Jiang Menglin 蒋梦麟 – a prominent education reformer in China and former President of Peking University and Zhejiang University
C. S. Kiang, Founding Dean of the College of Environmental Sciences at Peking University[2][3]
Li Haopei 李浩培 – jurist, Judge of International Criminal Court
Li Shizeng, biology faculty; more prominent as anarchist and Guomindang politician.
Liang Shuming 梁漱溟 – modern neo-Confucianist. Liang was most famous for his critique of Marxist class theory, stating that, despite obvious disparities of wealth, Chinese rural society could not be unambiguously classified along class lines. One and the same family (particularly the large patriarchal lineages found in many regions) would commonly have some members among the "haves" and others among the "have-nots". The class struggle advocated by the Maoists would necessitate kinsmen attacking each other.
Lin Yutang 林语堂 – writer, inventor of the first Chinese typewriter and a new method of romanizing the Chinese language
Liu Shipei 刘师培 – historian and philosopher, an advocate of traditional Chinese monarchy
Ma Yinchu 马寅初 – a prominent population economist, whose New Population Theory was criticized by Mao since 1957 for two decades. Having examined trends of the early 1950s, Ma argued that further population growth at such high rates would be detrimental to China's development. Therefore, he advocated government control of fertility. In 1979, the Communist Party formally apologises to Ma, stating that "erroneously criticized one person, population mistakenly increased 300,000,000".
Alexander von Staël-Holstein (1918-1937 in Beijing) – lecturer and professor in Indology, Sinology and Phonetics
Qixiang Sun (孙祁祥) - Associate Dean of Peking University's School of Economics and Chair and C. V. Starr Professor in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance
Wang Keqin 王克勤 – muckraking journalist and blogger
Wang Tieya 王铁崖 – jurist, former Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Ta-You Wu 吴大猷 – the "Father of Chinese Physics". His students include Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee, co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957.
Xu Beihong 徐悲鴻 – the most famous Chinese artist, dean of Beida School of Arts, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Chinese Artists' Association.
Xiaoyu Lu 吕晓宇 - professor in the School of International Studies
Yu Dafu 郁达夫 – modern Chinese short story writer and poet, author of Ch'en-lun "Sinking" (1921)
Luo Niansheng (simplified Chinese: 罗念生; traditional Chinese: 羅念生) - known for translating Ancient Greek literature into Chinese
Gu Jiegang 顾颉刚 – a Chinese historian; the founder of the Skeptical school of early Chinese history, known as yigupai; best known for the seven volume work Gushi Bian (古史辨 "Debates on Ancient History").
Shang Yue 尚钺 – a Chinese economic historian and an author; best known for his contribution on the idea of sprouts of capitalism
Ren Jiyu 任继愈 – Chinese historian and philosopher, former director of the National Library.
Deng Jiaxian 邓稼先 – a nuclear physics expert; a leading organizer and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon programs.
Qian Sanqiang 钱三强 – a nuclear physicist and education administrator; a leading organizer and key contributor to the Chinese nuclear weapon programs; former president of Zhejiang University
Zhu Guangya 朱光亚 – a renowned nuclear physicist of China, key contributor to China's "Two Bombs, One Satellite" projects.
Zhou Guangzhao 周光召 – expert on particle physics, discoverer of PCAC (partial conservation of axial current), an important step toward the understanding of symmetry breaking; former director of the Chinese Nuclear Weapons Research Institute and president of the Academica Sinica.
Gang Liu 刘刚 - a mathematician and computer scientist.
Ji Xianlin - linguist, historian, indologist, writer, vice president of Peking University (since 1978)
Yitang Zhang 张益唐 B.S. 1982, M.S. 1985, mathematician Discovered upper bond of prime numbers as close to 70, 000, 000, and won Ostrowski Prize (2013) Cole Prize (2014) Rolf Schock Prize (2014) MacArthur Fellowship (2014).
Tu Youyou 屠呦呦 - a pharmaceutical chemist and educator. She is best known for discovering artemisinin (also known as qinghaosu) and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, which has saved millions of lives. For her work, Tu received the 2011 Lasker Award in clinical medicine and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura.
Hu Deping 胡德平 – vice chairman of All-China General Chamber of Industry & Commerce Party, Secretary of National Association of Industry and Commerce, and vice minister of the Propaganda Department, child of Hu Yaobang
Zhang Guotao 张国焘 – founding member and leader in the Chinese Communist Party
In business and media
Among the "top 300 richest in China"[7] 27 graduated from Beida, much higher than any other Chinese university. The second ranking school is Zhejiang University, with 17 alumni on the list.