Australian National University Notable Alumni

Peter Garrett is an Australian musician, activist, environmentalist, and former politician. Renowned for his eccentric dance style and signature bald head, Garrett is best known for his association with the popular rock band Midnight Oil where he performs as the lead singer. A football fan, Peter Garrett supports the Essendon Bombers of the AFL.

Australian actor Richard Roxburgh has gained immense popularity with his roles of Moriarty in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hugh Stamp in Mission Impossible II, and Count Dracula in Van Helsing. He was nominated for an AACTA award for Moulin Rouge! and won the Logie Award for the series Rake.

David Brooks is a Canadian-born American conservative political commentator. Having worked with popular publications like The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, and Newsweek, Brooks is currently contributing as a writer for The New York Times. Also an educator, David Brooks has taught at prestigious institutions like the Sanford School of Public Policy and Yale University.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has been an Australian Labor Party leader and his country’s foreign affairs minister, too. After graduating in Chinese studies, he directly stepped into a diplomatic career. He has also worked for KPMG Australia as a Senior China Consultant and has penned a memoir.

Frank Fenner was an Australian scientist best remembered for his achievements in the field of virology. He played a key role in the eradication of smallpox. He is also credited with introducing the Myxoma virus, which played a major role in controlling Australia's rabbit plague. During his illustrious career, Fenner was honored with prestigious awards, such as the WHO Medal.

Australian programmer Andrew Tridgell is best known for developing the compression program software Rzip. He also co-invented the rsync algorithm and has contributed to the Samba file server. A doctorate degree holder from the Australian National University, he had initially also worked on speech recognition.

Rolf M. Zinkernagel is a Swiss professor who teaches Experimental Immunology. In 1996, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work pertaining to the immune system. In 1999, his scientific work also earned him Australia's highest civilian honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia.  

Mike Morwood was a New Zealand archaeologist best remembered for discovering Homo floresiensis. His discovery earned him the prestigious Rhys Jones Medal, which was bestowed upon him by the Australian Archaeological Association in 2012.

Alan Gould is an Australian novelist, essayist, and poet. Born to an English father and an Icelandic mother, he lived in several countries before settling in Australia. He worked as a nuclear physics technician before becoming a full-time writer. He has written several collections of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. He is a recipient of the Philip Hodgins Memorial Award.