The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
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List of the most influential people in Biology,
#10551
Anders Heijl
#145551
Overall Influence
#10552
Harry A. Roels
#145555
Overall Influence
#10553
R. R. Macdonald Senior
#145561
Overall Influence
#10554
Matthias Kliegel
#145567
Overall Influence
#10555
Geoffrey L. Asherson
#145583
Overall Influence
#10556
Charles William Leffler
#145586
Overall Influence
#10557
J. R. Dankert
#145601
Overall Influence
#10558
Tony Van Vliet
#145603
Overall Influence
#10559
Simo S. Oja
#145604
Overall Influence
#10560
Alfred Gierer
#145647
Overall Influence
#10561
Nikolaus Weiskopf
#145666
Overall Influence
1973 - Present (53 years)
#10562
Ulrich Willerding
#127419
Overall Influence
1932 - 2021 (89 years)
Ulrich Willerding is a professor emeritus of botany at the Göttingen University, Germany. He is also an instructor at a local high school. Willerding is one of the leading European palaeo-ethnobotanists. He has specialized in Medieval Europe but also done work on other times. One of his special interests is weeds. He has worked on bibliographies of European paleoethnobotany. Although a biologist by training, he has worked extensively with archaeologists.
Go to Profile#10563
Sangita Mukhopadhyay
#117057
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Sangita Mukhopadhyay is an Indian molecular cell biologist, immunologist and the head of the molecular biology group at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics. Known for her studies on immunosuppression and infection biology, Mukhopadhyay is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies namely the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded her the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science a...
Go to Profile#10564
David Harris Cohen
#139406
Overall Influence
David Harris Cohen is an American neuroscientist, physiologist, and academic administrator. He is the provost at the University of the People. Cohen was president of the Society for Neuroscience. He was vice president and dean of the faculty at the Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 1995 to 2003 and provost of Northwestern University from 1986 to 1995.
Go to Profile#10565
Janine Deakin
#38987
Overall Influence
Janine Deakin is a professor at the University of Canberra and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. She is a geneticist with expertise in the areas of comparative genomics, epigenetics, genetic immunology and genome structure and regulation. A majority of her work has focused on the Australian marsupials and monotremes where her cytogenetic and molecular research on marsupial chromosomes and development of strategies to map genomes has provided important insight into the evolution of mammalian genomes.
Go to Profile#10566
Argiris Efstratiadis
#145695
Overall Influence
#10567
Oliver Soehnlein
#145702
Overall Influence
#10568
Charles Raison
#57664
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Charles L. Raison is an American psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health as well as the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair for Healthy Minds, Children & Families and Professor with the School of Human Ecology in Madison, Wisconsin.
Go to Profile#10569
Uttam Lal Rajbhandary
#145709
Overall Influence
#10570
Nigel David Dudley
#145722
Overall Influence
#10571
Hiroshi Demura
#145727
Overall Influence
#10572
Christiana Ruhrberg
#137537
Overall Influence
Christiana Ruhrberg is a German-British cell biologist who is Professor of Neuronal and Vascular Biology, University College London. She looks to understand how cells interact during the development and disease of mammals.
Go to Profile#10573
W. Mark Kliewer
#145740
Overall Influence
#10574
R. J. L. Martin
#145754
Overall Influence
#10575
Hidenao Fukuyama
#145757
Overall Influence
#10576
Michael D. Swaine
#145768
Overall Influence
#10577
Geoffrey C. Schild
#145769
Overall Influence
#10578
Sen Pathak
#145779
Overall Influence
#10579
John W. Semple
#112790
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
John W. Semple is a Canadian Scientist formally at St. Michael's Hospital and a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Toronto. He is currently a Professor of Transfusion Medicine at Lund University in Sweden. He was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1959 and received his PhD in Immunology at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario. In 1991, Semple, along with John Freedman, discovered a T helper cell defect in patients with the bleeding disorder called immune thrombocytopenia . ITP is a condition of having a low platelet count and most causes appear to be related to antibodies and T cells against platelets.
Go to Profile#10580
Wolfgang K. Baumgärtner
#145806
Overall Influence
#10581
Jean‐dominique Vassalli
#145818
Overall Influence
#10582
Jan Kassubek
#145819
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (57 years)
#10583
Valayamghat Raghavan
#145831
Overall Influence
#10584
Jason M. Brenchley
#145858
Overall Influence
#10585
Stephen T. Jackson
#145863
Overall Influence
#10586
Hans‐peter Gerber
#145868
Overall Influence
#10587
Luiz A. Rocha
#134544
Overall Influence
Luiz Alves Rocha is the Curator and Follett Chair of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and San Francisco State University.
Go to Profile#10588
Paul John Baumann
#145871
Overall Influence
#10589
Richard L. Stouffer
#145877
Overall Influence
#10590
C. Nick Pace
#145882
Overall Influence
#10591
Arnold J. Friedhoff
#145885
Overall Influence
#10592
Jacobus van der Vecht
#130827
Overall Influence
1906 - 1992 (86 years)
Jacobus van der Vecht , nicknamed Jaap, was a Dutch entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera, especially those of the East Indies and New Guinea. Early life Van der Vecht was born in The Hague on 5 July 1906. His father, the Master of the Wine Cellars at the court of the then Queen Dowager of the Netherlands, Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, had an interest in natural history and reared butterflies as a hobby. He enjoyed taking his sons on walks to study nature and this encouraged a passion for biology in Jacobus.
Go to Profile#10593
Moriya Ohkuma
#145893
Overall Influence
#10594
Nicola Allen
#141016
Overall Influence
Nicola J. Allen is a British neuroscientist. Allen studies the role of astrocytes in brain development, homeostasis, and aging. Her work uncovered the critical roles these cells play in brain plasticity and disease. Allen is currently an associate professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Hearst Foundation Development Chair.
Go to Profile#10595
L. E. A. Rowson
#145911
Overall Influence
#10596
Kaspar. H. Winterhalter
#145917
Overall Influence
#10597
Eduardo Rojas
#145918
Overall Influence
#10598
Douglas E. Berg
#145926
Overall Influence
#10599
Vittorio Gallo
#145928
Overall Influence
#10600
Toshimitsu Niwa
#145929
Overall Influence
