Matilda’s Lab Hall of Fame

Below are all of the inductees into the Hall of Fame. They are sorted according to their rating in Google Trends. There are more details about each person below the picture.

MUSICIANS

Gloria Estefan: After her family moved to the United States from Cuba she made the most of the opportunities that were available to her and earned a degree in Psychology from the University of Miami. If she had not gone on to become one of Latin music’s biggest ever stars there is a chance that she may have ended up working for CIA who were very interested in her language skills.

“Weird Al” Yankovic is the world’s leading name in musical parody, but his career extends beyond that into acting, directing and writing. He was a particularly bright child, skipping not one, but two years in school. Despite being the youngest in his year by some margin he still managed to become valedictorian of his senior class. With all of this young intellect he went on to graduate from California Polytechnic State University in Architecture; which is both an art and a science. His time at university got him the title of “Weird Al” and it was his work on the university radio station that opened up the doors to this promising career, which he was all too happy to take as his flourishing academic success did not appear to be transferring to degree level too well.

Art Garfunkel: After studying art history in college, he then earned a Master’s degree in Mathematics and did not stop there. At the peak of Simon & Garfunkel’s success, he was also studying for a PhD in mathematics education at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. For some reason, he didn’t have time to complete it…

Will.I.Am: Having a music career kick off before you complete school is no reason to not get involved science and technology, at least not if you’re Will.I.Am. He backs up his futuristic image with his involvement and support of emerging technologies. His support (including a £500,000 fund for science, technology, engineering and maths education in the UK) has earned him various positions and titles such as; Director of creative innovation for Intel, CCO of 3DSystems and Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He has founded his own company (i.am+) that specialises in developing wearable technology. His efforts have been recognised by NASA who made him the first artist to have his music streamed onto the surface of Mars!

Brian May: A true heavyweight in the world of music. Scoring a number hit as a solo artist would be enough to get you into the Hall of Fame by itself, but Brian May is the guitarist from arguably the greatest band in the history of rock music and his connection to science is not just some passing fancy. Before he rose to stardom with Queen he had already earned his BSc in Physics and Maths from Imperial College London and was working towards a PhD in Astrophysics, studying interplanetary dust in the solar system before the callings of rock legendry pulled him away. But following the demise of Queen he was keen to pick up where he left off. He re-registered, caught up with the 3 decades of science that he had missed and finished his thesis, earning his doctorate in 2008. Imperial College have now made him a visiting researcher. He also had a good relationship with a legend of astronomy; Sir Patrick Moore. They authored a book together: Bang – The Complete History of the Universe and it is thanks to Moore that there is now an asteroid called 52665 Brianmay.

Jay Sean: Before becoming the best-selling British male artist in the United States since Elton John he was on course to becoming a medical doctor. His studies in medicine at Queen Mary, University of London were cut short by his emerging career in the music industry. Even after becoming a hugely successful artist he still describes himself as being a “science geek”.

Aloe Blacc: This singer songwriter has made a name for himself, not only through his solo hits but also through collaborations with artists like Avicii and as a part of a duo, Emanon. Before his fame, Blacc won a scholarship and used this to study Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Southern California. Today he is a philanthropist working with charities to try and eliminate malaria.

Imogen Heap: We’re not just obsessed with academic qualifications on the hall of fame; we’ll accept all forms of contributions to areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Imogen Heap was always on course to be a musical artist, but every step of the way she has embraced and utilised the technology available and now she is helping to push it to new levels. She started by teaching herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production on Atari computers. More recently, her drive has seen her release records with trialling a version of blockchain technology (which is the same principle used for the digital currency, Bitcoin) to combat music piracy. She has also been working with academic institutions to develop the MiMu gloves: Electronic gloves that allow the user to create digital music through manipulation of the gloves alone. As well as helping to develop them, she has presented a TED talk about them and gigged with them in order to raise funds to further their development. It’s never the wrong time to start contributing.

Roger Taylor: It turns that Queen have two qualified scientists in their line-up. Whilst Brian May was off gazing at the stars, his would be drummer was gazing into people’s mouths as he was studying dentistry at the London Hospital Medical College. After losing interest in dentistry he then switched his area of study and ended up graduating in Biology from the East London Polytechnic.

