March of the Tartan Army

Although born in Australia and now an American citizen, the media tycoon, 71, whose interests include News International newspapers in the UK, 20th Century Fox and Fox Television in the United States, Star TV in Asia as well as a host of other multi-media interests in Australia and across the globe, has his roots in Scotland. His ancestors originally emigrated to Australia from the north-east and he strengthened his tartan credentials when he married his first wife Anna, who has close ties with Kirkintilloch. Murdoch is arguably the most significant media player, not just in Britain but in terms of global reach, in the entire world. Although he is currently trying to protect his investments in the struggling German media monolith Kirch, few doubt that Murdoch remains keen to expand his empire. The collapse of ITV Digital leaves him in a dominant position regarding coverage of British football.

2 GEORGE ROBERTSON

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen is the first Scot to become NATO General Secretary. The son of a policeman, Robertson was born in 1946, grew up on Islay and worked for the GMB union after graduating from Dundee University. He was first elected to parliament in 1978, but had to wait nearly 20 years before enjoying the fruits of power. Prior to that he had spent an uncomfortable period as Shadow Scottish Secretary. Following Labour’s 1997 victory he became Defence Secretary and forged a close and mutually appreciative relationship with the armed forces. He took up his current post in 1999 and was responsible for directing the bombing of Kosovo. His recreations include photography and golf.

3 JK GALBRAITH

Now 93, John Kenneth Galbraith was born of Scots-Canadian parents in Ontario and is currently Emeritus Professor of Economics at Harvard. He became an American citizen in 1937 and is widely regarded as one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. His most famous book, The Affluent Society, was published in 1958 and he is internationally regarded for his development of Keynesian economic theory. He was John F Kennedy’s economic advisor and served as that Presidents’ Ambassador to India. He was also an early and vociferous critic of the Vietnam war.

4 JAY LENO

Vies with David Letterman for the title of America’s talkshow king. Leno hit the big time when he succeeded Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show. Half Italian-American, half-Scottish (his mother Cathryn was born here), the 51-year-old pockets more than 14m a year for his troubles. His full name is James Douglas Muir Leno and he argues that "I’m a half-breed of the oddest sort... My Scottish side is practical, analytical, even a bit frugal. My Italian side is loud, outgoing, ready to laugh. When I was growing up, at the Italian functions there would be hundreds of meatballs for maybe a dozen people. More food than anyone could possibly eat. And my Aunt Nettie would be go: ‘Oooh look at the food that’s going to weeeste.’" Good to know he doesn’t believe in stereotypes then.

5 RICHARD TAIT

Tait is co-founder of Cranium, the world’s fastest selling board game in 2000. The 37-year-old Glaswegian now lives in the Pacific north-west of the United States. He spent some time as a shepherd but his breakthrough came when he joined Microsoft. He worked on the Encarta encyclopedia and was named Microsoft employee of the year before leaving in 1997 to pursue his own ideas. He and his partner created Cranium. The game, which demands a varied set of skills from its teams - such as, among others, sketching, spelling, sculpting and whistling - became the board game industry's biggest hit since Pictionary was launched in 1984.

6 SIR SEAN CONNERY

What more is there to say? Connery received last year’s Wallace award on Capitol Hill in recognition of his years of service to both the film industry in general and charitable works in particular. Long regarded as the world’s most famous Scotsman, the former Edinburgh milkman who found worldwide fame as James Bond was finally awarded his knighthood in 2000 much to the delight of the SNP who believed he had been snubbed previously because of his suppport for the party. Connery won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as an Irish American cop (with a Scottish accent, naturally - some things never change) in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables.

7 Trent Lott

The Republican Senate minority leader from Mississippi was the leading figure behind the Tartan Day Bill. His grandmother was a Buchanan from Loch Lomond and his mother was called Iona Watson. He enjoys wearing the Buchanan tartan - not everyone’s idea of a style statement. So strong is the 60-year-olds’ passion for Scotland that it took just three years for him to push through the resolution (normally such matters take much longer) and Tartan Day was established in 1998. Since then it has grown every year, in no small way due to Lott’s persistent efforts in publicising the event. "It is an honour to recognise the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath. Tartan Day is indeed a significant day for all Americans." Well, he said it.

8 JACLYN MASON

Educated at Glasgow Caledonian University, Jaclyn Mason is Vice President at the Scottish Development International office in San Jose, California where she is responsible for helping technology companies plan and implement their internationalisation strategy. She has worked for Scottish Enterprise since April 1998. Before joining Scottish Enterprise, she spent four years with Melville Craig Group, one of Scotland's leading HR and Recruitment consultants developing and managing key clients in both theelectronics and service sectors in Scotland. She is a key member of the Globalscots network set up by Enterprise Minister Wendy Alexander to encourage Scots and the Scots diaspora to build a worldwide network of influence for the benefit of the domestic economy.

9 Steve Forbes

The 54-year-old is head of the Forbes publishing dynasty, founded by his Aberdeenshire grandfather during the First World War. He has twice unsuccessfully run for the Republican presidential nomination, basing his campaign on a platform of massive tax cuts. Despite lavishing millions of dollars on his campaigns and outspending his opponents, his political ambitions have met with little success. He says: "My grandfather, an immigrant from Scotland who started it in 1917, used to say: ‘You make more money selling the advice than following it.’" If only that applied to his political campaigns...

