This is a list of notable alumni and staff of Cardiff University and its predecessor institutions

• Lord Jenkins, former Chancellor of the Exchequer – Home Secretary, President of the European Commission and Chancellor of the University of Oxford (did not graduate)
• Barham Salih – Former president of Iraq, former prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government
• Faisal Al-Fayez – Prime Minister of Jordan

• David Bahati – State Minister of Finance for Planning in the Cabinet of Uganda
• Christine Chapman – MS for Cynon Valley
• Jeffrey Cuthbert – Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner, MS for Caerphilly and Welsh Government Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
• Hefin David – MS for Caerphilly
• Wayne David – MP for Caerphilly and UK Shadow Minister for Europe, Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement and Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces
• S. O. Davies – miner, trade union official and Labour Party MP^[1]
• Guto Harri – broadcaster, Communications Director for the Mayor of London
• Elin Jones – MS for Ceredigion, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Government Minister for Rural Affairs
• Fatou Sanyang Kinteh – Gambian Minister for Women's Affairs, Children and Social Welfare
• Sir Emyr Jones Parry – British Permanent Representative to the United Nations^[2]
• Glenys Kinnock – MEP and UK Foreign Office Minister
• Neil Kinnock – MP for Bedwellty and for Islwyn, Leader of the Labour Party, Leader of the Opposition
• Mike Hedges – MS for Swansea East
• Hilary Marquand – MP for Cardiff East and Minister for Health.
• Robert Minhinnick – co-founder of Friends of the Earth (Cymru)^[3]
• Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley – advisor to Margaret Thatcher
• Craig Oliver – Conservative Party Director of Communications
• Adam Price – MS and leader of Plaid Cymru
• Bill Rammell – MP for Harlow
• David Rees – MS for Aberavon and Deputy Presiding Officer of the Senedd Cymru.
• Lord Richards – Chief of the Defence Staff
• Michael Shrimpton – barrister, politician, and conspiracy theorist
• John Smith – MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, member of the Defence Select Committee
• Brian Wilson – MP for Cunninghame North and Minister of State
• Mike Wood – MP for Dudley South

• C. W. L. Bevan – Principal of the University College of South Wales and Monmounthshire 1966–1972; Principal of University College Cardiff 1972–1987
• Leszek Borysiewicz – Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
• 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

• Abedelnasser Abulrob – medical researcher
• Miguel Alcubierre – Mexican theoretical physicist
• Rudolf K. Allemann – Swiss biochemist
• Gabrielle Allen – computer scientist
• Robin Attfield – philosopher
• Martin J. Ball – Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Bangor University, Cymru/Wales
• Paul E. A. Barbier – Professor of French at the University of Leeds
• Jason Barker – professor
• Yehuda Bauer – Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Archie Cochrane – pioneer of scientific method in medicine
• Peter Coles – Professor of Astrophysics
• David Crouch – historian
• Alun Davies – bioscientist
• Huw Dixon – economist
• Stephen Dunnett – neuroscientist
• Alice Laura Embleton – biologist, zoologist and suffragist.
• Martin Evans – Nobel Prize for Medicine^[4] 2007
• Mahmoud Ezzamel – professorial fellow
• Dimitra Fimi – writer
• Brian J. Ford – Honorary fellow of Cardiff University (1986), honorary fellow of the Linnean Society, honorary fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society.
• John S. Fossey – Professor of synthetic chemistry at the University of Birmingham
• Burt Goldberg – university professor, microbiologist
• Karen Holford – engineer
• Robert Huber – Professor of Chemistry, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1988^[5][6]
• John Loughlin – Professor of Politics
• Vaughan Lowe – Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford
• Ursula Masson – women's history and feminism
• Patrick Minford – Professor of Applied Economics
• John Warwick Montgomery – American lawyer and theologian; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought at Patrick Henry College^[7]
• Christopher Norris – literary critic
• Keith Peters – Regius Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge
• Leighton Durham Reynolds – Emeritus Professor of Classical Languages and Literature, University of Oxford
• Alice Roberts – clinical anatomist and osteoarchaeologist
• Wendy Sadler – physicist and science communicator
• H. W. Lloyd Tanner – Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy (1883–1909)
• Pamela Taylor – Professor of Forensic Psychiatry since 2004
• Meena Upadhyaya – medical geneticist
• Keith Ward – philosopher, Gresham Professor of Divinity, Gresham College
• Chandra Wickramasinghe – mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist, Professor of Applied Mathematics
• Rheinallt Nantlais Williams – professor of the philosophy of religion, principal of the United Theological College, Aberystwyth
• Emma Yhnell – biomedical research scientist