Dexter Holland: The front man of the punk band The Offspring completed a degree in Biology and a Masters Degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Southern California. He was already undertaking a PhD in Molecular Biology when his musical career took him away from his scientific work. He returned to working as a doctoral student again in 2013 at at the Laboratory of Viral Oncology and Proteomics Research at the Keck School of Medicine which has resulted in him co-authoring a paper on the functional genetics of HIV.

Chris Lowe: The, now legendary, Pet Shop Boys formed when Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-fi shop in London. But Chris would not even have been there if he had not been on a placement from the University of Liverpool for his Architecture degree; a degree that was never completed, thanks to this meeting.

Brett Anderson: The lead singer of Suede and now solo artist started forming the roots of his musical career during his higher education (like so many others that we have already seen). The university was the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College, London. I can’t seem to verify whether he graduated or not so I will only credit him with being an undergraduate until more information presents itself.

Guy Berryman: We have the whole of Coldplay here in the Hall of Fame except for Chris Martin. Before leaving University College London earlier than the rest of the band to focus on the music, Berryman still had time to switch from his original course, engineering, to architecture. 

Will Champion: Since Coldplay formed at University College London (UCL) it means that all members were students and that none of them graduated. Both of Champion’s parents were Doctors of Archaeology and it seemed that the apple hadn’t fallen too far from the tree as he was studying Anthropology, rather than music or drumming, before the band took off.

Jonny Buckland: It’s another member of Coldplay! Buckland studied Astronomy and Mathematics at UCL (University College London). Like his other bandmates, their music career dragged them away from academia before they could complete their degrees.

Mira Aroyo: The synth playing co-vocalist of the electronic band Ladytron was living a double life in the early stages of her career. Before she was remixing, writing and performing material she was an aspiring geneticist. Not content with her degree, she followed it up by undertaking a PhD in genetics at the University of Oxford. She managed juggle her studies with the band for 3 years but after the release of two studio albums it became clear that continuing with both was not an option, so the PhD remained uncompleted.

COMEDIANS

Robin Williams: Funny doesn’t even begin to describe this man. Many would believe that he was cited as being funny, even from a young age but few would believe that this energetic, human-dynamo, would have gone to University to study political science, but he did. He didn’t stick at it long though, before changing path toward stand-up and Hollywood and I doubt that there are too many people upset about that.

Rowan Atkinson: Whilst you probably wouldn’t want to trust Mr. Bean with anything more serious than a tin opener, it’s a relief that the same cannot be said for for his creator. Not only did he earn a degree in electrical engineering from Newcastle University, he then went on to a masters degree in it from The Queens College of Oxford University. Whilst his career has clearly taken him into a different direction it appears that his ties to engineering have never been left too far behind as he was made an Honorary Fellow (an official guest lecturer) by Queens College in 2006.

Jon Stewart: The ex-host of the Daily Show was going to study science one way or another. At the College of William & Mary in Virginia he initially started studying Chemistry before switching to Psychology. He went on to have many jobs after graduating before ending up in the high psychologically complex field that is comedy.

Jimmy Carr: There are few comedians on the circuit today that make you both wince and laugh at the same time so much. His comedy is as scathing as any politician in full assault which probably makes it no surprise that he has a degree in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. I must admit, the Houses of Parliament would be much more entertaining if he were a part of it.

Joan Rivers: I, like many others, greatly this miss this true queen of comedy. She was wickedly witty, a master of shock humour and self deprecating to a level that would make most british comedians blush. As exceptional as she was as a comedienne, what she did share with many of her contemporaries was a high level of education. Her BA degree from Barnard college included anthropology (the study of humans). You could even argue that observational comedy and anthropology are one and the same thing.

Dan Aykroyd: He’s a Blues Brother/Ghostbuster/director/actor/comedian, take your pick, and you could even add scientist to the list. Although he never completed his criminology and sociology degree at Carleton University; who would if you could be a Ghostbuster instead?

