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 …
See additional learning tools, study tips, features on campus life and much more at our Student Resources Headquarters.
List of the most influential people in Computer Science,
#10601
Thomas J. Kinne
#104816
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Thomas J. Kinne is a German translator, author, editor, proofreader, travel writer, movie expert, comic-book collector. He became widely known in his home country for his frequent appearances as a contestant and winner on a wide variety of game shows on German and U.S. television. Since 2018, he is one of the “chasers” on Gefragt – Gejagt, the German version of the U.K. game show The Chase.
Go to Profile#10602
Eleanore Wurtzel
#70341
Overall Influence
Eleanore T. Wurtzel is an American biologist currently at City University of New York and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her research interests include studying plant biochemical pathways to provide knowledge and tools for developing sustainable solutions to worldwide Vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition.
Go to Profile#10603
Robert J. Young
#172399
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
#10604
Zu'bi M.F. Al-Zu'bi
#45982
Overall Influence
1977 - Present (49 years)
Zu'bi M.F. Al-Zu'bi was born in 1977 in Amman, Jordan, as the second youngest of nine children. He received his B.Sc. in Business Administration from Mu'tah University in Amman, graduating first in his class with distinction. Afterwards, he taught at the New English School as a Business Studies teacher in the IGSCE program. Zu'bi received his M.B.A. from the University of Jordan in 2002 and accepted a position there as a professor in the Business Management department immediately following his graduation.
Go to Profile#10605
Evan Lindquist
#52308
Overall Influence
1936 - Present (90 years)
Evan Lindquist is an American artist and printmaker who was appointed to be the first Artist Laureate for the State of Arkansas. He has concentrated on the medium of copperplate engraving for more than 50 years. His compositions are memorable for their emphasis on calligraphic lines.
Go to Profile#10606
Bruce A. Manning
#65445
Overall Influence
Bruce A. Manning is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at San Francisco State University. He is an internationally recognized expert in environmental chemistry. Life He earned a B.S. in environmental science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1985 and a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry from the University of California, Davis in 1993. Prior to joining SFSU he was a Postdocoral Scientist at the USDA U.S. Salinity Laboratory in Riverside CA and the University of California, Riverside. Professor Manning has been a pioneer in applying X-ray techniques such as X-ray diffraction, f...
Go to Profile#10607
Floriana Tuna
#140788
Overall Influence
Floriana Tuna is a Romanian chemist and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Manchester. Her research in general is based on inorganic chemistry and magnetochemistry, specifically on molecular magnetism, EPR spectroscopy and quantum computing.
Go to Profile#10608
Sudip Mazumder
#169220
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Sudip K. Mazumder is a UIC Distinguished Professor and is the Director of Laboratory for Energy and Switching-Electronics Systems in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago . He has over 30 years of professional experience and has held R&D and design positions in leading industrial organizations, and has served as technical consultant for several industries. He also serves as the president of NextWatt LLC, a small business organization that he set up in 2008.
Go to Profile#10609
Li Erran Li
#172531
Overall Influence
Li Erran Li from the Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, Edison, New Jersey, was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2013 "for contributions to the design of algorithms and protocols for wireless networks". He was elected as an ACM Fellow in 2017.
Go to Profile#10610
Guy David
#172574
Overall Influence
#10611
Julio Collado-Vides
#62498
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Julio Collado-Vides is a Guatemalan scientist and Professor of Computational Genomics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His research focuses on genomics and bioinformatics. Education Collado-Vides studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, gaining a BSc in biomedical science , an MSc in physical chemistry and a PhD in biomathematics . Following his PhD, he carried out postdoctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .
Go to Profile#10612
Martin Müller
#172599
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
#10613
R Eric Davis
#172614
Overall Influence
#10614
Max Reinhardt
#81500
Overall Influence
Max Reinhardt is a radio presenter known for presenting Late Junction on BBC Radio 3. Career Reinhardt was a presenter for Late Junction, a music programme broadcast three nights a week on BBC Radio 3. In addition, he was the musical consultant for the South African music series Freedom Sounds on BBC Radio 2, presented a documentary on BBC Radio 4 about his theatre piece Ketubah and is a regular presenter of Global Beats on BBC World Service.
