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 Chemistry,
#5301
Mariappan Periasamy
#171392
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (73 years)
Mariappan Periasamy is an Indian organometallic chemist and a professor at the School of Chemistry of the University of Hyderabad. He is known for his experiments using carbon metal bonds for constructing diverse types of molecular structures, and is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1996, for his cont...
Go to Profile#5302
Khaled A. Mahdi
#90291
Overall Influence
1970 - Present (55 years)
Khaled A. Mahdi is currently the Secretary-General of the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development of Kuwait since early 2016. He succeeded Mr. Hashem Alrefee and Dr. Adel Alweqayan . The GSSCPD steers the long-term Kuwait National Development Plan , part of the vision for New Kuwait by His Highness the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, which "mobilizes development efforts across seven pillars with the aim of transforming Kuwait into a financial, cultural, and institutional leader in the region by 2035".
Go to Profile#5303
Åke Sellström
#27190
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (77 years)
Åke Sellström is a Swedish academic and expert in arms, especially in chemical weapons. He has been active at the Swedish Defence Research Agency . Biography Sellström received his Ph.D. in 1975 at University of Gothenburg.
Go to Profile#5304
Maree Smith
#169320
Overall Influence
Maree Therese Smith is an Australian researcher, inventor and innovator based at the University of Queensland. She is executive director of the Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development, and TetraQ , head of the Pain Research Group in the UQ School of Pharmacy, and the inventor and developer of a potential novel treatment for chronic pain, EMA401.
Go to Profile#5305
Paul H. Brunner
#128869
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (79 years)
Paul H. Brunner is a material flow analysis methodology and urban metabolism specialist. He is a professor emeritus of the Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology in Austria.
Go to Profile#5306
Melinda Beck
#91248
Overall Influence
Melinda Annetta Beck is an American nutritionist and professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she also serves as interim department chair. Her research investigates the relationship between nutrition and immune response to infectious disease. She was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.
Go to Profile#5308
Gustaaf Van Tendeloo
#174934
Overall Influence
#5309
Anwesha Sarkar
#174812
Overall Influence
Anwesha Sarkar is an Indian food scientist who is a professor of colloids and surfaces at the University of Leeds. Her research considers the mechanisms that underpin biolubrication in soft biological interfaces. She was awarded the 2019 Royal Society of Chemistry Food Group Early Career Medal.
Go to Profile#5310
Gabriella Morreale de Escobar
#35797
Overall Influence
1930 - 2017 (87 years)
Gabriella Morreale de Escobar was an Italian-born Spanish chemist who specialised in the thyroid. She and her husband showed that thyroid hormones cross the placenta during pregnancy and are essential for fetal brain development. She established a national newborn screening program for congenital hypothyroidism in Spain and helped to introduce iodised salt to prevent thyroid problems caused by iodine deficiency.
Go to Profile#5311
Derek Lowe
#174959
Overall Influence
#5312
J. Reid Shelton
#159734
Overall Influence
1911 - 2007 (96 years)
Dr. J. Reid Shelton was a professor of chemistry at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is known for his work on oxidation and antioxidants in rubber, and for his application of laser-Raman spectroscopy to the study of sulfur vulcanization. His research on synthetic rubber was particularly important during World War II, when access to natural rubber in Southeast Asia was cut off by the Japanese, and the new SR made from styrene and butadiene displayed stability problems.
Go to Profile#5313
Marinella Mazzanti
#142015
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (68 years)
Marinella Mazzanti is an Italian inorganic chemist specialized in coordination chemistry. She is a professor at EPFL and the head of the group of Coordination Chemistry at EPFL's School of Basic Sciences.
Go to Profile#5314
Ranga P. Dias
#93360
Overall Influence
Ranga P. Dias is a researcher and academic who specializes in condensed matter physics. He is an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering and Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester and a scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.