Romesh Ranganathan: Before the was appearing on practically every comedy programme currently showing in the UK he was a maths teacher at Hazelwick School in Crawley having previously studied Mathematics at Birkbeck College, University of London. Even after his rise to fame he has acknowledged his academic past in co-hosting a TV show about science called It’s Not Rocket Science.

John Bishop: People who have come to fame slightly later in their lives can be quite interesting simply because they have lived a normal adult life outside of the craziness that is showbusiness and John Bishop is one such person. Although he may never have been a fully fledged scientist, he has spent much of his early career surrounded by it. After a brief spell of studying an English degree he switch to a Social Science degree at Manchester Polytechnic. After graduating he went from social science to medical science, working as a rep for a pharmaceutical company until his comedy career kicked off.

Dara O Briain: It may not come as much of a surprise to people more familiar with the BBC’s Mock The Week host that he has a science background. Clues are present in his selection to host the BBC’s Stargazing Live program with Prof. Brian Cox and his Mathematics show on the Dave channel: Dara O’Briain’s School of Hard Sums. And indeed he has earned himself an degree in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from University College Dublin.

Vic Reeves: Comedian, artist, actor, television presenter and with UK number one single under his belt, there appears to be very little this man cannot do, whether that be by himself or in his long standing comedy partnership; Reeves & Mortimer. Despite being known primarily for his talents within the arts, after he finished school he took an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering and this was with a focus towards technical drawings. There have been little nods to this technical background within his career, whether that be through hosting the rather jovial not-entirely-unlike-science programme “Brainiac” or appearing as a celebrity contestant on Robot Wars.

Sandi Toksvig: My Mum was proud of me when I got my -ology but, bolt the barn door, this lady has two! She has been scooping up popular shows like QI and the Great British Bake-Off like she’s scooped up degrees. She actually has a three pronged first class degree as she read Law, Archeology and Anthropology at Girton College, Cambridge. Most people are already aware that archeology is the study of evidence of old human activity. Anthropology is a study of human history; it can be either strictly biological (i.e. evolutionary) or more cultural, hence it can be awarded either as a science or arts degree.

Harry Hill: He probably wouldn’t be your first choice of celebrity to run to if you were in need of medical attention, but it turns out that you could do much worse than seek the advice of a fully qualified doctor. Having trained at St George’s Medical School in London he then went on to to specialise in neurosurgery (that’s right, Harry Hill is a brain surgeon!). I seems that medicine did not offer the level of satisfaction that he was after so he decided to take a gamble and find a change of direction. Ironically, is still providing a service that provides people with a sense of mental well-being.

Dave Gorman: Whilst he is a big name in comedy himself, those unfamiliar with his Power Point approach to comedy may be more familiar with shows that he has had a hand in writing (such as The Mrs. Merton Show and The Fast Show). He has even done his bit on the other side of the pond where he was briefly a regular contributor to The Daily Show with fellow Hall of Fame inductee John Stewart.  Not only is his approach to comedy highly scientific, with his observation frequently involving graphs and delving deep into the details of what most of us take at face value, but before the comedy he also started a Mathematics degree at the University of Manchester before dropping out after 1 year to make all of the above happen. He will always hold a special place with me as it was on his TV show Genius that I was officially declared to be an evil genius for pitching a credible argument for why we should all start eating endangered species.

Graham Chapman: As soon as you step anywhere near Monty Python you are immediately dealing with the heavyweights of comedy. All of members of Python were well educated and Chapman was no exception. Whilst he never completed his medical training (choosing a career in comedy instead) it was his academic studies that led him to meet John Cleese in the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club; a club that has produced more comedy talent than you can shake a stick at and that paved the way to comedy legendry.

Harry Shearer: If his name doesn’t ring a bell with you, his work certainly will. But if Derek Smalls from This Is Spinal Tap (which he also co-wrote) isn’t good enough for you; what about the voice of Mr. Burns, Mr. Smithers, Reverend Lovejoy, Ned Flanders and Principal Skinner (to name a few) as he has been playing these characters for 30 years now! He actually started appearing on screen as a child but his parents prevented him from taking on too much work as they wanted him to have a normal childhood. This culminated in him attending UCLA on a political science course in order to try and be a “serious person”. Whilst the efforts at being serious may not have lasted long, he did complete his degree.

