhD 1974) – president of Athabasca University David Siderovski – professor and chair of Pharmacology & Neuroscience at University of North Texas Health Science Center; winner of ASPET John J. Abel Award Robert Sutherland – first person of colour to graduate from a Canadian university, and first black lawyer in British North America Shirley M. Tilghman (BSc 1968) – president of Princeton University, member of the board of directors of Google
Actors, film, and media Scott Anderson – CanWest MediaWorks senior vice-president, content; former editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Citizen Emily Andras – television screenwriter, showrunner, and producer Dean Armstrong – actor Ashleigh Banfield – CNN news anchor Rachel Blanchard – actress Kristian Bruun – actor Greg Bryk – actor Nicholas Campbell – actor Tom Cavanagh – actor, played title character in sitcom Ed Sarita Choudhury – actress Brendan Connor – television broadcaster, Al Jazeera International Wendy Crewson – actress Chris Cuthbert – TSN sportscaster Lyse Doucet – BBC's chief international correspondent Lisa Eichhorn – actress Sally Gifford – host on CBC's national kids' show, The X Lorne Greene (BA'37, LLD'71) – actor Amy Lalonde – actress, also played an actress who went to Queen's Business School in Wild Roses Linda Liao (廖語晴) – singer/actress Michelle MacLaren – TV series director Molly McGlynn – film and television director and screenwriter Vanessa Morgan – actress Northernlion, real name Ryan Letourneau – Twitch streamer and YouTuber Anna Olson – chef and television presenter Evanka Osmak – SportsNet broadcaster Italia Ricci – actress Shelagh Rogers – CBC broadcaster Ted Simonett – actor Jeffrey Simpson – political columnist for The Globe and Mail Rachel Skarsten – actress Rod Smith – TSN sportscaster Celine Song – filmmaker John Stackhouse – former editor, The Globe and Mail Julie Stewart-Binks – sports broadcaster, ESPN Katie Uhlmann – actress and producer Ali Velshi – former Report on Business Television and current CNN business reporter Sandy Webster – actor Nancy Wilson – CBC journalist Gema Zamprogna – actor
Business people Alfred Bader (B.Sc. 1945, B.A. 1946, M.Sc. 1947) – founder of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, and donor of 15th-century Herstmonceux Castle Geoffrey Ballard – founder of Ballard Power Systems Robert Buchan – founder and former president and CEO of Kinross Gold Derek Burney (B.A. 1962, M.A. 1964) – former president and CEO of Bell Canada, current member of the board of directors of CanWest Global Communications, Quebecor World Inc. and Shell Canada Donald J. Carty – former chairman and CEO of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines Gururaj Deshpande – founder of Sycamore Networks David A. Dodge – former governor of the Bank of Canada, and chancellor of Queen's, effective July 1, 2008 Frances Donald – youngest chief economist for a major financial services firm in Canada (Manulife) Don Drummond (MA, LLD) – former senior vice-president and chief economist of TD Bank Financial Group and Donald Matthews Faculty Fellowship on Global Public Policy Mel Goodes – former chairman and CEO of the Warner-Lambert Company Stephen K. Gunn – CEO and co-founder of Sleep Country Canada Brian Hill – founder and executive chair of Aritzia F. C. Kohli – former CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Leonard Lee (B.A. 1963) – founder of Lee Valley Tools Tiff Macklem (B.A 1983) – governor of the Bank of Canada Michael MacMillan – chairman and co-founder of Alliance Atlantis Earle McLaughlin – former president and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada Seaton McLean – co-founder of Atlantis Films (now Alliance Atlantis) Alexander C. Monteith – senior vice-president of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and recipient of the IEEE Edison Medal Elon Musk – founder, CEO, and chief engineer at SpaceX; early stage investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc. (left after 2 years) Kimbal Musk – South African restaurateur, chef, and entrepreneur Nik Nanos – founder, Nanos Research Gord Nixon (BComm 1979) – president and CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada Douglas Peters (BComm 1963) – banker, economist and politician Stephen Poloz – governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Quinn – senior vice president, Wal-Mart Inc, Bentonville, Arkansas David Radler (MBA 1967) – former president of Ravelston Corporation (which owned Argus Corporation which controlled Hollinger International), cooperating with the prosecution in the Conrad Black racketeering case Michele Romanow (BScEng 2007, MBA 2008) – cast member on Dragons' Den, co-founder of Clearbanc Michael Serbinis (B.S.) – president and CEO of Kobo Inc. Chris Viehbacher – CEO of Sanofi Mark Wiseman – president and CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Literature and the arts Jill Barber – singer-songwriter Matthew Barber – singer-songwriter Janet Cardiff – artist Lina Chartrand (B.A.) – writer George Elliott Clarke (Ph.D. 1993) – writer and academic Jim Cuddy – lead singer of Blue Rodeo Kalli Dakos – children's poet and teacher Robertson Davies, CC – author and playwright Gord Downie – lead singer of band The Tragically Hip Dawn Dumont – author Omar El Akkad - novelist and journalist Priscilla Galloway – author Sarah Harmer – singer-songwriter Frank Ll. Harrison – musicologist Steven Heighton – author Elena Juatco – singer and Canadian Idol season 2 top 10 contestant Irene Luxbacher – artist, author and illustrator Cyndra MacDowall – artist and photographer Jay Malinowski (B.A. 2004) – vocalist and guitarist for the Canadian