Go to Profile#5315
Keith Hunter
#91481
Overall Influence
1951 - 2018 (67 years)
Keith Andrew Hunter was a New Zealand ocean chemist who was a professor of chemistry and pro-vice-chancellor of sciences, at the University of Otago. Biography Born on 24 November 1951, Hunter was the son of Nevin Lindsay Hunter and Othle May Hunter . He was educated at Auckland Grammar School, graduated from the University of Auckland with a first-class degree in chemistry in 1974, and completed his PhD at the University of East Anglia in 1977. He then spent a year at the French Atomic Energy Commission.
Go to Profile#5316
Marco Fontani
#171649
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (56 years)
Marco Fontani is a chemist and chemistry historian, author of over 120 publications in materials chemistry, organometallic chemistry, electrochemistry and the history of chemistry. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Italian National Society of History of Chemistry .
Go to Profile#5317
Milton Hearn
#149935
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (82 years)
Milton Thomas William Hearn is a Professor of Chemistry and the Director of the Australian Research Council Special Research Centre for Green Chemistry at the Monash University. He was previously the head of the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His work focuses on studying biomolecular structure, the study of separation science, and using that knowledge to develop green processes. He earned his B.S, Ph.D, and D.Sc in Organic Chemistry at University of Adelaide. He then did his postdoctoral work in Canada before working in New Zealand. From 1981 to 1985, he was a Research Fellow at the St.
Go to Profile#5318
Hiroshi Nakanishi
#175198
Overall Influence
#5319
Martha Grover
#65193
Overall Influence
Martha Anne Grover is an American chemical engineer who is a professor and chair of graduate studies at the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her research considers molecular self assembly and the emergence of biological functions.
Go to Profile#5320
James Wei
#169604
Overall Influence
1930 - Present (95 years)
James Wei is an American chemical engineer. Wei received his bachelor's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952, before pursuing graduate study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a master's and a doctor of science degree. He began working for Mobil Oil in 1955, and left the company in 1970 to accept the Allan P. Colburn Professorship of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, where he taught until 1977. Wei returned to MIT the next year and remained affiliated with his alma mater until 1991, when he became dean of engineering at Princeton University and also served as Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor of Chemical Engineering.
Go to Profile#5321
Knut S. Heier
#124061
Overall Influence
1929 - 2008 (79 years)
Knut Sigurdsøn Heier was a Norwegian geochemist. He was a professor at the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Institute of Technology between 1968 and 1989, and was also director of the Norwegian Geological Survey. Heier also spent parts of his research abroad, and was a member of the Apollo Project.
Go to Profile#5322
Søren Balling Engelsen
#172690
Overall Influence
Søren Balling Engelsen, Ph.D. , is a Danish chemist, who is active in the fields of analytical chemistry and food science; he is a professor of the University of Copenhagen since 2004. Literature Peter Gedeck, Christian Kramer, Peter Ertl: Computational Analysis of Structure–Activity Relationships // Progress in Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 49, 2010, Pages 113–160; doi:10.1016/S0079-646849004-9.
Go to Profile#5323
Christy Landes
#171531
Overall Influence
Christy F. Landes is an American physical chemist who is the Jerry A. Walker Endowed Chair in chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She previously was the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Chair at Rice University. She seeks to understand the structure-function relationships in biological processes and materials. She was appointed a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow in 2019.
Go to Profile#5324
Theodore Goodson III
#169814
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (56 years)
Theodore Goodson III is an American chemist who is the Richard Barry Bernstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. Goodson studies the non-linear optical properties of novel organic materials. He was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2021.
Go to Profile#5325
Jaroslaw Drelich
#80923
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (68 years)
Jarosław Drelich is a Polish-born surface engineer and professor of materials science at Michigan Technological University . He also holds an adjunct professorship in the department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta . He is known primarily for his contributions to the field of wetting phenomena, which include the effect of drop/bubble size on apparent contact angle on a rough surface, in addition to fundamental work on structured hydrophilic/hydrophobic alternating surfaces.