Jon Culshaw: Britain’s possibly highest profile impersonator may not have been an academic animal whilst he was in education but not all science takes place in the classroom. Away from desks and exercise books he has always had an eye on the sky. As a child he became fascinated with the heavens and watching The Sky at Night (he would actually go on to become a good friend of Sir Patrick Moore). His love of astronomy has never dwindled and as well as making appearances on The Sky at Night itself (even as a guest on the 700th episode) he is now a regular columnist for the BBC’s Sky at Night magazine.

ACTORS

Natalie Portman. Even though the Hollywood A-lister started her film career in her early teens, she took time out of acting to make sure that she completed her education stating that “I’d rather be smart than a movie star”. In 2003 she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Harvard. As a student, she co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals: “A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar,” was co-authored with scientists Ian Hurley and Jonathan Woodward in 1998 and in 2002, she contributed to a study on memory called “Frontal lobe activation during object permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy”.

Jason Momoa: Having built his career in cult TV and movie roles, the combination of Stargate Atlantis, Game of Thrones and becoming  the rebooted Conan the Barbarian and Aquaman in the Justice League movie have really sent him into realms of modern Hollywood royalty. He attended college in Iowa where he started studying Marine Biology. He then transferred to Colorado State University to study Wildlife Biology. He did not complete the course, returning to his native Hawaii for family reasons. Degree or not; he’s definitely done more thorough preparation for the role of Aquaman than many other actors would have. Good work, that man!

Gwyneth Paltrow: Trust me, there’s no one more surprised than me to discover that this Hollywood A-lister gets a place on this wall. Surprise due to some of the “health” products that she has recently been supporting. I don’t usually like to dwell on negatives here but some of the stuff that she has backed is downright dangerous and I do not want people to see this and think that it gives any form of credibility to those products; it does not. That said, she did study anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for a little while before abandoning her studies in preference for acting. Since it is a cardinal sin to cherry pick data in science, she deserves a place here regardless of whatever she has done since.

Eva Longoria: Prior to her fame she earned herself a degree in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Whilst I hold some level of admiration for all of the stars in the Hall of Fame, I give extra credit to people who find an area of study that I have never heard of before. Kinesiology is the study of human or non-human body movement. In practical terms it deals with mechanical aids for helping people to move or for rehabilitation after injury. Even after hitting the dizzying heights of fame she has still kept a mind toward the sciences when she later wrote a thesis called: Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Careers as a part of her Master’s Degree in Chicano studies (which is a cultural study of Chicanos, Latinos, and Mexican Americans).

Josh Duhamel: When he wasn’t modelling he was working his way through soap opera All My Children up to Hollywood blockbusters like Transformers. Before both of these he attended Minot State University where he was studying biology, with a intentions of going on to dentistry. He dropped out of his degree when only one and a half credits away from passing. But he did finally complete his degree ten years later, whilst he was appearing in the NBC series Las Vegas. It was also whilst working on this series that he met his future wife; Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas.

Jeremy Renner: The star of Mission: Impossible, The Bourne Legacy and American Hustle, not mention being Hawkeye in the Marvel film series, started his acting career after taking a drama class as an elective whilst he was at community college studying Computer Science and Criminology.

Lisa Kudrow: If you thought that Ross was the scientist in Friends then I’m afraid that you’ve got it all wrong. It turns out that Phoebe is a Biology graduate with a research credit on scientific paper! Her father was a doctor who specialised in studying headaches and she earned her degree from Vassar College in New York so that she could continue his work. It was through working with him that she got that research credit, whilst at the same time building up her acting career.

Mr. T: Don’t panic; your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you and I haven’t gone mad. Quite frankly, I pity the fool who questions Mr. T’s place here, although I was also as surprised as you may be to learn that he does belong here. The ex-bouncer and bodyguard and full time hard man may well have appeared on this list on a different category if his original life plans had worked out. His early life was geared towards sports and he was on an American Football scholarship at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. It was here where he studied Mathematics, thus earning his place on this list (turns out that he was less B. A. Baracus and more BSc Baracus). If you are in anyway worried that this information challenges the image that that he has built for himself, then you can take some comfort from learning that he was also expelled from University after a year (I’d love to know why).

