This is a list of notable people related to the University of Delhi. This page excludes those people whose only connection with Delhi University is that they were awarded an honorary degree.
Two Nobel laureates have been associated with Delhi University.
Heads of state and government
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
G.P. Koirala, former Prime Minister of Nepal
Bingu wa Mutharika, current President of Malawi
Sangay Ngedup, former Prime Minister of Bhutan (1999-2000, 2005-2006)
Manmohan Singh, 14th Prime Minister of India, 2004-2014; Professor of International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics, 1969-1971
Khandu Wangchuk, former Prime Minister of Bhutan
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, sixth President of Pakistan
Kiran Bedi, first woman to become an Indian Police Service officer
Urvashi Butalia, founder of Zubaan, a feminist publishing house
Medha Patkar, founder member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan
Aruna Roy, founder of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Bunker Roy, social activist and educator
Rahul Verma, social worker, columnist and founder of Uday Foundation
Arts, entertainment and television
Amitabh Bachchan, film actor
Shah Rukh Khan, film actor
Anu Aggarwal, former film actress known for the movie Aashiqui
Imtiaz Ali, film director
Sharan Rani Backliwal, sarod player; recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan
Huma Qureshi, film actress and model
Aarti Bajaj, film editor
Manoj Bajpai, actor
Kabir Bedi, film actor
Rekha Bhardwaj, singer
Vishal Bhardwaj, director
Swara Bhaskar, actress
Richa Chadda, actress
Nandita Chandra, theatre actor
Geeta Chandran, dancer and choreographer
Neetu Chandra, model and actress
Priyanshu Chatterjee, actor
Tisca Chopra, actress
Parvin Dabas, actor
Nandita Das, actor, director
Neha Dhupia, actor
Benjamin Gilani, film actor
Gulshan Grover, actor known for his negative roles
Aditi Rao Hydari, film actress
Madhur Jaffrey, actor, cookbook writer
Prakash Jha, film director
Sriti Jha, television actress known for her work in the show Dil Se Di Dua... Saubhagyavati Bhava?
Shakti Kapoor, actor
Shekhar Kapur, film director
Satish Kaushik, actor and film director
Abhinav Kashyap, film director and screenwriter
Anurag Kashyap, filmmaker
Nimrat Kaur, film actress, known for the movie The Lunchbox
Kabir Khan, known for the blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger
Kulbhushan Kharbanda, film actor
Ashvin Kumar, independent filmmaker
Krishnakumar Kunnath (KK), singer
Minissha Lamba, film actor
Pavan Malhotra, actor
Siddharth Malhotra, actor (BCom)
Mini Mathur, television host and actress
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, director, best known for the movie 'Rang De Basanti
Deepa Mehta, director
Anjolie Ela Menon, painter
Baisali Mohanty, classical dancer and choreographer
Mira Nair, director
Jaspinder Narula, playback singer
Rati Pandey, television actress, known for her role of Indira Sharma in the show Hitler Didi
Manish Paul, television host and stand-up comedian
Arjun Rampal, actor
Koyal Rana, model and Femina Miss India World 2014
Madhumita Raut, Odissi dancer
Alankrita Sahai, model and Miss Diva Earth 2014
Parikshit Sahni, actor
Leela Samson, Bharata Natyam dancer
Amba Sanyal, stage actor and costume designer
Shriya Saran, film actress and model
Roshan Seth, film actor
Dipannita Sharma, actress
Konkona Sen Sharma, film actor
Maneesh Sharma, film director known for his debut movie Band Baaja Baaraat
Mallika Sherawat, actress
Siddharth, film actor known for his work in the South Indian film industry
Chitrangada Singh, actress
Rannvijay Singh, VJ with MTV India; current host and director of MTV Roadies
Sandali Sinha, actress and model, known for her debut movie Tum Bin
Saakshi Tanwar, TV actor, star of a Star Plus daily Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
Ali Abbas Zafar, film director
Imran Zahid, theatre and film actor
Naveen Kasturia, film actor and assistant director
Sushant Singh Rajput, a film actor, DTU alumnus
Amrita Meghwal, a politician, DTU alumnus
Ajaypal Singh Banga, CEO and President, MasterCard
Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder and CEO, Naukri.com
Omkar Goswami, Chairman and founder, CERG Advisor
Anshu Jain, Co-CEO, Deutsche Bank
Samir Jain, Vice-Chairman and publisher, The Times Group
Naina Lal Kidwai, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India
Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank
Anisha Singh, CEO, mydala
Durgesh Kaushik, Chief Marketing Officer, Edureka
Vivek Bhandari, director, Institute of Rural Management, Anand
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Director, School of Convergence
Fashion and modelling
Rohit Bal, fashion designer
Ritu Beri, fashion designer
Pamella Bordes, Miss India 1982
Manpreet Brar, Miss India; first runner-up at 1995 Miss Universe pageant
Marc Robinson, supermodel, fashion director and fashion choreographer
