This is a list of University of Melbourne people, including alumni and staff.
Alumni
Academia
- Sir John Behan, educator; Australia's first Rhodes Scholar
- Geoff Bowker, professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine
- Alec Broers, Baron Broers, electrical engineer, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
- Karen Burns, architectural historian
- Joseph Camilleri, professor at La Trobe University
- Simon Chesterman, Dean of Law at the National University of Singapore
- Michael Clyne, linguist
- Greg Craven, Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University
- John Deeble, architect of Medicare Australia
- Richard Dowell, audiologist, academic and researcher
- Ding Dyason, medical historian
- Alan Ebringer, immunologist, professor at King's College in the University of London
- Arie Freiberg, , legal academic
- Germaine Greer, feminist
- Maria Gough, art historian at Harvard University
- Bella Guerin, educator and activist; first female university graduate in Australia
- John Alexander Gunn, philosophy professor
- Peter Karmel, former vice-chancellor of Australian National University and Flinders University
- Hugh Gemmell Lamb-Smith, Australian educator; landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915.
- Arthur Lucas, principal of King's College London (1993âÂÂ2003)
- Robert Manne, professor of politics at La Trobe University
- Samaresh Mitra, bioinorganic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Jennifer McKay, Professor of Business Law at the University of South Australia
- Peter McPhee, Provost of the University of Melbourne
- Fulvio Melia, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Arizona and associate editor of the Astrophysical Journal
- Bruce Mitchell, fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
- David S. Oderberg, professor of philosophy at the University of Reading
- Richard G. Pestell, Executive Vice President at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia USA
- Abbas Rajabifard, professor and head of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering in the Melbourne School of Engineering
- Michael Roe, historian
- John Ralston (scientist), physical chemist and researcher at the UniSA
- David Shallcross, chemical engineer
- James Simpson, Harvard University professor
- Alexander Smits, Eugene Higgins Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University
- John Tasioulas, Professor of Ethics and Legal Philosophy, Oxford University
- Gillian Triggs, international legal academic and President of the Australian Human Rights Commission
- Frances Valintine, education futurist
- Sally Walker, Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University
- Frank T. M. White, Foundation Professor, Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Queensland; Macdonald Professor of Mining Engineering and Applied Geophysics, McGill University
Architecture
Business
- Leigh Clifford, Chairman of Qantas
- Robert Champion de Crespigny
- Margaret Dick
- Anthony Di Pietro, President of Melbourne Victory Football Club and CEO of Premier Fresh Australia
- John Elliott, President of Liberal Party of Australia & Carlton Football Club
- Aubrey Gibson
- Charles Goode, Chairman of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group
- James P. Gorman, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley
- David Hains
- John Holland, founder of John Holland Group
- Margaret Jackson
- Ananda Krishnan, CEO, Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd
- Hugh Morgan, former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia
- Rupert Myer, director, Myer Family Company
- Richard Pratt
- James Riady, Chairman, Lippo Group
- Graeme Samuel,
- Karl Siegling, funds manager
- Peter Smedley, CEO of Colonial Group, Mayne Nickless
- Evan Thornley, entrepreneur
Community activism
Government
Governors General of Australia
Governors of Victoria
Governors of other jurisdictions
Politicians
Prime Ministers of Australia
Premiers of Victoria
Premier of Queensland
Federal politicians
- Lyn Allison, former Member of the Australian Senate and leader of the Australian Democrats
- Richard Alston, , former Member of the Australian Senate
- Kevin Andrews, , Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Bruce Baird, , former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Maurice Blackburn, lawyer and former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Neil Brown, , former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Anna Burke, , Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- John Button, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Jim Cairns, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
- Sam Cohen, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Barney Cooney, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Mark Dreyfus, , Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Gareth Evans, , international policymaker, academic, and former Member of the Australian Senate
- John Alexander Forrest
- Petro Georgiou, former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Andrew Giles, Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Ivor Greenwood, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Ray Groom, , former Member of the Australian House of Representatives and Premier of Tasmania
- H. B. Higgins, former Attorney-General of Australia and Justice of the High Court of Australia
- Greg Hunt, , Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Dennis Jensen, Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Barry Jones, AC former Member of Australian House of Representatives and Parliament of Victoria.
