Anniversary Book
Stories of some of these renowned people are featured in our special anniversary
book, entitled The People’s University: 150 years of the University of London and
its External students.Our global community of former students and alumni include many
exceptional people who have made their mark on the world. In
addition to five Nobel Prize Winners – Sir Frederick Gowland
Hopkins, Ronald Coase, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott and, most
famous of all, Nelson Mandela – they include academics (Asa
Briggs, Kwasi Wiredu, Sir Geoffrey Elton); engineers (Sir Barnes
Wallis); politicians (Dr Luisa Diogo, Gisela Stuart MP); and writers
(H.G. Wells, Chinua Achebe, Malcolm Bradbury). Today, our
worldwide reputation continues to ensure our graduates are
to be found in leading positions around the world.
Derek Walcott
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992, and the foremost
West Indian poet and dramatist writing today, Walcott was born in
St Lucia. An extensive bibliography includes the epic-length poem
Omeros (1990) – a retelling of the Homeric legend in a Caribbean
context – and a collection of literary criticism, What the Twilight
Says (1998). A Selected Poems was published in 2007.
Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins
Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1929 for the
discovery of what are now known as
vitamins, Hopkins graduated in 1890 as a ‘non-collegiate’ student of the University
of London. Hopkins was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1905
and was a member of the first
Medical Research Committee.
Nelson Mandela
For many of his 27 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela
studied Law as a University of London External student. He
passed the London Intermediate exams in 1963, but the
conditions imposed by the South African authorities prevented
him from completing his degree in the later 1960s and 70s.
The former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize
winner has received more than 100 awards,
including many honorary degrees.
Professor Ronald Coase
Ronald Coase took the London Intermediate exam as an External
student in 1929, before taking a degree at the London School of
Economics and Political Science. A year spent in the USA studying
the structure of American industries provided the basis for ‘The
Nature of the Firm’ (1937). Another article, ‘The Problem of Social
Cost’ (1961), continues to be among the most widely cited in
economic literature. Both articles were cited by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences as justification for awarding Coase the Nobel
Prize for Economics in 1991.
Wole Soyinka
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, Wole Soyinka
graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, while it was in ‘special relation’ with the University of London. One of Africa’s
greatest contemporary writers, his oeuvre includes Death and the
King’s Horseman (1975) – widely considered his finest play – essay
collections, novels and memoirs. Covering his life from young
manhood to the present, Soyinka's latest volume of autobiography
is You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006).
H.G. Wells
A BSc Zoology graduate, the
British writer H.G. Wells is
sometimes referred to as ‘The
Father of Science Fiction’. His
work includes The Time
Machine (1895), The Island of
Doctor Moreau (1896), The
Invisible Man (1897) and The
War of the Worlds (1898). A
lifelong socialist and a tireless
champion of women’s rights, in
1936 Wells received an
Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University, as part of
its hundredth anniversary celebrations. Later, in 1943, Wells
qualified for a DSc by External study.
Gisela Stuart
Born in Velden, Bavaria, Gisela
Stuart moved to Britain in 1974.
MP for Birmingham Edgbaston
since 1997, and a junior health
minister until 2001, Gisela sat on
the European Convention’s 13-
strong steering group. She gained
her LLB by External study in 1993.
Without it, she claims, she would never have become an MP. She
recalls the graduation ceremony at London’s Barbican Centre as
being ‘one of the most moving and magnificent experiences of
my life’.
Sir Joseph Hotung
Philanthropist, art collector and
private investor, Sir Joseph
Hotung gained his LLB by
External study in 1970. Born in
Shanghai, Sir Joseph is from the
third generation of a Hong Kong
family which has generously
supported educational causes.
His distinguished career in business includes directorships of HSBC
Bank and other international companies.The first Chairman of the
Arts Development Council in Hong Kong, he was awarded an
honorary DSc (Econ) by the University of London in 2003.
Dr Luisa Diogo
A Financial Economics graduate,
Luisa Diogo became the first woman
to be appointed Prime Minister of
Mozambique. An anti-poverty and
health advocate, she has been vocal
in taking rich nations to task for not
following up on aid, trade and debt
relief promises to Africa. “It is no
country's destiny to be poor”, she
has said. In Forbes’ 2007 list of ‘100
Most Powerful Women In The World’ she ranks 89th.