This is a list of notable graduates as well as non-graduate former students, academic staff , and university officials of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland . It also includes those who may be considered alumni by extension, having studied at institutions that later merged with the University of Edinburgh. The university is associated with 19 Nobel Prize laureates, three Turing Award winners, an Abel Prize laureate and Fields Medallist , four Pulitzer Prize winners, three Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom , and several Olympic gold medallists.
Military
Officers
James Francis Edward Keith , Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army Lord Cochrane , Admiral of the Red Sharon Nesmith , Deputy Chief of the General Staff Ralph Abercromby , MP , Commander-in-Chief, Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet , General
Sir Hugh Beach , General, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Field Army (1976-1977)
Sir James Baird , Lieutenant General , Director General Army Medical Services (1973-1977)
David Coulter , Major-General , Chaplain General of the British Army (2014-2018)
Robert Craigie , Admiral
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald , Naval flag officer during the Napoleonic Wars and later Admiral of the Red , dubbed by Napoleon as le Loup des Mers , 'the Sea Wolf'
Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple , General , Governor of Gibraltar (1806-1808)
John Forbes , Brigadier-General , commanded the Forbes Expedition during the French-Indian war
Sir Alexander Hood , Lieutenant-General, Director General Army Medical Services (1941-1948), Governor of Bermuda (1949-1955)
John Hunter , Vice-admiral of the red , Governor of New South Wales (1795-1800)
James Francis Edward Keith , Scottish Jacobite , served during the Seven Years' War under Frederick the Great as Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army
Daniel Knobel , Lieutenant General , Surgeon General of the South African Defence Force (1988-1997)
William Thompson Lusk , Assistant Adjutant-General for the Union , American Civil War
Sir James McGrigor , responsible for the creation of the Royal Army Medical Corps
Gregor MacGregor , Army General , adventurer, and confidence trickster , known for his "Poyois scheme"
Sir George Malcolm , General
Sir Harold Martin , Air Marshal , Commander-in-Chief RAF Germany (1970-1973)
Sir Ian McGeoch , Vice-Admiral
Iain McNicoll , Air Marshal , Deputy Commander-in-Chief Operations, RAF Air Command (2007-2010)
Sir Charles Napier , Admiral , served in War of 1812 , the Napoleonic Wars , and the Crimean War
Sharon Nesmith , first woman to command a British Army Brigade, Lieutenant-general and Deputy Chief of the General Staff (2021-)
Arthur Edward Potts , Major General, Commander of 6th Canadian Infantry Division (1942-1943)
Philip Raffaelli , Surgeon-General of the United Kingdom Armed Forces (2009-2012)
Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot , Lieutenant-General under Louis XIV when England was in Interregnum , Governor of Tangier (1663-1664)
George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie , Governor of Canada (1820-1828), Commander-in-Chief, India (1830-1832)
Thomas Rimmer , Air Vice-Marshal , Commander, British Forces Cyprus (2000-2003)
Alan Reay , Lieutenant General, Director General Army Medical Services (1981-1984)
Sir James Simpson , General , Commander-in-Chief British troops in the Crimea (1855)
James Stuart , General , 1st General Officer Commanding, Ceylon (1796)
Sir Charles Shaw , Brigadier-general during the Portuguese Liberal Wars
Adam Stephen , Scottish-American General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War
Mona Chalmers Watson , head of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
Bennett H. Young , Lieutenant , Confederate officer who led the St. Albans Raid during the American Civil War
Soldiers
William Brydon Eric Brown , Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history
William Brydon , the only person to reach safety in the 1842 retreat from Kabul
James Marr Brydone , Ship's surgeon of HMS Thunderer at Battle of Trafalgar
Charles Gray Catto , World War I flying ace , later Mayor of Waco, Texas
Gordon Duncan , Scottish flying ace
James Oliver Ewart , intelligence officer, translator, and staff member of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
John Todd , Scottish First World War flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories
Victoria Cross and George Cross Recipients
Recipients of the Victoria Cross :
Recipients of the George Cross :