the current Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and former British Ambassador to China (2015–2020) Dame Barbara Woodward, former ambassador to Russia (2008–2011) Dame Anne Pringle and Thomas Bruce who is known for the removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon.
Alumni from the media and the arts include founder of Forbes magazine B. C. Forbes, founder of The Week Jolyon Connell, former Downing Street Director of Communications and former controller of BBC World News Craig Oliver, political editor of BBC Scotland Brian Taylor, BBC News presenter Louise Minchin, BBC Sport TV presenter Hazel Irvine, editor of Tatler Richard Dennen, Primetime Emmy Award winning screenwriter David Butler, Pulitzer Prize winning author James Michener, feminist writer Fay Weldon, poet Len Pennie, musician The Pictish Trail and actors Siobhan Redmond, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Ian McDiarmid, David Caves and Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Other notable alumni include 'father of the poll tax' Douglas Mason, founders of the Adam Smith Institute, Madsen Pirie and Eamonn Butler, former Solicitor General of the United States Elizabeth Prelogar, former Lord Justice General Lord Cullen, two former members of the Inner House, Lord Eassie and Baroness Clark of Calton, one of the leading figures in the formation of the United States Golf Association Charles B. Macdonald, the captain of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. during its double-winning season Danny Blanchflower, and the wildlife conservationist Saba Douglas-Hamilton.
The university also boasts of a rich roll of honorary graduates whose members vary from Benjamin Franklin to Hillary Clinton, from Bob Dylan to Arvo Pärt, from Maggie Smith to Sean Connery, from Nora K. Chadwick to Martha Nussbaum, from Joseph Stevenson to Lisa Jardine, from Seamus Heaney to Bahram Beyzai, from Georg Cantor to David Attenborough.
=== Academics ===
Notable University of St Andrews faculty include Nobel Prize in Medicine winner Maurice Wilkins (lecturer in physics 1945–1946) and discoverer of …
