Australian National University Notable Alumni

Discover the notable alumni of Australian National University (ANU). The list includes people like Bob Hawke, Peter Garrett, David Brooks, Rolf M. Zinkernagel & Ralph Regenvanu. This list of notable alumni is loosely sorted by popularity and has people from different domains of life, such as leaders, intellectuals & academics, media personalities, writers and scientists etc.

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Birthdate: April 16, 1953

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Wahroonga, Australia

Peter Garrett is an Australian musician, activist, environmentalist, and former politician. Renowned for his eccentric dance style and signature bald head, Garrett is best known for his association with the popular rock band Midnight Oil where he performs as the lead singer. A football fan, Peter Garrett supports the Essendon Bombers of the AFL.

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Richard Roxburgh

(Actor Known for his Roles in 'Van Helsing' and 'Mission: Impossible 2')

Birthdate: January 23, 1962

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Albury, Australia

Australian actor Richard Roxburgh has gained immense popularity with his roles of Moriarty in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hugh Stamp in Mission Impossible II, and Count Dracula in Van Helsing. He was nominated for an AACTA award for Moulin Rouge!and won the Logie Award for the series Rake.

Birthdate: August 11, 1961

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Toronto

David Brooks is a Canadian-born American conservative political commentator. Having worked with popular publications like The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, and Newsweek, Brooks is currently contributing as a writer for The New York Times. Also an educator, David Brooks has taught at prestigious institutions like the Sanford School of Public Policy and Yale University.

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Kevin Rudd

(26th Prime Minister of Australia (June 2013 - September 2013))

Birthdate: September 21, 1957

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Nambour, Queensland, Australia

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has been an Australian Labor Party leader and his country’s foreign affairs minister, too. After graduating in Chinese studies, he directly stepped into a diplomatic career. He has also worked for KPMG Australia as a Senior China Consultant and has penned a memoir.

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 5 

Frank Fenner

(Australian Scientist With a Distinguished Career in the Field of Virology Across the Globe)

Birthdate: December 21, 1914

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Ballarat, Australia

Died: November 22, 2010

Frank Fenner was an Australian scientist best remembered for his achievements in the field of virology. He played a key role in the eradication of smallpox. He is also credited with introducing the Myxoma virus, which played a major role in controlling Australia's rabbit plague. During his illustrious career, Fenner was honored with prestigious awards, such as the WHO Medal.

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Tara Morice

(Actor, Singer, Dancer)

Birthdate: June 23, 1964

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Hobart, Australia

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 7 

Thérèse Rein

(Businessperson)

Birthdate: July 17, 1958

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Adelaide, Australia

 8 

Andrew Tridgell

(Engineer, Programmer, Computer scientist)

Birthdate: February 28, 1967

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: Sydney

Australian programmer Andrew Tridgell is best known for developing the compression program software Rzip. He also co-invented the rsync algorithm and has contributed to the Samba file server. A doctorate degree holder from the Australian National University, he had initially also worked on speech recognition.

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Tim Macartney-Snape

(Mountaineer)

Birthdate: January 5, 1956

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Tanzania

Birthdate: January 6, 1944

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Riehen, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland

Rolf M. Zinkernagel is a Swiss professor who teaches Experimental Immunology. In 1996, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work pertaining to the immune system. In 1999, his scientific work also earned him Australia's highest civilian honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia.  

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 11 

Kate Webb

(Journalist)

Birthdate: March 24, 1943

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Christchurch, New Zealand

Died: May 13, 2007

 12 

Mike Morwood

(Archaeologist)

Birthdate: October 27, 1950

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Auckland, New Zealand

Died: July 23, 2013

Mike Morwood was a New Zealand archaeologist best remembered for discovering Homo floresiensis. His discovery earned him the prestigious Rhys Jones Medal, which was bestowed upon him by the Australian Archaeological Association in 2012.

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 13 

Alan Gould

(Novelist)

Birthdate: March 22, 1949

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: London, England

Alan Gould is an Australian novelist, essayist, and poet. Born to an English father and an Icelandic mother, he lived in several countries before settling in Australia. He worked as a nuclear physics technician before becoming a full-time writer. He has written several collections of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. He is a recipient of the Philip Hodgins Memorial Award. 

The Australian National University, commonly known as ‘ANU’, is situated in Canberra, the capital of the continent. If sources are to be believed, more than ten thousand students join this reputed institution every year for undergraduate as well as postgraduate courses. As of now, more than 3000 people are employed with the university as its staff. According to a list compiled by the media source ‘Times Higher Education’, which consisted of reputed universities from around the world the Australian National University was ranked 7th. This university stood 22nd in the ‘QS World University Rankings’ list compiled in 2016-17. A popular fact about this university is that among its faculty and alumni, 49 individuals are Rhodes Scholars and 6 of them are Nobel laureates. Of course, the Australian National University is well known for offering a wide variety of courses related to various fields, but it is also famous for its notable alumni. The current Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, musician and environmentalist Peter Garrett, acclaimed politician and former Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, are a few former students, who have made ANU proud. Bob Hawke had served as the Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Labor Party for a period of 8 years. Kevin Rudd was elected to office on two occasions and is considered one of the most iconic politicians of all time. Scroll below to find the list of eminent personalities who were once students of the highly reputed Australian National University (ANU).