• Spencer Dale – Chief economist, Bank of England
• Andrew Gould – chairman and former CEO, Schlumberger^[8]
• Martin Lewis – personal finance journalist, television presenter and website entrepreneur
• Dame Mary Perkins – co-founder, Specsavers
• Ceri Powell – senior Royal Dutch Shell executive
• John Pettigrew (businessman) – CEO, National Grid plc
• Lorenzo Simonelli – CEO, Baker Hughes Company
• Terry Smith – British Fund Manager, Fundsmith

• Gregory Cameron – Bishop of St Asaph
• Sheila Cameron – lawyer and ecclesiastical judge
• Paul Colton – Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
• Dominic Walker – Bishop of Monmouth

• Nathan Cleverly – professional boxer and former WBO light heavyweight world champion
• Gareth Davies – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player, and current chief executive of Cardiff Rugby Football Club
• Gerald Davies – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
• Mike Hall – former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
• Heather Knight – English cricketer
• Steven Outerbridge – Bermudian cricketer
• Jamie Roberts – Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player
• James Tomlinson – English cricketer
• Bradley Wadlan – Welsh cricketer
• Alex Gough – Squash player

• Paul Atherton – television and film producer and director
• Matt Barbet – journalist
• Manish Bhasin – journalist and television presenter
• Nick Broomfield – documentary filmmaker and receiver of the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Documentary
• Philip Cashian – composer
• Suw Charman-Anderson – journalist and social software consultant.
• Adrian Chiles – television presenter
• Gillian Clarke – poet and receiver of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
• Huw Edwards – journalist
• Ken Elias – artist/painter
• Max Foster – CNN anchor, CNN Today^[9]
• Shihab Ghanem - poet
• M. A. Griffiths – poet
• Julia Hartley-Brewer – journalist and television presenter
• Jiang Heping – executive director of the CCTV Sports Programming Centre and Controller of CCTV-5
• Tim Hetherington – photo-journalist and co-director of Academy Award-nominated Restrepo
• Elis James – stand-up comedian and actor
• Alun Hoddinott – composer
• Sioned James – choral conductor
• Karl Jenkins – composer
• Alan Johnston – journalist
• Riz Khan – journalist and television interviewer
• Bernard Knight – crime writer
• Simon Lane – co-founder and Creative director of The Yogscast Ltd
• Gwilym Lee – actor.
• Siân Lloyd – television presenter
• Los Campesinos! – six piece indie pop band
• Philip Madoc – actor
• Andrew Matthews-Owen (pianist and accompanist, professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Drama, London)
• Paul Moorcraft – writer
• Sharon Morgan – actress
• Joanna Natasegara – documentary producer, Academy Award winner for Netflix documentary The White Helmets
• Siân Phillips – actress
• Susanna Reid – television presenter
• James Righton – musician
• Leo Rowlands – Welsh musical composer, Catholic priest
• Arlene Sierra – composer
• Mari Strachan – novelist and librarian
• Richard Tait – former BBC governor and BBC trustee
• Craig Thomas – author
• Alex Thomson – journalist & television presenter
• Vedhicka – Indian actress
• Grace Williams – composer
• Ron Smerczak – actor^[10]