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,
#12101
Matthias G. Von Herrath
#156566
Overall Influence
#12102
Francesco Brigo
#156573
Overall Influence
#12103
Ülo Mander
#121063
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (72 years)
Ülo Mander is an Estonian ecologist and geographer. In 1983, he defended his doctoral thesis at University of Tartu. He is teaching at the University of Tartu's Institute of Geography . 1992–1998, he was the head of University of Tartu's Institute of Geography.
Go to Profile#12104
Ingemar Björk
#156579
Overall Influence
#12105
Petra Fromme
#147470
Overall Influence
Petra Fromme is a German-American chemist who is Director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery and Regents Professor at the Arizona State University. Her research considers the structure-to-function relationship of the membrane proteins involved with infectious diseases and bio-energy conversion. In 2021, she was awarded the Protein Society Anfinsen Award.
Go to Profile#12106
Hiroshi Matsuda
#156587
Overall Influence
#12107
Jack Hawkes
#129276
Overall Influence
1915 - 2007 (92 years)
John Gregory Hawkes OBE FLS was a British botanist, Mason Professor of Botany at the University of Birmingham. He was a student at Cambridge University Botany School where obtained his Ph.D. and Sc.D. .
Go to Profile#12108
Cristina Alberini
#147707
Overall Influence
Cristina Maria Alberini is an Italian neuroscientist who studies the biological mechanisms of long-term memory. She is a Professor in Neuroscience at the Center for Neural Science in New York University, and adjunct professor at the Departments of Neuroscience, Psysciatry, and Structural and Chemical Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Go to Profile#12109
Kazunobu Matsushita
#156622
Overall Influence
#12110
Ralph B. L. Gwatkin
#156634
Overall Influence
#12111
Raymond Victor Rajotte
#156643
Overall Influence
#12112
Steinar Tretli
#156673
Overall Influence
#12113
Wesley M. Brown
#156676
Overall Influence
#12114
Barry G. Rolfe
#156686
Overall Influence
#12115
Susan Patricia Lees-miller
#156692
Overall Influence
#12116
Mary C. Dinauer
#156696
Overall Influence
#12117
L. W. Swanson
#156702
Overall Influence
#12118
Anna Csiszár
#156705
Overall Influence
#12119
Katrin Linse
#139380
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Katrin Linse is a German marine biologist, best known for her work on discovering new Antarctic and deep sea species. Early life and education Linse was born in Germany. She discovered marine biology at the age of six, thanks to undergraduates she encountered while on holiday with her family. She developed the goal of working in polar science at the age of twelve, when a national polar research vessel was being built in a shipyard near to her family home: forbidden from visiting the shipyard during its open day, a were all women and children, Linse announced that one day she would sail aboard the ship to study marine life in the Antarctic.
Go to Profile#12120
Asif A. Ghazanfar
#109741
Overall Influence
1972 - Present (54 years)
Asif A. Ghazanfar is an American neuroscientist. He received one of the two Troland Research Awards for 2013. He was born in Pullman, Washington. He graduated from University of Idaho with a degree in philosophy in 1994 and received his Ph.D from Duke University in 1999.
Go to Profile#12121
Norbert Müller
#156711
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
#12122
Bruce M. Cattanach
#156722
Overall Influence
#12123
Joseph P. Kriss
#156742
Overall Influence
#12124
Ondřej Novák
#156757
Overall Influence
#12125
Terry Ann Krulwich
#156765
Overall Influence
#12126
John C. Crabbe
#135604
Overall Influence
John C. Crabbe, Jr. is an American neuroscientist and behavior geneticist. He is a professor of behavioral neuroscience at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, where he has worked since 1979. He is also a senior research career scientist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. He is also the former director of OHSU's Portland Alcohol Research Center.
Go to Profile#12127
Jeroen Dewulf
#156774
Overall Influence
1974 - Present (52 years)
#12128
Ian C. Talbot
#156781
Overall Influence
#12129
Francesco Bertoni
#156784
Overall Influence
#12130
Akinori Suzuki
#156791
Overall Influence
#12131
Udo Jonas
#156801
Overall Influence
#12132
Michael Udvardi
#154753
Overall Influence
Michael Udvardi is an Australian plant biologist currently the chief scientific officer at the Noble Research Institute and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2012. A highly cited expert in the last half-decade, his current interests are symbiosis and crops relationships.
Go to Profile#12133
F. Eric Preston
#156823
Overall Influence
#12134
Joseph S. Handler
#156839
Overall Influence
#12135
M. W. Ridley
#156846
Overall Influence
#12136
Howard I. Meltzer
#156848
Overall Influence
#12137
John Michael Manners
#156849
Overall Influence
#12138
Massimo Delledonne
#156856
Overall Influence
#12139
Tatiana A. Tatusova
#156869
Overall Influence
#12140
Randy H. Kardon
#156871
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
#12141
Linda J. Sandell
#156878
Overall Influence
#12142
Neil R. Blacklow
#156900
Overall Influence
#12143
Paul Barrett
#155753
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Professor Paul Barrett is a British vertebrate paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. His work primarily focuses on dinosaurs. The extinct dinosaur Vectipelta barretti is named in his honour.
Go to Profile#12144
Peter Smith Curtis
#156934
Overall Influence
#12145
John R. Garrett
#156943
Overall Influence
#12146
Toby Kiers
#142814
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Professor Toby Kiers is an evolutionary biologist. She is a University Research Chair and Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Kiers pioneered an economic interpretation of the interactions and exchanges between plants, fungi and microbes in mycorrhizal networks. She co-founded the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks . Prof. Dr. Toby Kiers is a 2023 Spinoza laureate.
Go to Profile#12147
Nicole A. Baumann
#156959
Overall Influence
#12148
Annemarie Willems
#156965
Overall Influence
#12149
Gerald R. Heath
#156978
Overall Influence
#12150
Harvey Wolinsky
#156982
Overall Influence
