Edinburgh's famous alumni

Some of the world's most influential people, past and present, have helped establish Edinburgh City Region's international reputation for excellence across a range of disciplines.

They include;

Science

• Professor Ian Wilmut, scientist and co-creator of Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal
• James Simpson, physician, pioneered anaesthetic
• Alexander Graham Bell, invented the telephone
• John Napier, inventor of logarithms, popularised the decimal point
• Joseph Lister, pioneer of antiseptic surgery

Business and economics

• Adam Smith, pioneer of modern economics
• Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive of Cairn Energy
• Sir Sandy Crombie, Chief Executive, Standard Life
• Sir David Murray, entrepreneur and chairman of Rangers Football Club
• Sir Tom Farmer, entrepreneur and philanthropist

Politics and philosophy

• David Hume, philosopher and leading figure of the Enlightenment
• The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, UK Prime Minister
• The Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister

Arts

• JK Rowling, acclaimed author and Harry Potter creator
• Alexander McCall Smith, acclaimed author and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at The University of Edinburgh
• Ian Rankin, the UK's number one best-selling crime author
• Sir Sean Connery, Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award-winning actor
• Sir Henry Raeburn, leading Scottish portrait painter during the late 18th and early 19th centuries
• John Bellany, acclaimed figurative painter

Sport

• Sir Chris Hoy, Olympic cycling gold medallist
• Katherine Grainger, Olympic rowing medallist
• Gordon Strachan, footballer, won 50 international caps for Scotland
• Dario Franchitti, international motor racing driver
• Gavin Hastings, former rugby internationalist, 61 caps for Scotland

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