University of Calgary - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

Notable alumni of the university include:

• M. Elizabeth Cannon (B.Sc. 1984, Ph.D 1991), former dean and first female president of the University of Calgary.
• Naheed Nenshi (B.Comm. 1993), mayor of Calgary since 2010.
• Diane Ablonczy (B.Ed. and LL.B. 1971), member of Parliament
• Theo de Raadt (B.Sc. 1992), founder and leader of the OpenBSD and OpenSSH projects.
• Ray Martin (MA 1981), politician, former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly from 1985–1993
• James Gosling (B.Sc 1977), Inventor of the Java programming language, holds a Computer Science degree.
• Douglas R. Hamilton (Ph.D 1991), NASA flight surgeon and biomedical engineer.
• Ezra Levant ( B.Comm. 1994) Lawyer, conservative political activist and commentator. Founder and former publisher of the Western Standard.
• Peter Wong (BComm. 1973) General Manager of HSBC Group and an executive director of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
• Kenneth B. Storey (B.Sc. 1971), biologist and chemist at Carleton University, noted for work on biochemical adaptation; fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• Danielle M. Smith (B.A. 1993), journalist, broadcaster, business lobbyist and property rights advocate, Alberta Director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business
• Stephen Harper (MA, B.A 1991), Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party; holds degrees in Economics.
• Rob Anders (B.A. 1994), member of the House of Commons of Canada for Calgary West
• Pierre Poilievre (B.A. 2001), member of the House of Commons of Canada for Nepean—Carleton
• Hal Kvisle (1981), MBA. President & CEO of TransCanada Corporation.
• Robert Thirsk (B.Sc 1976), Canadian Space Agency astronaut and NASA capsule communicator for the International Space Station program. Holds a Mechanical Engineering degree.
• Derek M. Besant (B.Fa. 1972), artist. head of the Drawing Department at Alberta College of Art and Design. Won the Alberta Governor General Award in Art 1980, and the World Culture Prize in Research Arts & Letters from Milan Italy in 1983.
• Christine Nesbitt (BEng 2007), speed skater, won gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics
• D. George Wyse (MD 1974), cardiologist, professor emeritus of the university's Faculty of Medicine, Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, researcher on cardiac dysrhythmia, fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
• J. Jill Robinson (M.A 1985), author of four short story collections who also taught English literature and creative writing at the University of Calgary.
• Gary Kovacs (B.Comm. 1990, MBA 1999), CEO of the Mozilla Corporation
• Jaz Banga (Studied Engineering, 1990s), Silicon Valley Tech Entrepreneur
• Anita Rau Badami (Master of Arts, 1990s), Author
• Chip Wilson (Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1980), Lululemon Founder