LSE world leaders

LSE’s global community includes nearly 50 past and present world leaders who have taught or studied at LSE.

Many of those leaders remain very connected with LSE and we have been privileged when they have returned to speak at LSE and share their insights and experiences with future generations.

Browse the list below to find out more about some of those leaders.

Barbados

The Rt Hon Errol Walton Barrow (1920-1987)

BSc (Econ) 1950
Prime Minister 1962-1966; 1966-1976; 1986-1987.

Mia Mottley (1965-)

LLB 1986
First female Prime Minister 2018-present.

Mia Mottley visited LSE in 2023 to deliver a public lecture.

Canada

Rt Hon Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000)

Research Fee Student 1947-1948
Prime Minister 1968-1979; 1980-1984.

The Rt Hon Kim Campbell (1947-)

PhD student 1973
Prime Minister June-November 1993.

Jacques Parizeau (1930-2015)

PhD student 1955
Premier of Quebec 1994-1995.

China

Yang Jiechi (1950-)

General Course 1975
Foreign Minister 2007-2013.

Colombia

Dr Pumarejo Alfonso Lopez (1886-1959)

Occasional Registration 1932-1933
President 1934-1938, 1942-1945.

Juan Manuel Santos (1951-)

MSc Economics 1975
President 2010-2018.

Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 and has returned to LSE to speak on many occasions, most recently in 2025.

Denmark

HM Queen Margrethe II (1940-)

Occasional student 1965
Queen 1972-2024.

Dominica

The Hon Dame Eugenia Charles (1919-2005)

LLM 1949
First female Prime Minister 1980-1995.

Fiji

The Rt Hon Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara (1920-2004)

Diploma Econ and Social Admin 1962
Prime Minister 1970-1992; President 1994-2000.

Finland

Dr Alexander Stubb (1986-)

PhD International Relations 1999
Prime Minister 2014-2015; President 2024-present.

Alexander Stubb spoke at LSE in 2025 on today's geopolitical challenges.

Germany

Ursula von der Leyen (1958-)

General Course 1978
President of the European Commission 2019

The time I spent here opened my eyes. I got to know a warm, vibrant, colourful, multicultural society – the likes of which I had not really experienced before. I saw people from different walks of life going out together, enjoying life, breathing in freedom. I immersed myself in this melting pot of cultures, traditions and music. And I truly fell in love with this city and this country.

Ghana

Dr Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)

PhD (did not complete) 1946
First President 1960-1966.

Hon Dr Hilla Limann (1934-1998)

BSc (Econ) 1960
President 1979-1981.

John Atta Mills (1944-2012)

LLM 1967-68
President 2009-2012.

A number of post-independence African heads of state or government studied at LSE, including three from Ghana, two from Kenya and two from Mauritius.

Greece

George Papandreou (1952-)

MSc Sociology 1977
Prime Minister 2009-2011.

Professor Konstantinos Simitis (1936-2025)

Research Fee Student 1961-1963
Prime Minister 1996-2004.

Konstantinos Simitis received an honorary fellowship from LSE in 2023.

India

Shri KR Narayanan (1921-2005)

BSc (Econ) 1945-1948
President 1997-2002.

Israel

Moshe Sharett (1894 -1965)

BSc (Econ) 1924
Prime Minister 1954-1955.

Italy

Professor Romano Prodi (1939-)

Research Fee Student 1962-1963
Prime Minister 1996-1998; President of the European Commission 1999-2004;
Prime Minister 2006-2008.

Jamaica

The Rt Hon Michael Manley (1924-1997)

BSc (Econ) 1949
Prime Minister 1972-1980; 1989-1992.

The Rt Hon P J Patterson (1935-)

LLB 1963
Premier 1992-2006.

Japan

Tarō Asō (1940-)

Occasional Student 1966
Prime Minister 2008-2009, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 2012-2021.

Jordan

Dr Bisher Khasawneh (1969-)

LLM 1996, PhD Law 2007
Prime Minister 2020-2024.

Bisher Khasawneh spoke at LSE in 2024.

Kenya

Jomo Kenyatta (c1894-1978)

ADA 1936
First President 1964-1978.

Mwai Kibaki (1931-2022)

BSc Economics 1959
President 2002-2013.

Kiribati

Anote Tong (1952-)

MSc Sea-Use Group 1988
President 2003-2016.

Anote Tong visited LSE in 2015 to speak about Kiribati's position on the front line of climate change.

Mauritius

The Hon Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920-2000)

LLB 1948
First President of Mauritius March-June 1992.

The Hon Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam (1947-)

LLB 1990
Prime Minister 1995-2000; 2005-2014; 2024-present.

Two of the most significant figures in the country's modern history, the first President and the current Prime Minister, are both LSE Law School alumni. The institutional thread that connects them runs through Professor Stanley Alexander de Smith, Chair of Public Law at LSE, whose role in drafting the Mauritian constitution at independence made LSE's contribution to the country something deeper than a matter of student enrolment.

Nepal

Sher Bahadur Deuba (1946-)

Research Student International Relations 1988-1989
Prime Minister 1995-1997; 2001-2003; 2004-2005; 2017-18; 2021-2022.

Norway

King Haakon VIII (1973-)

MSc Development Studies 2003
King 2026-present.

Panama

Harmodio Arias (1886-1962)

Occasional Student, 1909-1911
President 1932-1936.

Peru

Pedro Gerardo Beltran Espanto (1897-1979)

BSc (Econ) 1918
Prime Minister 1959-1961.

Beatriz Merino (1947-)

LLM 1972
First female Prime Minister 2003.

Poland

Marek Belka (1952-)

Summer School 1990
Prime Minister 2004-2005.

Singapore

Goh Keng Swee (1918-2010)

BSc Economics 1951; PhD Economics 1956
Deputy Prime Minister 1973-1985.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957-)

BSc Economics 1981
Deputy Prime Minister 2011-2019; President 2023-present.

St Lucia

The Rt Hon John Compton (1925-2007)

LLB 1952
Premier 1967-1979; First Prime Minister 1979; 1982-1996; 2006-2007.

Taiwan

Yu Kuo-Hwa (1914-2000)

Composition fee student 1947-1949
Premier 1984-1989.

Tsai Ing-wen (1956-)

PhD Law 1984
First female President 2016- 2024.

Thailand

Thanin Kraivichien (1927-2025)

LLB 1953
Prime Minister 1976-1977.

Togo

Sylvanus Olympio (1902-1963)

B Commerce 1925
Prime Minister 1958-1961; First President 1961-1963.

UK

Clement Attlee (1883-1967)

Lecturer in social science and administration, 1912-1923
Prime Minister, 1945-1951.