Ekta Chowdhry, winner of Femina Miss India 2009
Indrani Dasgupta, model
Hasleen Kaur, Miss India Earth 2011
Ritu Kumar, fashion designer
Shonali Nagrani, first runner-up of Miss International 2003
Koyal Rana, Femina Miss India 2014
Ankita Shorey, Miss India International 2011
Shikha Swaroop, Miss India
Humanities and social sciences
Kaushik Basu, economist and commentator
Veena Das, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University
Jasleen Dhamija, textile historian
Gita Gopinath, professor at Harvard University (B.A. in 1992 and M.A. in 1994)
Madhu Kishwar, academic and writer
Ramnarayan Rawat, historian of South Asia
Usha Sanyal, historian
Sarup Singh, academic; Principal of Kirori Mal College; Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University (1971–1974); Governor of Gujarat and Kerala
Upinder Singh, historian
Kapila Vatsyayan, art scholar; chairperson of IGNCA; recipient of the Padma Vibhushan
Arundhati Virmani, historian
Devkrishna Purohit, Judicial Assistant, The Supreme Court of India Famous Lawyer, Service and Criminal matters
Upamanyu Chatterjee, writer
Kunzang Choden, first Bhutanese woman to write a novel
Anita Desai, author
Amitav Ghosh, English language author
Namita Gokhale, co-founder of Jaipur Literature Festival
Ali Sardar Jafri, writer, poet
Nabila Jamshed, author
Mukul Kesavan, essayist and author
Shiv Khera, author of self-help books
Mohan Rana, writer, poet
Vikram Seth, author
Khushwant Singh, novelist and journalist
Niharika Acharya, VOA Aaj Tak reporter, anchor
Pallavi Aiyar, author and China correspondent of The Hindu
Swaminathan Aiyar, economist and former editor of The Economic Times
Niret J. Alva, television producer and CEO, Miditech
Ambika Anand, Editor-in-Chief, fashion at NDTV Good Times
Siddhartha Basu, television producer and quizmaster
Shereen Bhan, Delhi Bureau Chief and Executive Editor, CNBC-TV18
Satinder Bindra, India Bureau Chief, CNN
Romola Butalia, writer, author, website editor
Shoma Chaudhury, ex-Managing Editor, Tehelka
Prabhu Chawla, editor of India Today; host of Seedhi Baat on Aaj Tak
Swapan Dasgupta, political analyst and journalist
Vinod Dua, journalist
Bahar Dutt, columnist for CNN-IBN
Barkha Dutt, television anchor and journalist
Sagarika Ghose, news editor and columnist, CNN-IBN
Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-chief, Times Now
Ramachandra Guha, writer and columnist
Prem Shankar Jha, columnist; former editor, The Hindustan Times
Manoj Joshi, journalist, Deputy Editor, Mail Today
Rahul Kanwal, news anchor of Aaj Tak
Gauri Khan, film producer and owner of Red Chillies Entertainment with her husband Shahrukh Khan
Rini Simon Khanna, news anchor
Mammen Mathew, editor and Managing Director, Malayala Manorama
Rajiv Mehrotra, writer; television producer-director; documentary filmmaker
Chandan Mitra, editor of the The Pioneer
Aroon Purie, Editor-in-chief, India Today
Nidhi Razdan, NDTV anchor
Radhika Roy, co-founder of NDTV
Nalini Singh, journalist, Doordarshan, known for her programme Aankhon Dekhi
Chitra Subramaniam, journalist who broke the Bofors scandal story
Salma Sultan, news anchor of Doordarshan
Politics and government
Ranjib Biswal, Member of Parliament, Indian National Congress politician, former IPL Chairman, Cricket Administrator
Tulsi Agarwal, Bharatiya Janata Party politician
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Indian National Congress politician
Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of the Bajaj Group
Navin Chawla, Chief Election Commissioner of India; author of Mother Teresa's biography
P. N. Dhar, principal secretary to Indira Gandhi's Prime Minister's office
Sheila Dikshit, former Chief Minister of Delhi
Maneka Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party politician, estranged member of Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty
Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress Member of Parliament (from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency)
Vijay Goel, Bharatiya Janata Party politician
Lala Hardayal, founder of the Ghadar Party
Arun Jaitley, Bharatiya Janata Party politician, former lawyer
Naveen Jindal, Indian National Congress politician
Binoy Job, current Director, Prime Minister's Office, India
Vijay Jolly, MLA (2003–2008), BJP spokesperson
Najeeb Jung, current Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politician
Madanlal Khurana, former Chief Minister of Delhi
Salman Khurshid, Minister of State for Corporate and Minority Affairs
Sucheta Kripalani, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's first woman Chief Minister
Meira Kumar, Indian National Congress politician; first woman to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Alka Lamba, volunteer of Aam Aadmi Party; former President of the Delhi University Students Union
Meenakshi Lekhi, national spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party