Mayim Bialik: For those of you who aren’t of that certain age to have a fond memory of the TV show Blossom, you’ll most likely recognise her as Amy from The Big Bang Theory and it feels appropriate that the show has cast a real life scientist in one of the key roles. Despite having a hit TV show in her teens she has continued to return to education between professional breaks and now has a PhD in Neuroscience. Her dissertation studied the activity of a gland in the brain (the hypothalamus) in people with a genetic disorder that gives them obsessive-compulsive behaviours.

Thandie Newton: Many actors and actresses take a fairly standard route into their employment through  school, drama school, maybe some form of arts college and then, if they are luck you’re know the right people, they make the big time. This is pretty much the same story for this star of Mission Impossible 2, Run Fatboy Run, In the Pursuit of Happiness, Westworld, Line of Duty and the Star Wars: Solo; except for a rather notable departure from this path, being a 2:1 degree in Social Anthropology (the study of human sociality).

Ken Jeong: Having graduated at the age of 16 he wasted no time in becoming a full qualified M.D. Whilst he has now left the medical profession in pursuit of a career in comedy and acting, which has landed him roles in the hit US TV show Community and in feature films like Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon and all three of The Hangover movies, to this day he is still a fully licensed physician in California.

Gabriel Byrne: This actor, film director, film producer and writer is most well known for his various movie appearances; notably Excalibre, The Usual Suspects, Stigmata and End Of Days. He did not come into acting until he was nearly in his thirties; prior to that had been busy getting a degree in Archeology and Linguistics as well as having spent some time working as an archaeologist.

Isaac Hempstead Wright: In September 2017 the tabloids went to town on the story that the Game of Thrones star had turned up to the University of Birmingham to start a Maths degree. Considering the track history of the show, it’s probably advisable to make sure that you have a back up plan lined up.

Ben Miller: A varied acting career spanning from the early nineties covering shows such as Armstrong & Miller, Death in Paradise, Primeval, Doctor Who & French & Saunders hides a slightly different start to his career. He graduated in Natural Sciences at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge before staying on to study for a PhD in Solid State Physics. His thesis was titled; Novel quantum effects in low-temperature quasi-zero-dimensional mesoscopic electron systems which basically means that he was studying quantum effects in structures which are bigger than the quantum level. He never completed his PhD though as the lure of spotlight took his future elsewhere. That said; he does still write about science and he co-hosted a science TV show called It’s not rocket science.

Robert Picardo: Whilst he may not be a Hollywood A-lister most of us will have encountered this Emmy nominated actor somewhere along the way; whether that be in Star Trek: Voyager, the Wonder Years, the Stargate series’, Wagons East or China Beach among other appearances. In at least two of these roles he has played doctors and only graduated in drama after initially entering Yale University as a Biology student. His fascinating for science has never left him and his love of life sciences and his work in science fiction has lead him to an interest in astrobiology (the search for life beyond this planet). He is now a member of The Planetary Society, an independent non-profit space organisation, where he hopes to attract other sci-fi fanatics to the field that he believes it provides the same level of excitement as it’s fictional brethren. The Planetary Society aims to support space exploration, independent of government funding constraints.

SPORTS STARS

Michael Jordan: A true sporting superstar, even his NBA biography describes him as “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time”. Due to the highly competitive college sports leagues in the United States; talented, up-and-coming, potential sports stars can get a pass into many universities that other kids cannot. Jordan chose to stay close to home at the North Carolina State University. He studied Cultural Geography which is a social science, a specific area of study within human geography.

Wladimir Klitschko: Boxing isn’t all about the size of your muscles as is shown by one of the greatest competitors in the history of the sport who is also known for flexing his mental muscle too. This was shown academically in 2001 when he was awarded a PhD in Sports Science.