Go to Profile#5326
Man Mohan Sharma
#175336
Overall Influence
#5327
Tam David-West
#67385
Overall Influence
1936 - 2019 (83 years)
Tamunoemi Sokari David-West was a Nigerian academic, social critic, and federal minister. Academia David-West was born in Buguma, Kalabari, in what is now Rivers State. He received his higher education at the University of Ibadan and earned a BSc degree at Michigan State University , an MSc degree at Yale University , and a PhD degree at McGill University . David-West was consultant virologist and senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1969 and was subsequently promoted to professor of virology in 1975.
Go to Profile#5328
Gesa Weyhenmeyer
#169377
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (56 years)
Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer is a Swedish limnologist who is working as a professor and distinguished teacher at Uppsala University in Sweden. She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and known for her pioneering research on the role and response of lake ecosystems in the Earth's climate system. Her research requires a holistic and global perspective, for which she collaborates with members of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network . In addition to GLEON, Weyhenmeyer is actively engaged in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , both as official reviewer and contributi...
Go to Profile#5329
Ana Denicola
#165952
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (66 years)
Ana Denicola , is an Uruguayan pharmacist and chemical researcher and professor in the science faculty at the University of the Uruguayan Republic, from 2005 to 2010 she was head of the faculty there. She is a Grade 5 teacher at that faculty and she also works as a first-level researcher in the Basic Sciences Developmental Program and the National Research System of the Uruguayan Agency of Research and Innovation, SNI level III. From 2000 to 2002, Denicola was president of the Uruguayan Society for the Biosciences and she is a full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay.
Go to Profile#5330
Daniel I. Linzer
#31169
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (71 years)
Daniel I. H. Linzer is an American molecular biologist and academic administrator. Linzer was named provost of Northwestern University on September 1, 2007, until 2017 having previously served as Dean and Associate Dean of Northwestern's largest constituent school, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
Go to Profile#5331
Qun Liu
#175438
Overall Influence
#5332
Min Xiao
#175446
Overall Influence
#5333
Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova
#174440
Overall Influence
Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova is a French Canadian chemist who is a Professor and Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Kentucky. Her research considers the development of new molecules that can combat bacterial resistance.
Go to Profile#5334
Ferhan Çeçen
#127184
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (64 years)
Ferhan Çeçen is a Turkish environmental engineer and chemist researching wastewater treatment, environmental biotechnology, and adsorption processes. She is a professor at the Boğaziçi University Institute of Environmental Sciences.
Go to Profile#5335
Gábor Szabó
#175570
Overall Influence
#5336
Sofía Calero
#172145
Overall Influence
Sofía Calero Diaz is a Spanish chemist who is a professor and Vice Dean of the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research considers computational modelling of functional materials for applications in renewable energy. She was awarded the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Scientific Excellence in 2018.
Go to Profile#5337
John Oakes
#76705
Overall Influence
John Oakes is a Christian apologist and a professor of chemistry at Grossmont College. He belongs to the Restoration Movement of the Christian tradition. Biography John Oakes earned his PhD in chemical physics from the University of Colorado in 1984. During his years at graduate school, he converted to Christianity and eventually worked as an intern for the Boulder Church of Christ in Boulder, Colorado. Between then and 2000, he worked at various colleges including Gonzaga University, UCSD, and Mesa College.
Go to Profile#5338
Michael J. Solomon
#175622
Overall Influence
#5339
Katherine Mirica
#148073
Overall Influence
Katherine A. Mirica is an American chemist who is an associate professor at Dartmouth College. Her research considers materials chemistry, with a particular focus on environmental science and microelectronics.