- David Kemp, former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- John Langmore, Member of Australian House of Representatives
- William Maloney, Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Richard Marles, Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Peter McGauran, former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Kelly O'Dwyer, , Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Andrew Peacock, , former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Sir Arthur Robinson, , former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Nicola Roxon, former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Roger Shipton, , former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Bill Shorten, , Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Bruce Smith, , former Member of Australian House of Representatives
- Sir John Spicer, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Sid Spindler, former Member of the Australian Senate
- Lindsay Tanner, former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Ralph Willis, , former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Agar Wynne, former Member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian state and territory politicians
- Sir Clifden Eager , former President of the Victorian Legislative Council
- Maurice Blackburn, lawyer and former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- John Bourke, lawyer and former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Thomas Brennan, political journalist and former Member of the Victorian Legislative Council
- Bruce Chamberlain, , former Member of both the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Council
- Robert Clark, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Neil Cole, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and playwright and researcher
- Robert Dean, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Frank Field, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- John Galbally, , former Member of both the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Council
- Matthew Groom, , Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
- Ray Groom, , former Premier of Tasmania and Member of the Australian House of Representatives
- Tim Holding, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Robert Wilfred Holt, Minister for Lands in the Cain government 1952âÂÂ54
- Trevor Oldham, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, serving as Deputy Premier
- Herbert Postle, former Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
- Robert Ramsay, former Member of both the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Edward Reynolds, , former Member of both the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- T. J. Ryan, , former Premier of Queensland
- Sir Arthur Rylah, , former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Deputy Premier
- Prue Sibree, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Oswald Snowball, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, serving as Speaker
- Alan Stockdale, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, serving as Treasurer
- Shane Stone, , former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
- Richard Ward, , former Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Council and Supreme Court judge
- Sir Henry Wrixon, , former Member of both the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Council
- Agar Wynne, former Member of the Victorian Legislative Council
International politicians
- Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs
- Kirsty Sword Gusmão, First Lady of East Timor
- Hun Many, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia
- Ismail Abdul Rahman, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali, former Menteri Besar of Perak
- Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Member of Parliament of Jeli, former Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry
- Baru Bian, Member of Parliament of Selangau, former Malaysian Minister of Works
- Raja Kamarul Bahrin, former Malaysian Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government
- Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister
Public servants
- William Macmahon Ball, diplomat
- Jean-Pierre Blais, Canadian bureaucrat; Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
- Peta Credlin, political advisor
- Francis Patrick Donovan, , diplomat and jurist
- Bill Paterson, Australian Ambassador to Republic of Korea; previously Australian Ambassador to Thailand and Australian Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism
- Trevor Ashmore Pyman, diplomat.