band Bedouin Soundclash Paul Nicholas Mason – author Emily Julian McManus (M.A., 1894) – poet, author, and educator Jean Mills – children's author Alexander Muir (B.A. 1851) – composer of "The Maple Leaf Forever" Justine Musk – author Michael Ondaatje (M.A. 1967) – author Neil Pasricha – speaker, author and writer of 1000 Awesome Things Joseph Petric – musician Ciara Phillips (BFA 2000) – artist Maynard Plant – vocalist and guitarist for the Japanese band Monkey Majik Iain Reid (B.A. 2004) – novelist, author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things Baņuta Rubess (B.A., honours 1977) – playwright and theatre director Eon Sinclair (B.A. 2004) – bassist for Canadian band Bedouin Soundclash Gord Sinclair – bassist of The Tragically Hip Russell Smith – author and The Globe and Mail columnist Moez Surani – author Timothy Taylor – author Judith Thompson – playwright Chris Turner – author Cynthia Johnston Turner – conductor
Military John Weir Foote (B.A. 1933) – awarded the Victoria Cross for service during the Dieppe Raid in World War II Mark Norman (Bachelor of Economics) – vice-admiral, commander of RCN Ken Watkin (Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws) – brigadier general and judge advocate general of the Canadian Forces
Political leaders William Aberhart – former premier of Alberta Rohit Aggarwala – commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection John Baird (B.A. 1992) – former minister of the Environment and former Foreign Affairs Minister Isabel Bassett – former broadcaster and provincial cabinet minister Michael Breaugh – former member of Parliament and member of Provincial Parliament Derek Burney (B.A. 1962, M.A. 1964) – former Canadian ambassador to the Korea, Japan, and the United States Diana Buttu – Palestinian legal advisor Sean Conway – director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations (Queen's University), former Ontario cabinet minister and MPP Thomas Cromwell (B.Mus. 1973, Law 1976) – Supreme Court justice John Crosbie – former minister of Finance Paul Dewar – educator, aid worker and former member of Parliament David Emerson (Ph.D. 1975) – former minister of International Trade and minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics Robert Fowler – Canadian diplomat Godwin Friday (Ph.D. 1989) – fifth prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Jean-Denis Garon (Ph.D. 2012) – scholar and politician, member of Parliament for Mirabel John Gerretsen – Ontario MPP, former mayor of Kingston, Ontario cabinet minister Sir Kenneth O. Hall – governor general of Jamaica James R.M. Harris – author and politician, former leader of the Green Party of Canada Susan Holt (Artsci 1999 Chemistry, Artsci 2000 Economics) – premier of New Brunswick Yolande James (LL.B. 2003) – lawyer and politician, Quebec's first black cabinet minister Pauline Jewett – university administrator and federal member of Parliament David Lloyd Johnston (LL.B. 1966) – president of the University of Waterloo, principal of McGill University, dean of the School of Law at the University of Western Ontario, and 28th governor general of Canada Donald C. MacDonald – former Ontario MPP and leader of the Ontario CCF/NDP (1953–1970) Nicolas Marceau (Ph.D. 1992) – scholar and politician, former member of Quebec National Assembly and Quebec minister of finance (2012–2014) John Matheson – "midwife of the Canadian flag" and former MP for Leeds, judge in Ottawa-Carlton Lindsay Mathyssen – member of Parliament Frank McKenna – former Canadian ambassador to the United States and former premier of New Brunswick Peter Milliken (B.A. 1968) – speaker of the House of Commons Tim Murphy – chief of staff of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office under Paul Martin's government Robert Nicholson (B.A. 1975) – minister of National Defence of Canada Alison Redford (attended for two years, 1983–1985) –14th premier of Alberta (2011–2014) Rathika Sitsabaiesan (M.I.R. 2007) – member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge River (2011–2015) George Spotton (B.A. 1895) – member of the House of Commons Karen Stintz – Toronto municipal councillor and chair of the TTC (2010–2014) Ross Thatcher – 9th premier of Saskatchewan (1964–1971) Kathleen Wynne (B.A.) – 25th premier of Ontario (2013–2018)
Scientists Walter A. Bell B.Sc. – geologist and paleontologist Mustapha Ishak Boushaki (PhD 2002) – theoretical physicist Norman L. Bowen B.Sc., M.Sc. – chemical geologist Bill Buxton B.Mus. (1973) – computer scientist and human-computer interaction pioneer Barbara Cade-Menun – research scientist Adolfo J. de Bold – O.C. Ph.D. – emeritus professor at University of Ottawa; discovered heart hormones Anna L. Brown BSc – physician Charles Rea Dickson M.D. C.M. (1880) – radiologist, electrotherapist, co-founder of CNIB Foundation Charles LeGeyt Fortescue – electrical engineer Christine Friedenreich – cancer epidemiologist James Edwin Hawley (BSc 1918, MSc 1920) – head of Geological Sciences Department (1929–1962) Kenneth E. Iverson (BSc 1951) – inventor of the APL programming language, Turing Award laureate Erin Johnson (PhD 2008) – theoretical chemist Leon Katz, B.Sc. MSc. – professor at University of Saskatchewan, founder of Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory, member of the Order of Canada Venkatesh K. R. Kodur Ph.D. – University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and pioneer in structural fire engineering Thomas Edvard Krogh M.Sc. (Geology) – geochronologist and curator of the Royal Ontario Museum Harriet MacMillan (M.D., 1982) – medical academic and scientist Margaret McKellar M.D. (1890), medical missionary