Pau Gasol: Although this NBA star and Olympian had always been into his sport, it was not his first target in life. Both of his parents were medical professionals in Spain and he was on course to follow them into the medical profession. He even references Magic Johnson announcing his HIV-positive status as a inspiration driving him toward medicine. It wasn’t until his basketball career took off, whilst he was studying medicine at the University of Barcelona, that the path of his life took a rather significant turn. Despite the change he still retains an interest in medicine and keeps in touch with the surgeons at his local hospital. He’s even sat in on a surgical operation!

Sir Roger Bannister: It is a spooky coincidence that I only learnt that the first man to run a sub 4 minute mile belonged in the Hall of Fame a day before the sad news of his passing was announced. It seemed that he was destined for a career in science from a young age as when he was a teenager his role models included the likes of Louis Pastuer & Marie Curie. At 17 he started studying medicine at Exeter College, Oxford and gained a BA in physiology before undertaking clinical studies at St. Mary’s hospital in London. His short athletics career coincided with (and often suffered due to) his studies, and after it was over he fully invested himself back into medicine and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians. After publishing some papers on infections in soldiers he then began to specialise in neurology. He went on to become a consultant at two teaching hospitals and was the editor of the Clinical Neurology textbook for several year. For such an esteemed career it seems strange that he will always be remembered for his college “hobby”.

Sir Chris Hoy: It seems strange to think that all the training needed to become Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian (until Rio 2016) would leave any time for other interests; but even tough he pulled out of his Maths and Physics degree at the University of St. Andrews, this was to transfer to the University of Edinburgh to complete a degree in Applied Sports Science. It appears that it takes a combination of both brains and brawn to rise to the top in sports these days; and apparently St. Andrews isn’t a great place for cycling.

Laura Muir: This exciting middle distance runner is still very much in ascendance within her sport. That is saying something considering that she is already the 1500m European champion, the 2017 European indoor champion for 1500m and 3000m and she’s won two 2018 world championship medals. What makes her achievements all the more impressive is that she has managed it at the same time as studying for her veterinary degree. She finally graduated in June of 2018 from the University of Glasgow. This probably won’t come as good news to her competitors as she can now focus more of her efforts on training.

Virginia Wade: The last Briton to win the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship completed her education before devoting herself to tennis full time. She earned a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Sussex.

Will Carling: Years before he became one of England Rugby’s most well known captains and even before his career in the British Army he earned himself a degree in Psychology from the University of Durham.

Graeme Le Saux: This international footballer, who received 36 caps for England and was once the most expensive defender in the country, was always known for living a rather alternative lifestyle for a top-flight footballer; with his regular museum trips. He himself has attributed this to effect that his university lifestyle had on him when he was studying Environmental Science at Kingston University.

Audley Harrison: He has been one of the big names of British boxing so far in this millennium, coming to prominence with his Gold medal at the Sydney Olympics of 2000. His career has been through ups and downs before he finally retired in 2014. But it is not the first time that we have seen a boxer with a Sports Science degree and Harrison himself graduated from Brunel University with a BSc in Sports Science and Leisure Management. 

Shaka Hislop: The football commentator and former Premiership and international goalkeeper developed into his professional career in the United States at Washington’s Howard University on a soccer scholarship and degreed in mechanical engineering. During this time he interned at NASA on their Space Station Freedom Project. The office he worked in oversaw the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Steve Harper: The former Newcastle United goal keeper remains the longest serving player in the club’s history. Since they start so young, it is not common for footballers to go to University and Harper turned down an offered University place himself, but the tail did not end their. During his time with the Newcastle reserves team he earned himself a degree in social sciences from the Open University, an institute that specialises in distance learning.

Patrick Head: There are few places where sport and science go hand in hand than in Formula One. For years it has been a breeding ground of new materials and technologies that eventually end up working their way into everyday road cars. Patrick Head has more than played his part in this process, he was the Technical Director of the Williams Formula One team since the team was started in 1977 until 2004. That means that he was in charge for all 9 of Williams World Championship winning seasons. Unlike the many people we see who started in science before turning away, he started off in the military before transferring to University College London to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He became a Fellow of UCL in 2005 and has given guest lectures at the institute. In 2015 he was knighted in honour of his services to motorsport.