- John So, Lord Mayor of Melbourne
- Fred Whitlam, Crown Solicitor; father of Gough
- Danielle Wood, economist and incoming chair of the Productivity Commission
- Luke Lazarus Arnold, Australian diplomat
Humanities
Arts
- Angela Brennan, artist
- Steve Cox, painter and watercolourist
- John Dahlsen, environmental artist
- Hugh Davies, mixed media artist
- Lisa Gervasoni, artist
- Bill Henson, photographer and Venice Biennale representative
- Ali Hogg, photographer and activist
- Pamela Irving, artist and educator
- Anastasia Klose, video artist and Biennale of Sydney representative
- Brian McFarlane (BA & DipEd), film historian, writer, and educator
- Doris McKellar, photographer
- Azlan McLennan, artist and activist
- Lewis Miller, Archibald Prize winning painter
- Victor O'Connor, artist
- Daniel Palmer, historian, critic, academic, and theorist of contemporary art, photography, and digital media
- Shaun Parker, award-winning choreographer, founder of Shaun Parker & Company
- Stieg Persson, painter
- Patricia Piccinini, sculptor and Venice Biennale representative
- Van Thanh Rudd, artist and activist
- Anne-Louise Sarks, theatre director and writer
- Matt Scholten, theatre director, teacher and writer
- Ricky Swallow, sculptor and Venice Biennale representative
- Timothy James Webb, artist
- Bradd Westmoreland, artist
- Marcus Wills, Archibald Prize winning painter
Film and television
- Adam Arkapaw, cinematographer (True Detective, Animal Kingdom, Snowtown)
- Gillian Armstrong, director (Charlotte Gray, Little Women)
- Tony Ayres, Australian Film Institute award-winning director (The Home Song Stories, Walking on Water)
- Alison Bell, Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award nominated actor (I Rock, Laid)
- Tahir Raj Bhasin, Indian actor
- Jill Bilcock, Academy Award-nominated editor (Elizabeth, Moulin Rouge!, Red Dog)
- Hamish Blake, comedian (did not graduate)
- Cate Blanchett, actress (did not graduate)
- Jamie Blanks, director (Urban Legend, Valentine)
- John Bluthal, actor
- Sibylla Budd, actor and documentary presenter (All Saints, Sea Patrol, The Secret Life of Us)
- Ronny Chieng, comedian
- Santo Cilauro, television and feature film producer
- Vince Colosimo, Australian Film Institute Award winning actor (Body of Lies, Chopper, Lantana)
- Marg Downey, comedian and actress
- Elizabeth Debicki, actress
- Adam Elliot, Academy Award-winning animator (Harvie Krumpet, Mary and Max)
- Alexander England, actor
- Alice Garner, historian, musician and actress
- Antony I. Ginnane, film producer
- Tom Gleisner, director, producer, writer, comedian, actor and author
- Libbi Gorr, comedian
- Barry Humphries, comedian
- Red Hong Yi, artist and architectural designer
- Sammy J, comedian
- Clayton Jacobson, director (Kenny)
- Justin Kurzel, director (Snowtown, Macbeth (2015), Assassin's Creed)
- Andy Lee, comedian
- Anthony Lucas, Academy Award nominated animator (The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello)
- Robert Luketic, director (21, Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law)
- Catherine Mack-Hancock, actress
- Lara Jean Marshall, actress best known for her role on The Saddle Club
- Belinda McClory, actor and screenwriter (Acolytes, Blue Heelers, The Matrix)
- David Michôd, director (Animal Kingdom)
- Rhys Muldoon, actor
- Lloyd Newson, director, dancer and choreographer
- Michael Pattinson, producer (Ground Zero, Secrets)
- Hannie Rayson, Australian Writers' Guild Award and Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award winning playwright and actor (SeaChange)
- Glenn Robbins, comedian and actor
- Portia de Rossi, actress
- Pallavi Sharda, Indian actor
- Jonathan M. Shiff, Australian Film Institute and British Academy of Film and Television Arts award-winning producer (Ocean Girl, Thunderstone)
- Rob Sitch, co-writer and co-director of the movies The Castle and The Dish; co-host of The Panel
- Matt Scholten, director
- Simon Stone, director and actor
- Sam Strong, director, artistic director, Queensland Theatre
- Magda Szubanski, comedian and actress
- Nadia Townsend, actor and theatre director (City Homicide, Fireflies, Knowing)
- Andrew Upton, director and playwright
- Steve Vizard, television and radio presenter, lawyer, comedian, producer, author and screenwriter
- Luke Walker, director/producer (Beyond Our Ken, Lasseter's Bones)
- Sarah Watt, director and animator (Look Both Ways, My Year Without Sex)
- Angela White, pornographic actress, director
- Alison Whyte, Logie Award-winning actor (Frontline, Satisfaction)
- Geoffrey Wright, director (Macbeth (2006), Metal Skin, Romper Stomper)