Ajay Maken, Indian National Congress politician
Naveen Patnaik, current Chief Minister of Orissa
Sachin Pilot, former Minister of Corporate Affairs
Hardeep Singh Puri, former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
Vinod Rai, former Comptroller and Auditor General of India
Devyani Rana, member of the Nepalese royal family
Salim Ahmed Salim, Tanzanian diplomat; former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity
Arun Shourie, former Union Minister for Disinvestment; editor of the Indian Express
Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Government of India
Digvijay Singh, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
Ambika Soni, former Minister of Information and Broadcasting
Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy activist; leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar; Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Subramanian Swamy, politician and economist
Shashi Tharoor, MoS for External Affairs; former U.N. Under Secretary General.
Satish Upadhyay, Bhartiya Janta Party politician
Ira Singhal, IAS: Topper, Civil Services Exam 2014
Note that Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of India, graduated from St. Stephen's College, when the college was under the University of the Punjab.
Science and engineering
Archana Bhattacharyya, physicist
Charusita Chakravarty, chemist, recipient of the 2009 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Chemical Science
Vinod Dham, invented the Pentium chip
Krishna N. Ganesh, chemist, recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Chemical Science (1998)
Eknath Prabhakar Ghate, mathematician, recipient of the 2013 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Mathematical Science
Gaiti Hasan, microbiologist
Asoke Nath Mitra, physicist, recipient of the 1969 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Physical Science
Pran Nath, physicist at Northeastern University
Jogesh Pati, physicist at the University of Maryland, College Park, recipient of the Dirac Medal of the ICTP in 2000 (MSc in 1957)
Amitava Raychaudhuri, particle physicist, recipient of the 1997 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Physical Science
T. R. Seshadari, chemist and a recipient of Padma Bhushan
Anil Kumar Tyagi, biochemist, recipient of the 1995 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Medical Science (PhD in Medical Biochemistry)
Meena Upadhyaya, medical geneticist
Srinivasan Varadarajan, chemist and Padma Bhushan awardee
Satish Chandra Maheshwari, molecular biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
Subhash Chandra Lakhotia, cytogeneticist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Amitabh Joshi, evolutionary biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Ram Charan Mehrotra, organometallic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
N. A. Ramaiah physical chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Amolak Chand Jain, natural products chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Hirdaya Behari Mathur, physical chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Sampat Kumar Tandon, geologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
G. V. R. Prasad, paleontologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Kirti Azad, cricketer for Delhi and India; Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament
Ankita Bhambri, tennis player
Sanaa Bhambri, tennis player
Unmukt Chand, cricketer
Anjum Chopra, former captain of the National Women's Cricket Team
Gautam Gambhir, cricketer
Arun Lal, former cricketer; current television cricket commentator
Jaspal Rana, Asian Games gold medallist shooter
Mansher Singh, Commonwealth Games gold medalist shooter
Tista Bagchi, professor of linguistics
Pranab Bardhan, professor at the Delhi School of Economics from 1973 to 1977
Surendra Sheodas Barlingay, logician and Marathi writer
Jagdish N. Bhagwati, professor of international trade at the Delhi School of Economics from 1962 to 1968
Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, wife of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan
Tapan Raychaudhuri, Indian historian, Padma Bhushan (2007)
Bhisham Sahni, author and playwright, former lecturer in English at Zakir Husain Delhi College
Amartya Sen, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998
M. N. Srinivas, sociologist
Sushil Kumar Saxena, arts, Indian author, music critic & exponent, recipient of Padma Bhushan (2008)
Anil Kumari Malhotra, principal of Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Padma Shri recipient (2016)
Kamal Kumar Sethi, former professor of cardiology, Padma Shri recipient
T. A. Venkitasubramanian, former professor of biochemistry, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
Debi Prasad Sarkar, former professor of biochemistry, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Sampat Kumar Tandon, former pro-vice chancellor, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