Tom James: This two times Olympic champion rower started off his high profile winning streak in the historic University Boat race where took part 4 times (helping Cambridge to beat Oxford on 2 occasions). More precisely he studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and graduated in Engineering despite training for his first Olympics at the same time. Although he has not returned to engineering following his retirement from rowing, he did take part in the Christmas University Challenge in 2015 where he helped his fellow Trinity alumni win the series. not too shabby!

Paul Manning: This gold medal winning cyclist from the Beijing Olympics has now retired from racing but continues to be a cycling coach. The Great Britain ladies Track Pursuit team that he coached broke the world record for the event 6 times. One of those records won them the Olympic gold medal in the London 2012 games and won him the ‘High Performance Coach of the Year Award’. But before starting his cycling career, he completed an Earth Sciences degree at the University of Birmingham.

OTHERS

Elon Musk: I try to steer clear of links that are too obvious in the hall of fame (notice the lack of high profile scientist here) and talking about someone who keeps blasting things into space may seem like a departure from that but there is a lot more going on here. Whilst Musk has a degree in Physics, shoots rockets into space and builds top of the range electric cars; he is only able to do this due the huge wealth that he has accumulated and he has managed that with computers. As well as having a degree in Physics he also has one in economics and he dropped out of his applied physics PhD after 2 days to start his own business. After having 2 of those software based companies bought from him for huge amounts on money (one of which went on to become PayPal) he was then able to set up Tesla and Space X and do more applied physics than anyone would have thought possible.

Angela Merkel: The German Chancellor was already winning prizes for her Maths skills at school. She then went on to study Physics at the University of Zeipzig before working at the Central Institute for Physical chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof as a research scientist for 12 years. During this time she published several papers and earned her Doctorate for her thesis on Quantum Physics. Clearly quantum physics was not suitably confusing enough so she then pursued a career in politics, one of the few things that is even harder to get your head around.

Hugh Hefner: Yes the grand-daddy of Playboy took some time to build his credentials before building his controversial empire. If you are surprised to learn that he earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign after being discharged from the U.S. Army at the end of WWII, then you may be less surprised to learn that he spent a semester of his degree studying a sex research institute of Alfred Kinsey: A biologist who specialised in the sexual behavior of humans. I guess that he learnt a thing or two.

Che’ Guevara: When he wasn’t busy becoming a worldwide revolutionary hero, Che’ was a fully qualified medical doctor. The studied at Buenos Aires University with a focus on leprosy. After qualifying he took up residency in Mexico City, specialising in dermatology.

Sir David Attenborough: What is left to be said about this man that has not already been said? The frequency with which he is referred to as the greatest living Englishman is evidence of level of respect that he has. He came to the BBC in the early days of television, whilst the medium was still finding its feet, having been rejected for a role in radio and somewhat accidentally ended up in front of the camera. He eventually went on to be the controller of BBC 2, broadcasting the first colour images in the UK, commissioning programmes that became national institutions (like Grandstand) and even being offered the top job of Director General of the BBC (which he turned down). For most of us he is the face of natural history broadcasting and an inspiration to more than one generation. The most recent one includes Matilda who is currently transfixed on Blue Planet II. Whilst a science background may not have been necessary for him to get into this field of broadcasting (since he largely invented it) he did attend  Clare College, Cambridge studying geology and zoology and graduating in natural sciences. Since then, he has probably inspired more people to pursue careers in science than any other individual.

Rhett & Link: You’re getting two for the price of one here! This internet comedy duo are best known for their YouTube videos and podcasting but they aren’t just a couple of guys messing around online. They’ve had over 650,000 subscribers, been consistently winning internet broadcasting awards since 2011, they’ve gone on to make shows for network television and they’ve made multiple appearance on top chat shows like Conan and The Tonight Show. The duo spent the entirety of their education together, both studying engineering at North Carolina State University (civil & industrial engineering respectively). They went on to work in engineering for Black & Veatch and IBM before their internet shenanigans would change the course of their lives.

