List of Australian National University people

The Australian National University has had numerous notable alumni and faculty.

Notable alumni

• Nicholas Agar, ethicist
• Bettina Arndt, psychologist and journalist
• Genevieve Blanchett, theatre designer
• Rosi Braidotti, feminist
• Michael Brand, art scholar
• Ian Brooker, botanist
• Colin Butler, physician and humanitarian
• Dipesh Chakrabarty, historian and theorist
• William Cheung, kung fu practitioner
• Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, diplomat
• John Coates, mathematician
• Ian Cresswell, composer
• Glyn Davis, university administrator
• Stevan Eldred-Grigg, historian and novelist
• Nicholas Evans, linguist
• Alan Gilbert, university administrator
• Kevin Hart, poet and literary critic
• Catherine Holmes, Supreme Court Judge
• Rodney Jory, physicist
• Eugene Kamenka, philosopher
• Cheong Choong Kong, former CEO of Singapore Airlines
• Marcia Langton, anthropologist
• Donald Laycock, linguist
• Rodolfo Llinás, neuroscientist
• Keith Nugent, physicist
• Patrick O'Farrell, historian
• Debra Oswald, scriptwriter
• John Pascoe, jurist
• Charles E. M. Pearce, mathematician
• John Quiggin, economist
• Gayla Reid, writer
• Brendan Shanahan, author
• John Shine, biochemist
• Anu Singh, murderer
• John Tarrant, Zen master
• Andrew Tridgell, computer programmer
• Barbara Vernon, birth activist
• David Vernon, writer and sceptic
• Robert Webster, virologist
• Jean-Philippe Wispelaere, convicted on espionage related charges
• Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Nobel Prize winning medical researcher

Politics and government

• Andrew Barr, politician
• Phillip Barresi, politician
• Kim Beazley, senior, politician
• Don Brash, politician from New Zealand
• Richard Butler, diplomat, United Nations weapons inspector and Governor of Tasmania
• Stephen Conroy, politician
• Roslyn Dundas, politician
• Craig Emerson, politician
• Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, politician
• Katy Gallagher, politician
• Christine Gallus, politician
• Peter Garrett, rock singer and politician
• Gary Gray, former National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party, current MP and minister
• Alan Griffin, politician
• Margaret Guilfoyle, politician
• Patricia Hewitt, British politician
• Gary Humphries, politician
• Martin Indyk, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel
• Harry Jenkins, politician
• Michael Keenan, politician
• Catherine King, politician
• Joe Ludwig, politician
• Brett Mason, politician
• Nick Minchin, politician
• Barry O'Farrell, politician
• Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesian politician
• Kevin Rudd, first ANU graduate to be elected as Prime Minister of Australia
• Susan Ryan, politician
• Warren Snowdon, politician
• Alex Somlyay, politician
• Kuini Speed, former Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji
• Jon Stanhope, politician and Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
• Tony Whitlam, politician
• Penny Williams, Head of Mission,current Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia
• Andrew Tuckwell, neuroscientist

