15 Famous Imperial Alumni Who Changed the World

15 Famous Imperial Alumni Who Changed the World

Imperial College London, or simply Imperial, is a world-class university based in South Kensington, London. Imperial impressively ranks eighth place in the world for universities. Focusing on four main subject areas; science, engineering, medicine and business, it is unsurprising that most of their famous alumni fall under the scientist category. This page will discuss 15 of the most famous Imperial alumni.

Famous World Leaders and Politicians

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi (1944 – 1991) was an Indian politician who served as India’s 6th Prime Minister. In 1966 Gandhi enrolled at Imperial College London to study mechanical engineering but failed to complete the course. Upon his return to India where he worked as a professional pilot and stayed out of politics. However, in 1984 his mother, the then prime minister was assassinated and Gandhi was appointed prime minister in her place. He served in this role until 1989 where he faced many controversies including for the Bhopal disaster.

Layla Moran

Layla Maron is a British Liberal Democrat politician who studied physics at Imperial from 2000 to 2003. After working as a maths and physics teacher, Moran ran as a Liberal Democrat candidate three times unsuccessfully before being elected to the House of Commons in 2017. Moran has remained a Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon since her appointment.

Famous Scientists

Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, most famous for his discovery of the antibiotic penicillin. Fleming earned a medical degree with distinction from Imperial College London in 1906. His work in microbiology led to the discovery and isolation of penicillin in 1928 for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945. In 1944, Fleming was knighted for his scientific achievements and medical contributions.

Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam (1926 – 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist who, after his education, made significant scientific advancements at Imperial College London. Salam is known for his work on the electroweak unification theory for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. Salam also made major contributions to quantum field theory and served as scientific advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology in Pakistan from 1960 to 1974.

William Crookes

William Crookes (1832 – 1919) was a British chemist and physicist who studied organic chemistry at Imperial from the age of 16. Crookes excelled at his studies and soon began working on original research. He is famous for his work on spectroscopy and created Crookes tube (a vacuum tube). His discoveries would go on to change all of chemistry and physics.

Dennis Gabor

Dennis Gabor (1900 – 1979) was a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and physicist. After fleeing Nazi Germany, Gabor started work at Imperial and was appointed professor of Applied Physics in 1958, a position he held until his retirement. Through Gabor’s career he invented holography, an achievement that won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971.

Marc Garneau

Marc Garneau is a retired Canadian politician, military officer and astronaut who received his PhD in electrical engineering from Imperial in 1973. Garneau then served in the Canadian military where he was promoted to captain before his retirement in 1989. Following this, he became the first Canadian astronaut in outerspace, flying on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984, spending 29 days in space. Garneau subsequently pursued a career in politics and served as an MP in Westmount Montreal for 15 years.

Kevin Warwick

Kevin Warwick is an English engineer and Deputy Vice Chancellor at Coventry University in England. Warwick earned his PhD in engineering at Imperial College London and subsequently worked in a research job at the institution. Warwick is known for his research on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system in addition to robotics and artificial intelligence.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Maggie Aderin-Podock is a British space scientist and science educator who received her Bachelor’s in physics and PhD in mechanical engineering degrees from Imperial College London from 1990 to 1994. Aderin-Pocock has worked in a variety of sectors including the UK MInistry of Defence but since 2024 she has become known for co-hosting the astronomy television show The Sky at Night. In 2020 she was awarded the Institute of Physics Prize for her public engagement in physics.

Anthony R. Barringer

Anthony ‘Tony’ Barringer (1925 – 2009) was a Canadian Geophysicist who obtained a Bachelor’s and PhD degree from Imperial from 1951 to 1954 after serving in the Second World War. Barringer is known for his contributions to mineral exploration technology including the development of the INPUT airborne electromagnetic system which has led to the discovery of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of ore deposits.

Andreas Mogensen

Andreas Mogensen is a Danish engineer and astronaut who earned his Master’s in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London in 1999. After a career as a navigation and orbit control engineer in Germany, Mogensen became the first Dane to fly in space as part of ESA’s Iriss program in 2015 and has since spent a total of 208 days in spaceflight! 

Famous Athletes

Roger Bannister 

Sir Roger Bannister (1929 – 2018) was an English neurologist and athlete. Bannister is famous for being the first person to run a sub-4 minute mile which he attained with minimal training while practicing as a junior doctor! Bannister has since given his trophy to the winning athletics team for the annual varsity match between Imperial College School of Medicine and Imperial College London in addition to an award dedicated to the graduating doctor who has achieved the most in the sporting community.

Famous Musicians

Brian May 

Sir Brian May is an English musician, songwriter, animal rights activist and astrophysicist. After receiving his Bachelor’s in physics from Imperial in 1968, May started his PhD in astrophysics at the college in 1971. However, during this time he met drummer Roger Taylor and singer Freddie Mercury and, after the addition of John Deacon the rock band Queen was formed with May playing guitar. Queen is one of the most successful rock bands in history, having sold an estimated 250-300 million records. After Mercury’s death in 1991, May pursued a solo career and continued playing with Queen featuring other vocalists. Brian May is consistently ranked as one of the world’s best guitarists and was awarded a CBE in 2005 in addition to the Grammy LIfetime Achievement Award in 2018. May returned to Imperial to finish his PhD and in 2007, 39 years after starting it he was awarded the degree.

Famous Entrepreneurs

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry 

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (1968 – 2022) was an Irish-Indian businessman who studied at Imperial College London, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1990. Mistry then joined his family’s construction company Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd as director as well as being the sixth charman of the Tata Group. In 2013, The Economist named him as the most important industrialist in both India and Britain and in 2018, his nest worth was estimated to be $10 billion.

Our dedicated article on the most famous entrepreneurs in history contains the inspiring stories of some of the greatest businesspeople in the world.

Famous Writers 

David Irving

David Irving is an English author known for his works on political and military history. Irving studied physics at Imperial College London but haad to leave after the first year due to financial constraints. Irving became known for his non-fiction works which focused on the history of World War II, particularly around Nazi Germany. Notable works include The Destruction of Dresden and Hitler’s War. In 2000 he was found to be a Holocaust denier in court after a failed libel case.

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