Barham Salih – Former president of Iraq, former prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government
David Grant – Vice Chancellor of University of Wales Cardiff 2001–2005; Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University 2005–2012
Ernest Howard Griffiths – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1901–1918
John Viriamu Jones – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1883–1901
Frederick Rees – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1929–1949
Colin Riordan – Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University since 2012
Brian Smith – Principal of University of Wales College Cardiff 1988–1996; Vice Chancellor of University of Wales Cardiff 1996–2001
Anthony Steel – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1949–1966
Sir Aubrey Trotman-Dickenson – Principal of the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology 1968–1988; Principal of University of Wales College Cardiff 1988–1993