The University of Sydney is among the top-ranked universities in Australia and world. It ranked at #38 in the world as per QS World Rankings 2022. The university aims at progressive thinking, breaking convention and while improving the world. Over the years, university of Sydney notable alumni have excelled in different fields such as entertainment, sports, medicine and more. Let’s explore some of the famous university of Sydney notable alumni that are recognized all over the world.
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List of Famous University of Sydney Notable Alumni
Did you know university of Sydney notable alumni includes 7 Prime Minister of Australia? Malcolm Bligh Turnbull who is a former Australian politician and 29th Prime Minister of Australia is among the famous university of Sydney notable alumni. Here’s is the list of famous 30 university of Sydney notable alumni:
- Jacqueline Fernandez
- Michael Kirby
- Mary Kostakidis
- Clive James
- Dame Joan Sutherland
- Charles Perkins
- Edmund Barton
- Gough Whitlam
- Germaine Greer
- Rose Byrne
- Peter Weir
- Victor Chang
- Sarah Alainn
- John Harsanyi
- William McMahon
- Neville Wran
- Akhilesh Yadav
- Lucy Hughes Turnbull
- Joe Hockey
- Geraldine Brooks
- Mark Latham
- Bob Brown
- Anthony Albanese
- James Mackay
- Ryan Kwanten
- Jane Campion
- Ellyse Perry
- Barnaby Joyce
- Rachel Taylor
- Julian McMahon
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer was born in 1939 and is an Australian writer, public intellectual. She is regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement. She completed her Master’s degree in English at the University of Sydney. She started her career as an assistant lecturer at the University of Warwick in Coventry. She has had ideas that create controversies ever since her first book came out. Her radical ideas and opinions have made her a common name in the movement of feminism. Deconstructing common ideas around womanhood and femininity is one of the things she enjoys doing best. She has been a columnist for the Guardian, the Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, etc.
Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland is an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano born in 1926. She is known for her contributions to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire. Her voice had a unique texture that combines accurate intonation, staccatos, etc. She received the Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Sydney. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award for the Best Classical Performance in 1962. She also played a leading role as Mother Rudd in the 1995 comedy film Dad and Dave: On our selection. Her Autobiography titled A Prima Donna’s Progress was published in 1997 which has explained her career in great detail.
Clive James
Clive James was born in 1939 and was an Australian journalist, critic, broadcaster and writer. Literary criticism was the start of his career. He became a television critic for The Observer in 1971 where he became famous for his deadpan and wry humour. He studied English and Psychology at the University of Sydney. Notable works by him are Unreliable Memoirs and Cultural Amnesia. He has received the Philip Hodgine Memorial Medal for Literature. A satirist and poet, he achieved mainstream success in the UK as a writer for television.
Also Read: University of Sydney Acceptance Rate
Michael Kirby
Michael Donald Kirby, born in 1939, is an Australian academic and jurist of the High Court of Australia from 1996 to 2009. He has retired but is very active in serving the world. In May 2013, he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to lead an inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1959, Bachelor of Law in 1962, Bachelor of Economics in 1965 and Master of Law in 1967. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1967 and became the youngest man appointed to federal judicial office in 1975.
Mary Kostakidis
An Australian journalist, Mary Kostakidis is a former weeknight SBS World News Australia presenter. She was the face of SBS for over two decades. She was born in 1954. She went to the University of Sydney where she studied Modern Greek, Philosophy, French, German and Italian. She has served as a member of the Fred Hollows Foundation Board, the Sydney Theatre Board, the National Library of Australia Council, the ResMed Foundation Board, the Advisory Panel of the Sydney Peace Foundation, USYD, the Freilich Foundation, ANU and the Privacy Foundation and is a former Chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation. She holds a great interest in social justice and continues to engage in public discourse, chairing public forums, delivering lectures and contributing editorial opinion articles in the mainstream press.
Charles Perkins
Charles Nelson Perkins was born in 1936 and was an Aboriginal Australian activist, soccer player and administrator. The first Australian man to graduate tertiary education, he is known for his instigation and organisation of the Freedom Ride in 1965. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1966. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sydney.
Victor Chang
Victor Chang is a Chinese born Australian cardiac surgeon. He undertook his tertiary education at the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a medicine with first-class honours. He interned at the St. Vincent’s Hospital under the cardiac surgeon Mark Shanahan who sent him to London to train with British surgeon Aubrey York Mason.
Bob Brown
Bob Brown was born Robert James Brown on December 27, 1944. He studied medicine at the University of Sydney. He was a former Australian doctor, politician and environmentalist. He was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia. He was named ‘Australian of the Year’ in 1983 by Australian Newspaper.
Rachel Taylor
Rachel Taylor is an Australian actor and model. She was the leading lady in the Australian series headland. She enrolled in an arts/law degree at Sydney University. She starred as Lucy Fields in the American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. She starred in the Netflix exclusive Marvel Cinematic Universe streaming superhero television shows Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016), and The Defenders (2017) as Trish Walker.
Julian McMahon
Julian was born on July 27, 1968, and studied Law at the University of Sydney. He is an Australian-American actor, former model and some of the former Prime Minister Sir William McMahon. He is known for his roles as Detective John Grant in Profiler, Cole Turner in Profiler, etc.
From pioneers to politicians, here are the famous university of Sydney notable alumni who have successfully made an impact on the world. Are you planning to study at University of Sydney but not sure where to start from? Our Leverage Edu experts will provide end-to-end guidance from application to Visa process. Call us at 1800 57 2000 to book your FREE 30-minutes counselling session today!