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.

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
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
Jeanette Longfield, Member of the British Empire for services to food policy
Mphil Development 1982
Robina P. Marks, South African Ambassador to Benin, formerly High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
MA Gender and Development 1999
Edwin Irizarry Mora, Puerto Rican pro-independence leader
PhD/DPhil Development Studies 1989
Salim Mvurya, Kenyan politician
Power Participation and Social Change 2011
Nancy Okail, Egyptian scholar and activist
Doctor of Philosophy 2009
Naana Otoo-Oyortey (MBE), social activist and women’s rights defender
Mphil Development 1993
Theodore Pelagidis, Deputy Director of the Bank of Greece
MPhil Development 1989
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
Sudarshan Suchi, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children India
MA Participation, Power and Social Change 2018
Isatou Touray, Vice President of The Gambia
PhD/DPhil Development Studies 2004
Euclid Tsakalotos, Greek Minister of Finance
Mphil Development 1984
Marta Zabaleta, Argentinian political refugee, social scientist, writer and poet PhD/DPhil Development Studies 1979
Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert, researcher, educator and activist
MA Development Studies 2012