Anthropology
- Daniel Wilson (1816–1892), anthropologist and university administrator
- Brian Lang (born 1945), anthropologist and university administrator
Architecture
- Robert Adam (1728–1792), architect to George III
- Robert Mylne (1733–1811), architect and engineer
- Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858), architect
- George Henderson (1846–1905), architect
- William Burn (1789–1870), architect
- David Bryce (1803–1876), architect
- James Fergusson (1808–1886), architectural historian
Asian Studies
- Arthur Keith (1879–1944), Sanskritist and jurist
- H. A. R. Gibb (1895–1971), Arabic scholar
Chemistry
- James Keir (1735–1820), chemist and industrialist
- George Wilson (1818–1859), chemist and museum director
- James Keir (1735–1820), chemist and industrialist
- Thomas Hope (1766–1844), chemist and educationist
- James Syme (1799–1870), discoverer of the solvent for rubber
- Alexander Crum Brown (1838–1922), chemist
Commerce and Industry
- William Denholm Barnetson, Baron Barnetson (1917-1981), Chairman United Newspapers, Reuters and Thames Television
- Thomas Coutts (1735–1822), London merchant banker
- William Forbes (1739–1806), banker and philanthropist
- James Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong merchant and politician
- David Yule (1858–1928), Calcutta merchant and industrialist, 'Empire's Richest Man'
- Malcolm Stewart (1872–1951), brick and cement manufacturer
- Gerry Forsgate (1919–2001), Hong Kong transport entrepreneur
- Fraser Doherty (born 1988) creator of SuperJam 100% fruit jam, sold in major supermarkets
Classical Studies
- John Burnet (1863–1928), Greek scholar
Earth Sciences
- Robert Sibbald (1641–1722), physician and geographer
- James Hutton (1726–1797), geologist and discoverer of graphite veins
- Alexander Rose (1781–1860), geologist
- John Bartholomew (1860–1920), cartographer and geographer
- Charles Normand (1889–1982), meteorologist
Economics
- John Kay (born 1948), economist
Education
- John Watson, (died 1762), benefactor of John Watson's School
- William Fettes (1750–1836), lord provost and benefactor of Fettes College
- Leonard Horner (1785–1864), geologist and a founder of the Edinburgh Academy and University College School
Engineering and Design
- James Short (1710–1768), maker of optical instruments
- James Nasmyth (1808–1890), inventor of the steam hammer
- Thomas Stevenson (1818–1887), lighthouse designer
- Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), inventor of the telephone
Entertainment
- William Chippendale (1801–1888), actor
- Charles Cameron (1927–2001), magician
- Ronnie Corbett (born 1930), comedian
- David Robb (born 1947), actor
- Ian Charleson (1949–1990), actor
- Glenn Chandler (born 1949), creator of TV series Taggart
Games and Sport
- John Boak (1837–1876), cricketer
- Colin Telfer (born 1947), rugby union player
- Ronnie Wood(born 1960), ice hockey player
- Iwan Tukalo (born 1961), rugby union player
- Ben Cairns (born 1985), rugby union player
- Alan MacDonald (born 1985), rugby union player
History and Archaeology
- William Erskine (1773–1852), historian of India
- Patrick Tytler (1791–1849), historian of Scotland
- Cosmo Innes (1798–1874), antiquary of Scotland
- William Skene (1809–1892), historian and Celtic scholar
- Alexander Murray (1841–1904), museum curator
- Gordon Donaldson (1913–1993), historian of Scotland
Law
- Thomas Craig (c. 1538 – 1608), lawyer, jurist and poet
- John Bonar, the younger (1747–1807), lawyer
- Henry, Lord Cockburn (1779–1854), lawyer, Senator of the College of Justice, author, and a founder of the Edinburgh Academy
- James Craig (1765–1850), lawyer and politician
- Mark Napier (1798–1879), lawyer and historian
- John Inglis, Lord Glencorse (1810–1891), Lord President of the Court of Session
- Theodore Martin (1816–1909), lawyer and biographer
Literature
- William Drummond (1585–1649), poet and pamphleteer
- William Strahan (1715–1785), printer
- William Smellie (1740–1795), encyclopaedist
- Henry Mackenzie (1745–1831), writer
- Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), poet
- Walter Scott (1771–1832), poet and novelist
- Francis Jeffrey (1773–1850), writer and judge
- Adam Black (1784–1874), publisher, lord provost and Liberal backbencher
- George Borrow (1803–1881), writer and traveller
- Robert Garioch (1909–1981), poet and translator
- Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), poet
- Karl Miller (born 1931), literary critic
Medicine
- James Wardrop (1782–1869), surgeon to King George IV
- Robert Knox (1791–1862), anatomist and ethnologist
- Robert Christison (1797–1882), toxicologist
- Andrew Combe (1797–1882), honorary physician to Queen Victoria and the King of the Belgians
- Douglas Maclagan (1812–1900), surgeon
- Charles Morehead (1807–1882), physician
- James Spence (1812–1882), surgeon
- Caleb Saleeby (1878–1940), public health advocate
Music
- Thomas Erskine, Lord Kellie (1731–1781), composer
- Al Fairweather (1927–1993), jazz trumpeter
- Sandy Brown (1929–1975), bandleader and acoustic architect
- Frankie Poullain (born 1967), bassist for the band The Darkness
Philosophy
- Dugald Stewart (1753–1838), philosopher
- James Ferrier (1808–1864), philosopher
- Henry Calderwood (1830–1897), philosopher
- Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison (1856–1931), philosopher
- W. D. Ross (1877–1971), philosopher
Politics
- George Drummond (1687–1766), lord provost and civic improver
- Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Rosslyn (1733–1805), Whig lord chancellor and defender of Clive of India
- William Brodie, (1741–1788), deacon and thief
- Henry Dundas, Lord Melville (1742–1811), Tory politician and political manager
- Thomas Erskine, Lord Erskine (1750–1823), Whig lord chancellor
- Robert Dundas, Lord Melville (1771–1851), Tory first lord of the Admiralty
- James Abercromby, Lord Dunfermline (1776–1858), Whig speaker of the House of Commons
- Francis Horner (1778–1817), Whig backbencher
- Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868), Whig lord chancellor
- George Clerk (1787–1867), Tory vice-president of the Board of Trade
- William Craig (1797–1878), Liberal lord of the Treasury, lord clerk register and keeper of the Signet
- James Robertson (1845–1909), Unionist politician and president of the Court of Session
- Douglas Henderson (1935–2006), SNP deputy leader
- Chris Harvie, MSP (born 1943), SNP backbencher
- Robin Cook (1946–2005), Labour foreign secretary and lord president of the Council
- Sarah Boyack, MSP (born 1961), Labour former transport minister
- Kenneth Macintosh, MSP (born 1962), Labour backbencher
Public Service
- Eric Brown (pilot) (born 1919), World Record Holder for Most Aircraft Carrier Landings
- Cadwallader Colden (1688–1776), lieutenant-governor of New York
- John Campbell (1753–1784), soldier
- Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824), army officer and colonial governor
- George Ramsay, Lord Dalhousie (1770–1838), army officer and governor-in-chief of British North America
- George Murray (1772–1846), army officer and lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada
- Alexis Greig (1775–1845), naval officer in the Russian service
- Frederick Maitland (1777–1839), naval officer, received the surrender of Napoleon
- Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859), governor of Bombay
- Charles Napier (1786–1860), naval officer and politician
- George Hay, Lord Tweeddale (1787–1876), army officer and governor of Madras
Religion
- Robert Haldane (1764–1842), theologian
- John Campbell (1766–1840), Congregational minister and missionary in Africa
- James Haldane (1768–1851), Baptist church leader
- David Welsh (1793–1845), Free Church of Scotland minister and author
- Archibald Tait (1811–1882), archbishop of Canterbury
- William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826–1910), archbishop of York
- James Stewart (1831–1905), Church of Scotland missionary to Africa
- Alexander Gordon (1841–1931), Unitarian minister and historian
- George Smith (1856–1942), theologian
Visual Arts
- Alexander Nasmyth (1758–1840), artist and engineer
- George Heriot (1759–1839), painter and deputy postmaster-general for British North America
- William Allan (1782–1850), painter and president of the Royal Scottish Academy
- Robert Lauder (1803–1869), painter and art teacher
- David Scott (1806–1849), painter and poet
- William Marshall (1813–1894), sculptor
- James Archer (1822–1904), painter
- William Douglas (1822–1891), painter, antiquary, and curator
Zoology
- William Baird (1803–1872), zoologist
- Graham Kerr (1869–1957), zoologist
- Landsborough Thomson (1890–1977), ornithologist
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