Notable alumni
Many IDS graduates have since become well known and highly regarded for their commitment and contribution to development and social change. Here are just a few of our notable alumni. If you know of others, please get in touch.
- Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert, researcher, educator and activist
MA Development Studies 2012 - Asim Ahmed, Permanent Representative to the UN for Maldives
MPhil Development Studies 1992 - Carlos Alvarado Quesada, 48th President of Costa Rica
MA Development Studies 2009 - Edwin Irizarry Mora, Puerto Rican pro-independence leader
PhD/DPhil Development Studies 1989 - Euclid Tsakalotos, Greek Minister of Finance
Mphil Development 1984 - Isatou Touray, Vice President of The Gambia
PhD/DPhil Development Studies 2004 - Jeanette Longfield, Member of the British Empire for services to food policy
Mphil Development 1982 - Joanna Kerr, President and CEO of MakeWay, former Executive Director of Greenpeace Canada and first female Chief Executive of ActionAid International
MA Gender and Development 1991 - Marta Zabaleta, Argentinian political refugee, social scientist, writer and poet PhD/DPhil Development Studies 1979
- Melanie Robinson, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe
MA Governance and Development 2012 - Mohammad Ibrahim Shtayyeh, the Prime Minister of Palestine, PhD in Economic Development 1990
- Naana Otoo-Oyortey (MBE), social activist and women’s rights defender
Mphil Development 1993 - Nancy Okail, Egyptian scholar and activist
Doctor of Philosophy 2009 - Robina P. Marks, South African Ambassador to Benin, formerly High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
MA Gender and Development 1999 - Salim Mvurya, Kenyan politician
Power Participation and Social Change 2011 - Sudarshan Suchi, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children India
MA Participation, Power and Social Change 2018 - Theodore Pelagidis, Deputy Director of the Bank of Greece
MPhil Development 1989