Notable past and present staff

• Patrick Atiyah, English barrister and legal writer
• Arthur Llewellyn Basham South Asian historian
• Larissa Behrendt, indigenous academic
• David Bensusan-Butt, economist
• Arthur Birch, organic chemist
• Miroslav Bukovsky, composer
• Hedley Bull, Professor of International Relations
• John Caldwell, demographer
• David Chalmers, philosopher
• Manning Clark, historian
• John Coates, mathematician
• John Cockcroft, Nobel Prize- winning nuclear physicist, former chancellor
• H.C. Coombs, economist and public servant
• David P. Craig, research chemist
• Rafe de Crespigny, sinologist
• Gavan Daws, historian and writer
• Robert Dessaix, novelist and essayist
• Peter Doherty, Nobel Prize-winning immunologist
• Thomas K. Donaldson, mathematician
• John Carew Eccles, Nobel Prize-winning neurophysiologist
• Fred Emery, social scientist
• Kep Enderby, lawyer and politician
• Denis Evans, physicist and chemist
• Henry Evans Maude, anthropologist
• Frank Fenner, scientist
• Michael Flood, sociologist
• Howard Walter Florey, Nobel Prize winning medical researcher, former chancellor
• Katherine Gibson, human geographer
• Robert Gilbert, polymer chemist
• Colin Groves, anthropologist
• Fred Gruen, economist
• Wang Gungwu, specialist in studying the Chinese diaspora
• Keith Hancock, historian
• A. D. Hope, poet and essayist
• Leonard Huxley, physicist
• Ken Inglis, historian
• Edward A. Irving, geologist
• Frank Cameron Jackson, philosopher
• J. C. Jaeger, geophysicist
• Zvonimir Janko, mathematician
• Rhys Jones, archaeologist
• James Jupp, political scientist
• Peter Karmel, economist
• Roger Keesing, anthropologist
• Ben Kerkvliet, political scientist
• Geoffrey Lancaster, musicologist and pianist
• Brij Lal, historian, novelist and writer of non-fiction
• Andrew Leigh, economist
• Loren Lomasky, political philosopher
• Gavan McCormack, Orientalist
• Brendan McKay, computer scientist
• Warwick McKibbin, economist
• T.B. Millar, historian and political scientists
• John Minford, sinologist and literary translator
• Pat Moran, statistician
• Fred Nadel, anthropologist
• Bernhard Neumann, mathematician
• Hanna Neumann, mathematician, first female professor of mathematics in Australia
• Mark Oliphant, physicist and Governor of South Australia
• John Passmore, philosopher
• Philip Pettit, political scientist
• Lindsay Pryor, botanist
• Leo Radom, research chemist
• Malcolm Rennie, philosopher and logician
• Malcolm Ross, linguist
• Amin Saikal, political scientist
• Michael Salla, political scientist
• Jeremy Shearmur, philosopher
• Peter Singer, philosopher
• J. J. C. Smart, philosopher
• Michael Smith, philosopher
• Thomas Smith, economist
• Allan Snyder, optical physicist/visual scientist
• Oskar Spate, geographer
• Richard Sylvan, philosopher
• Royall Tyler, Japan specialist
• Jonathan Unger, contemporary China specialist
• Michael Vernon, scientist and consumer activist
• Ling Wang (Wang Ling), historian of Chinese science
• Anna Wierzbicka, linguist
• Robert M. Douglas , medical researcher

Administration

Chancellors

The Chancellor of the Australian National University serves as the nominal head of the university. The basic outline of the position is detailed in the Australian National University Act 1991, which governs the operation of the university. As with most other university chancellors, the role is now largely ceremonial, though still quite prestigious.

• R.C. Mills ¹ (1946-1951)
• Stanley Bruce (1951-1961)
• Sir John Cockcroft (1961-1965)
• Howard Florey (1965-1968)
• Sir John Crawford (1976-1984)
• Sir Richard Blackburn (1984-1987)
• Sir Gordon Jackson (1987-1990)
• Sir Geoffrey Yeend (1990-1994)
• Peter Baume (1994-2006)
• Dr Allan Hawke (2006-present)

¹ Mills served as Chair of the Interim Council while the University was initially beginning operations. While Bruce was officially the first Chancellor, Mills had been effectively fulfilling the same function.

Vice Chancellors

The Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University serves as the chief executive officer of the university, and oversees most of the university's day-to-day operations, with the Chancellor serving in a largely ceremonial role. It was for many years a position generally only held by prominent academics, but this has changed in recent years, as universities have tended to look for specialist administrators.

• Sir Douglas Copland (1948-1953)
• Sir Leslie Melville (1953-1960)
• Sir Leonard Huxley (1960-1967)
• Sir John Crawford (1968-1973)
• Robert (RM) Williams (1973-1975)
• Anthony (DA) Low (1975-1982)
• Peter Karmel (1982-1987)
• Lawrence (LW) Nichol (1988-1993
• Deane Terrell (1994-2001)
• Ian Chubb (2001-present)