Go to Profile#5340
Wolfgang A. Herrmann
#175642
Overall Influence
#5341
Raffaella Buonsanti
#173292
Overall Influence
1981 - Present (44 years)
Raffaella Buonsanti is an Italian chemist and material scientist. Her research is at the interface between materials chemistry and catalysis as she focuses on the synthesis of nanocrystals to drive various energy-related reactions, such as CO2 reduction. She is currently a tenure-track assistant professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and director of the Laboratory of Nanochemistry for Energy located at EPFL's Valais campus.
Go to Profile#5342
Suzanne Bart
#174909
Overall Influence
Suzanne Cathleen Bart an American chemist who is a professor of inorganic chemistry at Purdue University. Her group's research focuses on actinide organometallic chemistry, and especially the characterization of low-valent organouranium complexes, actinide complexes with redox-active ligands, and discovery of new reactions that utilize these compounds. Bart's research has applications in the development of carbon-neutral fuel sources and the remediation of polluted sites.
Go to Profile#5343
Melinda Duer
#162259
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (62 years)
Melinda Jane Duer is Professor of Biological and Biomedical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and was the first woman to be appointed to an academic position in the department. Her research investigates changes in molecular structure of the extracellular matrix in tissues in disease and during ageing. She serves as Deputy Warden of Robinson College, Cambridge. She is an editorial board member of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance.
Go to Profile#5344
Yang Guanghua
#88366
Overall Influence
1923 - 2006 (83 years)
Yang Guanghua or Guang-Hwa Yang , was a Chinese chemist and chemical engineer. He was the President of China University of Petroleum, and a pioneer of China's oil industry. Biography Yang was born in Liuyang, Hunan, on 10 April 1923. In 1945, he graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He was a teaching assistant in the same department. In 1948, Yang went to study in the United States, and obtained his Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1951.
Go to Profile#5345
Yasmine Motarjemi
#93792
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (70 years)
Yasmine Motarjemi is a food safety specialist and whistleblower. Biography Motarjemi studied chemistry and biology at the Claude-Bernard University in Lyon and food industry techniques at the University of Montpellier, before doing PhD studies in food technology at the University of Lund. She then worked as a research assistant at the same university.
Go to Profile#5346
Line Rochefort
#105170
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (64 years)
Line Rochefort is a Canadian scientist specializing in peatland ecology. Life She grew up in a small town near Chicoutimi and earned a BSc in biology from Laval University, a MSc in botany from the University of Alberta and a PhD in botany from the University of Cambridge . Her master's work included research into the impact of acid rain in Canada's Experimental Lakes Area. She is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at Laval University. Rochefort has held the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's Industrial Research chair for Peatland Management since 2003.
Go to Profile#5347
Salma Al Kindi
#175847
Overall Influence
Salma bint Mohammed al Kindi is an Omani chemist. She is professor of Analytical Chemistry and dean of the College of Sciences at the Sultan Qaboos University . In 2017 she received a Lifetime Achievement in Chemistry Award from the Venus International Foundation based in Chennai.
Go to Profile#5348
Narayanan Chandrakumar
#91169
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (74 years)
Narayanan Chandrakumar is an Indian chemical physicist and a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He is the founder of the first Nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory in India and is known for developing a new technique for NMR imaging and diffusion measurements. He is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the...
Go to Profile#5349
Mark Stradiotto
#175366
Overall Influence
Mark Stradiotto is a Canadian chemist. He is currently the Arthur B. McDonald Research Chair and the Alexander McLeod Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University. Education and academic career Stradiotto received his BSc in applied chemistry and PhD in organometallic chemistry from McMaster University, the latter under the supervision of Michael A. Brook and Michael J. McGlinchey. After conducting research as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley with T. Don Tilley , Stradiotto moved to the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University where he now holds the rank of Professor with tenure.
Go to Profile#5350
Jennifer G. Murphy
#99001
Overall Influence
Jennifer G. Murphy is a Canadian environmental chemist and an associate professor at the University of Toronto. She is known for her research how air pollutants such as increased reactive nitrogen affect the global climate.
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