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,
#13601
Tommaso A. Dragani
#154893
Overall Influence
Tommaso A. Dragani is an Italian genetic epidemiologist whose research is focused on understanding the genetic control of complex phenotypes. Results from his studies allowed the chromosomal mapping of quantitative trait loci modulating the genetic predisposition to liver, lung and skin tumorigenesis, in animal models. His population-based studies resulted in the identification of genetic polymorphisms associated with the risk and prognosis of lung cancer. He contributed to discovering the mechanism underlying the association between polymorphisms in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit genes on chromosome 15 and the risks of lung cancer and nicotine dependence.
Go to Profile#13602
Abigail Barrows
#154843
Overall Influence
1984 - Present (42 years)
Abigail P. W. Barrows is an American marine research scientist and advocate based in Maine. Barrows directs microplastics research that is used to inform conservation-focused legislation, and she initiated the first baseline data map of microplastic pollution distribution in the waters off the coast of Maine.
Go to Profile#13603
Claudio Bordignon
#167157
Overall Influence
#13604
Herman H. Samson
#167159
Overall Influence
#13606
Emilio L. Ghisalberti
#167189
Overall Influence
#13607
Peter O. Fritsch
#167209
Overall Influence
#13608
Seung Up Kim
#167212
Overall Influence
#13609
Gary l. Nelsestuen
#167213
Overall Influence
#13610
Pierre Sirois
#167219
Overall Influence
#13611
George A. Porter
#167223
Overall Influence
#13612
Robert. S. Baltimore
#167236
Overall Influence
#13613
A. E. V. Richardson
#167242
Overall Influence
#13614
Gordon W. Dewald
#167251
Overall Influence
#13615
Peter Wernet
#167252
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
#13616
Tadashi Yamamoto
#167257
Overall Influence
#13617
Laure Aurelian
#167263
Overall Influence
#13618
Milton N. Schroth
#167267
Overall Influence
#13619
Gordon G. Birch
#167270
Overall Influence
#13620
Michael Welner
#10817
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Michael Mark Welner is an American forensic psychiatrist and Chairman of The Forensic Panel. Welner is best known for his work in sensitive and complex litigation. He has acted as lead forensic psychiatric examiner in numerous criminal or court proceedings of national and international prominence, including precedent-setting trials and higher court decisions. Welner is also known for a number of innovations in forensic science, forensic psychiatry and justice, including protocols for prospective peer review in forensic medicine consultation, research to standardize an evidence-based distinct...
Go to Profile#13621
Li Sizhong
#111147
Overall Influence
1921 - 2009 (88 years)
Li Sizhong was an ichthyologist with the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Throughout his research career, he made numerous discoveries of new fish species , and published many books and research papers describing the fauna and geographical distribution of fishes in China and beyond. He translated and helped publication of the Chinese editions of Fishes of the World and Fish Migration . Li was the major author of two published volumes in the Fauna Sinica monograph series, systematically reviewing and describing orders of bony fishes that include flat fish, cod, silverside, pearlfish, killifish, flying fish, etc.
Go to Profile#13622
Bernd Weisshaar
#167291
Overall Influence
#13623
Khalid F. Tabbara
#167293
Overall Influence
#13624
Gert Holstege
#96798
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Gert Holstege is a neuroscientist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Holstege studied medicines at the Erasmus University Rotterdam from 1966 to 1971. He was neuroscientist at that University from 1971 to 1987, after which he worked for 4 years for NASA in Mountain View, California. Since 1990 he has worked at the University of Groningen, where he, since 1993, has been a full professor of neuroanatomy and the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at the Faculty of Medicine. While his main focus is the study urge-incontinence in the elderly, some of his recent work focuses on the neurology of sexual behaviour.
Go to Profile#13625
Susan Shur-Fen Gau
#91506
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (64 years)
Susan Shur-Fen Gau , also known as Susan Gau, Shur-Fen Gau, Gau Shur-Fen and in Chinese:高淑芬, is a Taiwanese psychiatrist and academic with specialized in psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, preventive medicine, occupational therapy, and brain and mind sciences.
Go to Profile#13626
Nicholas M. Barbaro
#167308
Overall Influence
#13627
Hermann Wagner
#167312
Overall Influence
#13628
William Graham Cole
#167314
Overall Influence
#13629
Indraneil Das
#167317
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
#13630
Zdenko Herceg
#167338
Overall Influence
#13631
Joseph Gerard Hubert Wessels
#167341
Overall Influence
#13632
Martin Jínek
#167346
Overall Influence
1979 - Present (47 years)
#13633
George Bartzokis
#167352
Overall Influence
#13634
Solomon Posen
#167366
Overall Influence
#13635
Simcha Lev‐yadun
#167367
Overall Influence
#13636
Bruno Baur
#167372
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
#13637
Jay D. Gralla
#167379
Overall Influence
#13638
Vincent Vadez
#167396
Overall Influence
#13639
Lars‐gunnar Kindblom
#167399
Overall Influence
#13640
Amer A. Beg
#167406
Overall Influence
#13641
Juan Carlos Balasch
#167421
Overall Influence
#13642
Keith Leslie Williams
#167422
Overall Influence
#13643
John Seymour (pat) Heslop-harrison
#167435
Overall Influence
#13644
Donald Craig Allred
#167436
Overall Influence
#13645
William R. Atchley
#167438
Overall Influence
#13646
Taylor A. Steeves
#167442
Overall Influence
#13647
C. Wayne Moss
#167447
Overall Influence
#13648
Irina Ivshina
#167451
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Irina Borysivna Ivshina is a Russian microbiologist. She is head of the Laboratory of Alcanotrophic Microorganisms of the Institute of Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms . She is a professor at the Perm State University. She is vice-president of the Russian Microbiological Society. She was an editor for Molecules.
Go to Profile#13649
Natalie Porat-Shliom
#63354
Overall Influence
Natalie Porat-Shliom is an Israeli-American cell biologist and microscopist specialized in intravital microscopy to research mitochondrial structure. She is a NIH Stadtman Investigator and head of the cell biology and imaging section at the National Cancer Institute.
Go to Profile#13650
Mattias Jakobsson
#167470
Overall Influence
1975 - Present (51 years)