- Julia Zemiro, television presenter
- Randeep Hooda, Indian actor
- Yashma Gill, Pakistani actor
- Lydia Zimmermann, director (Aro Tolbukhin. En la mente del asesino)
- Ashley Zukerman, Logie Award nominated actor (Lowdown, The Pacific, Rush)
History
Journalism
Literature, writing and poetry
- Randa Abdel-Fattah, Australian Muslim author and lawyer
- Russell Blackford, writer, philosopher and critic
- Caroline Brothers, novelist and foreign correspondent
- Vincent Buckley
- Anna Ciddor, author and illustrator
- Helen Garner, author
- Kerry Greenwood, crime writer
- Germaine Greer, feminist writer and academic
- Jack Hibberd
- Fulvio Melia
- Gerald Murnane, novelist and short story writer
- Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University
- Lynne Kelly, writer, researcher and science educator
Music
- Harry James Angus, trumpeter and vocalist (The Cat Empire)
- Wouter De Backer, musician known as 'Gotye'
- Cheryl Barker, opera singer
- Michael Barker, drummer (John Butler Trio, Split Enz)
- Don Banks, composer
- Nicole Car, opera singer
- Arthur Chanter 1866âÂÂ1950, composer
- Diana Doherty, oboe soloist (New York Philharmonic)
- Leonard Dommett, violinist and conductor
- Julian Gavin, opera singer
- Antoinette Halloran, opera singer
- Phil Harvey, manager and creative director (Coldplay)
- Missy Higgins, singer-songwriter
- Rex Hobcroft, pianist and administrator
- Tania de Jong, soprano and social entrepreneur
- Liza Lim, composer
- John McAll, pianist and musical director
- Mona McBurney 1867âÂÂ1932 composer
- Ryan Monro, bassist (The Cat Empire)
- Ian Munro, pianist and composer
- Patrick Savage, film composer and former principal first violin (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
- Peter Sculthorpe, composer
- Dudley Simpson, conductor and television composer
- Jan Skubiszewski, multi-award-winning record producer film composer
- Red Symons, musician, television and radio personality
- Penelope Thwaites, musicologist and pianist
- Yelian He, cellist
- Charles Zwar, songwriter, composer, lyricist, pianist and music director
- David Burd, US rapper, known as Lil Dicky
Philosophy
Law
Chief Justices of Australia
Justices of the High Court of Australia
- Sir Keith Aickin, , former justice
- Susan Crennan
- Sir Daryl Dawson, , former justice
- Sir Wilfred Fullagar, , former justice
- Kenneth Hayne
- H. B. Higgins, former justice
- Sir Douglas Menzies, former justice
- Geoffrey Nettle
- Sir Ninian Stephen, , also a previous Governor-General of Australia
Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
Justices of the Federal Court of Australia
Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia
Justices of the Family Court of Australia
Chief Justices of Victoria
- Lieutenant General Sir Edmund Herring, , also a former Lieutenant Governor of Victoria
- Sir William Irvine, , also a former Premier of Victoria
- Sir John Madden, , also a former Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor of the University
- Sir Frederick Mann, , also a former Lieutenant Governor of Victoria
- John Harber Phillips, , also a former Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions and Director of the National Crime Authority
- Sir Henry Winneke, , also a former Governor of Victoria
- Sir John Young,
Justices of the Supreme Court of Victoria
Presidents of the Victorian Court of Appeal
Other legal professionals
- Philip Alston, international law scholar; former United Nations Special Rapporteur
- John Bennett, civil libertarian
- Matthew Collins, barrister and Senior Fellow at the Melbourne Law School
- Mario Condello, lawyer; murdered during Melbourne gangland killings
- Frank Costigan, , lawyer, Royal Commissioner and social justice activist
- Rowan Downing, , barrister and international jurist
- Frank Galbally, , criminal defence lawyer
- Flos Greig, first woman to be admitted to practise as a barrister and solicitor in Australia
- Philip Griffiths, , jurist
- Francis Gurry, international intellectual property lawyer and bureaucrat
- Colin Lovitt, , criminal barrister
- Julian McMahon, A.C., barrister, humanitarian, campaigner against death penalty
- Rob Stary, criminal defence lawyer
- Tengku Amalin A'ishah Putri, Princess of Kelantan Royal Family
- Lord Uthwatt, Judge, Chancery Division, High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, House of Lords
Military
- Group Captain John Balmer, , World War II RAAF bomber pilot
- Major General Sir Julius Bruche, , Second Boer War and World War I army officer
- Sir Samuel Burston, army doctor and World War II general
- Rupert Downes, army doctor and World War II general
- Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, army doctor and humanitarian
- Major General Harold "Pompey" Elliott, , politician and World War I army general
- Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley, army doctor
- Brigadier General William Grant, , World War I general
- Sir James Whiteside McCay, politician and World War I general
- Sir John Monash, World War I general
- Sir Kingsley Norris, army doctor and major general
- Lieutenant Colonel Philip Rhoden, , lawyer and World War II army officer
- Ian Upjohn, , Army Reserve officer and barrister
Religious leaders
Sciences
Agriculture
- Yvonne Aitken, botanist, first woman to earn a PhD in Agriculture form the University of Melbourne in 1970
Biology
Computing
- Andrew Freeman, FACS â Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (elected in 1997), and an Honorary Life Member (HLM) of the ACS (elected in 2018)
Geology
Chemistry
Engineering
Mathematics
Medicine
- Lilian Helen Alexander, one of the first women to study medicine at the university
- Ellen Balaam, first woman surgeon in Melbourne
- Marjorie Bick, biochemist
- Vera Scantlebury Brown
- Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1960 "for the discovery that the immune system of the fetus learns how to distinguish between self and non-self"
- Amy de Castilla, Physician and co-founder of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne and the Victorian Medical Women's Society.
- Clara Stone, Physician and co-founder of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne and the Victorian Medical Women's Society. One of the first seven women to be allowed to study medicine at Melbourne University.
- Sir John Carew Eccles, awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1963 "for describing the electric transmission of impulses along nerves"
- Constance Ellis, first woman to receive a Doctor of Medicine from the university
- Mavis Freeman, bacteriologist and biochemist
- Jane Stocks Greig, public health specialist
- Janet Greig, Victoria's first female anaesthetist
- David Handelsman, Australia's first professor in reproductive endocrinology and andrology
- Girlie Hodges (1904âÂÂ1999), Australian surgeon and field hockey player who represented Australia
- James Lawson, public health doctor and scientist
- Annie O'Hara, doctor and one of the first seven women to be allowed to study medicine at Melbourne University.
- Elizabeth O'Hara, one of the first seven women to be allowed to study medicine at Melbourne University.
- Lorna Verdun Sisely, Surgeon and founder of the Queen Victoria Medical Centre Breast Clinic.
- Elizabeth Scarr, associate professor at the Department of Psychiatry, project leader of Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health, and leader of the Psychiatric Neuropathology laboratory at the university
- Helen Sexton, surgeon, one of the first women to study medicine at the university
- Emily Mary Page Stone, Physician and co-founder of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne and the Victorian Medical Women's Society.
- Jaishankar Raman, cardiothoracic surgeon and academic.
- Rajaratnam Sundarason, surgeon, one of the founders of International House
- Elizabeth Kathleen Turner, medical superintendent of the (Royal) Children's Hospital Melbourne from 1943 until 1946. She was first doctor in Australia to administer penicillin.
- Grace Vale, Physician and co-founder of the Victorian Medical Women's Society. One of the first seven women to be allowed to study medicine at Melbourne University.
- Sydney James Van Pelt, pioneer of modern hypnotherapy
- Margaret Whyte, Physician, and one of the first seven women to be allowed to study medicine at Melbourne University.
Physics
Psychology
Veterinary Science
Sport
- Russell Basser (born 1960), Olympic water polo player
- Kim Crow, London Olympics silver and bronze medallist for doubles and singles sculling respectively
- Eva Duldig (born 1938), Austrian-born Australian and Dutch tennis player, author
- Bev Francis, IFBB professional Australian female bodybuilder, powerlifter, and national shot put champion
- Geoff Grover, VFL and VFA footballer; VFA interstate representative (1966 Hobart Carnival)
- Jemima Montag (born 1998), Olympic 2x bronze medal winning racewalker
- John Robinson, VFL footballer; recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (1917)
Faculty
Administration
Chancellors
Vice-Chancellors
Provost
Nicola Phillips was appointed provost of the university in April 2021, remaining in the position until being appointed inaugural vice-chancellor of the newly-formed Adelaide University from January 2026.
References
External links