10 Gerry Rice

Born in Glasgow, 46- year-old Rice is Honorary Professor at Glasgow University Business School and, more importantly, Director of Communications with the World Bank in Washington. He has worked for the World Bank for 20 years. He grew up in the Calton area of Glasogw where his father was a school janitor. He attended Glasgow University and graduated with a first class degree in history in 1976. He is one of the comparatively few Scots (Duncan Hamilton MSP is another) to be a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University. He was Henry McLeish’s first choice to be the First Minister’s head of policy, but perhaps wisely turned the job down in favour of returning to Washington after a year on secondment to Scottish Enterprise.

11 Euan Baird

The 64-year-old CEO of oil company Schlumberger was born and raised in Aberdeen.

12 ROBERT REDFORD

The 64-year-old actor and director’s father was, he says, a milkman from Edinburgh.

13 Elle Mcpherson

The Australian supermodel makes the most of her Scottish roots - she posed for Vanity Fair magazine in McPherson tartan.

14 ALEX TROTMAN

Born in Edinburgh, the former Ford Chairman, 68, remains an influential business figure.

15 KEVIN SNEADER

He is head of McKinsey’s operation in California, the management consultancy often voted most desirable company to work for by MBAs in the US.

16 ALAN BAIN

Bain is president of the American-Scottish Foundation, in New York.

17 Kenneth White

Born in the Gorbals in 1936, the intellectual and poet is a professor at the Sorbonne in France.

18 DONALD TRUMP

Embodying Eighties success and excess, Trump’s mother hailed from Lewis in the Western Isles.

19 BILL ELDER

The 62-year-old left Glasgow for San Francisco in 1968 with 500 in his pocket. Now he runs a multi-million dollar computer company.

20 ANDREW AND KEVIN MACDONALD

Andrew Trainspotting Macdonald’s achievements are matched by his Oscar-winning producer brother Kevin.

21 David Stirling

The executive vice president of US drugs company Celgene is from Rutherglen.

22 Shirley Manson

The one-time backing vocalist for Edinburgh band Goodbye Mr MacKenzie is now lead singer of Garbage.

23 David Edward

A judge at the European Court of Justice since 1992.

24 ELAINA RICHARDSON

The 41-year-old Glasgow-born former editor of Elle magazine is now president of the prestigious Yaddo artist colony in New York.

25 ALAN CUMMING

The 37-year-old actor was brought up in Perthshire.

26 JOHN DE CHASTELAIN

The Canadian general, a key player in the Northern Ireland peace process, was born in Bucharest, the son of a Scots oil engineer. The 64-year-old was educated at Fettes in Edinburgh.

27 ALISTAIR MACLEOD

The great Scots/Canadian novelist and short story writer’s most recent work No Great Mischief won last year’s IMPAC Dublin literary prize.

28 MOBY

The 36-year-old musician - a descendent of novelist Herman Melville - has a McBride grandmother.

29 DAVID DUCHOVNY

The X-Files star, 41, has been pictured, unflatteringly, in a kilt. His mother hails from Aberdeenshire.

30 DAME MURIEL SPARK

Though born in Edinburgh, the setting for her most famous novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the grande dame is exiled in Tuscany.

31 JULIANNE MOORE

The daughter of a Dunoon social worker, Hannibal star Moore (pictured above) is one of Hollywood’s players.

32 DUNCAN BRUCE

Influential author of Mark of the Scots. Three of the 70-year-old’s grandparents were born in Scotland.

33 MIKE MYERS

From Austin Powers to So I Married An Axe Murderer, Myers seems obsessed with all things Scots.

34 ALAN SHARP

The former shipyard worker turned screenwriter includes Rob Roy amongst his list of credits.

35 ANDY ROXBURGH

The former Scotland manager has been a key player at UEFA ever since he relinquished the job.

36 ALBERT WATSON

Edinburgh-born photographer whose work has graced the cover of every fashion magazine that counts.

37 TOM NAIRN

Now at Melbourne’s Monas University, Nairn is one of the most highly regarded Scots intellectuals.

38 MICHAEL CATON JONES

The 43-year-old Broxburn-born film director is directing Robert de Niro’s new film, City by the Sea.

39 CRAIG FERGUSON

Born and bred in Cumbernauld, the former comedian has moved to Hollywood and into movies.

40 ANNIE LENNOX

The Aberdonian diva, born on Christmas Day 1954, is perhaps Scotland’s most successful female singer.

41 DAVID BYRNE

The film-maker and Talking Heads musician was born in Dumbarton but emigrated when he was two.

42 DARIO FRANCHITTI

Bathgate-born motor-racing driver, 28, who married the American actress Ashley Judd last year.

43 SUSAN STEWART

The 36-year-old was seconded from the Scottish Executive to the British Embassy in Washington.

44 DAVE KING

Glasgow-born King moved to South Africa, making 100m from his financial services company.

45 MAGGIE MONTEITH

The former marketing boss at Tristar, Scots-born Monteith will promote the next Star Wars movie.

46 DAVID COULTHARD

From Dumfriesshire, Monte Carlo-based Coulthard was runner-up in last year’s F1 Championship.

47 ALISON DUNCAN

The Dundee-born lawyer is the SNP’s legal representative in Washington and a key Tartan Day player.

48 MONSIGNOR CHRISTOPHER MCELROY

Glaswegian rector of the Scots college in Rome since 1995.

49 ALISTAIR CONN

Heads the ER at Massachusetts General hospital in Boston.

50 SHREK

Oscar winner. Scottish. Popular with children (and adults) around the world.