Beatrix Potter: Not only is she one of the best loved children’s authors of all time, but she also devoted much of her time to the pursuit of science; the natural sciences in particular. The stories of Peter Rabbit and his feral friends are the product of a mind that was obsessed with the natural world around her. She did not attend University as that was not generally something done by ladies in Victorian times, but being part of a well-off and well connected family she received good home education and had access to prominent scientists and the scientific societies of the day. She became a prolific scientific illustrator of living things, which was particularly important at a time where the quality photography was black, white and blurry and many of her illustrations are still used today for identification purposes. She was particularly interested in fungi and even formulated some of her own theories which she submitted to the Linnean Society. Unfortunately the times were against her and she was not even allowed to present her own paper as women were not permitted. The only thing that matched her fascination and inquisitive nature was the frustration that she felt from not being able to engage with the scientific community.

Jerry Springer: Long before chat show fame he had always been fiercely political and started off his career that way by getting a degree in Political Science from Tulane University in New Orleans before becoming a Doctor of Law, a political campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy and the Mayor of Cincinnati. The core sciences can sometimes look down on the social sciences but we’re very inclusive at Matilda’s Lab so on the wall he goes.

Rachel Riley: She had some pretty big shoes to fill, taking over the job of maths wizard on Countdown from Carol Vorderman but I think that it’s safe to say that she’s comfortably pulled it off. Unlike with Carol, there no real surprises in her educational background as she got her degree in Mathematics from Oriel College, Oxford. What may be more surprising is her fame has not halted her love of science as it appears to have done for so many other celebrities. Since rising to fame on Countdown she has also hosted The Gadget Show, a science entertainment show called It’s not rocket science with Ben Miller and Romesh Ranganathan. She has also visited schools to try and engage kids in the STEM subjects.

Carol Vorderman: It almost seems like a no brainer that the original maths whizz from Countdown would be a graduate; presumably with a 1st class degree in Maths from Oxford or Cambridge, but not quite. Whilst she did graduate from Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College) it was in Engineering and it was a 3rd class degree. She then went on to work as a junior civil engineer and for the UK Atomic Energy Authority before getting her job on TV.

Michael Crichton: If this late author’s name is not familiar to you then his work will be. He is the man who created Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain and the TV show E.R. as well as many other books which have also been made into movies (Rising Sun, Disclosure, Congo, State of Fear, Next). Much of his work had scientific underpinnings and that should be no surprise when we consider that graduated from Harvard as a Medical Doctor. He became disenchanted with practicing medicine before he became fully licenced and took to writing instead. Having left practical medicine, between bestsellers, he wrote non-fiction on medicine and scientific themes and was a visiting writer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1988.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: The TV presenter, writer, chef, journalist and activist has a well known agricultural background but none of these were his area of academic study. His degree from St. Peter’s College, Oxford is in philosophy and psychology. Since then, the river cottage business that he has set up has provided courses to people in a variety of subjects within agricultural science, such as food production, beekeeping, foraging and brewing. Not all sciences require you to wear a lab coat!

George Miller: A true, top-flight, Hollywood director. Not only did he create Mad Max but he has also directed blockbusters such as the Babe movies, the Witches of Eastwick and Happy Feet (for which won an Oscar). He was already making short films whilst undertaking his medical degree at the University of New South Wales and continued his experimental filmmaking during his residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. On completion of his residency he set up his own production company and the rest, as they say, is history.

Vernon Kay: He seems to be all over the place on UK TV sets, having presented over 20 different TV shows (and a couple of radio ones for good measure). Before finding his way into television he graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in Environmental Science.

Miuccia Prada: Before this icon of the fashion word turned her name into a global brand, she was a passionately political figure. Whilst she was at University in Milan, she didn’t just get a degree in political science; she earned a doctorate in it. Whilst the core sciences may scoff at the social ones, these branches of science offer an alternative route into the process of science. If you are less concerned about the origins of our species or the universe and more concerned about the direction that society is taking, or the plight of modern day people; there is still a branch of science that is wide open to you. It may not deliver answers as clear cut as physical laws or mathematical theorems but that does not mean that it does not teach us anything.