Go to Profile#10615
Masahiko Watanabe
#172629
Overall Influence
#10616
Hideki Hasegawa
#172630
Overall Influence
#10617
Roger Nichols
#73570
Overall Influence
1944 - 2011 (67 years)
Roger Scott Nichols was an American recording engineer, producer, and inventor. Nichols is best known for his work with the group Steely Dan and John Denver. He was also the audio engineer for numerous major music acts including the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Al Di Meola, Rosanne Cash, Roy Orbison, Cass Elliot, Plácido Domingo, Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Rickie Lee Jones, Kenny Loggins, Mark Knopfler, Eddie Murphy, Michael McDonald, James Taylor, and Toots Thielemans, among others. On February 11, 2012, Nichols was awarded a S...
Go to Profile#10618
Markus Fischer
#172651
Overall Influence
#10619
Jessica Mink
#30297
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Jessica Mink is an American software developer and a data archivist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. She was part of the team that discovered the rings around the planet Uranus.
Go to Profile#10620
Jo Zayner
#78449
Overall Influence
1981 - Present (45 years)
Jo Zayner is a biohacker, artist, and scientist best known for their self-experimentation and work making hands-on genetic engineering accessible to a lay audience, including CRISPR. Education At the age of 19, Zayner worked at Motorola as a programmer. She has a BA in plant biology from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D in biophysics from the University of Chicago. Before receiving their Ph.D, Zayner earned a MSc in cell and molecular biology from Appalachian State University.
Go to Profile#10621
Margaret Gurney
#58588
Overall Influence
1908 - 2002 (94 years)
Margaret Gurney was an American mathematician, statistician, and computer programmer. Originally trained in the mathematical study of partial differential equations at Swarthmore College, Brown University, and the University of Göttingen, she came to work for the United States Census Bureau. There, she became known for her expertise in sampling, stratified sampling, and survey methodology. At the Census Bureau she also worked as an early programmer of the UNIVAC I computer. Later, she became an international consultant, teaching statistical methods in developing countries. She won the Departm...
Go to Profile#10622
Elena Simperl
#172470
Overall Influence
1978 - Present (48 years)
Elena Simperl FBCS FRSA is professor of computer science in the Department of Informatics at King's College London and the Director of Research of the Open Data Institute. Biography She trained as a computer scientist at the Technical University of Munich and completed a PhD in knowledge engineering at the Free University Berlin in 2007. She is best known for her work in human-machine collectives, with applications to crowdsourcing, citizen science, knowledge communities, and human data interaction, and for her leadership in data-driven innovation and data policy. According to AMiner, she ...
Go to Profile#10623
Henrik Wann Jensen
#172693
Overall Influence
#10624
Sarah Gordon
#82495
Overall Influence
Sarah Gordon is a computer security researcher, responsible for early scientific and academic work on virus writers, hackerss, and social issues in computing. She was among the first computer scientists to propose a multidisciplinary approach to computer security. Known primarily for work relating to people and computers, the bulk of her original technical work was published or presented between the late 1980s and mid-1990s.
Go to Profile#10625
Detlev Marpe
#172706
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Detlev Marpe from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications in Berlin, Germany was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2015 for contributions to video coding research and standardization.
Go to Profile#10626
Elanor Huntington
#108657
Overall Influence
Elanor H. Huntington is Executive Director of Digital, National Facilities & Collections at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and a Professor of Quantum Cybernetics at the Australian National University. She led a research program in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology.
Go to Profile#10627
Anthonia Adenike Adeniji
#60714
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Anthonia Adenike Adeniji is a Nigerian academic. She is an associate professor of industrial relations and human resource management in the department of business management at Covenant University, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Go to Profile#10628
Igor V. Komarov
#76799
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Igor Volodymyrovych Komarov is a Ukrainian synthetic organic chemist, specializing in medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology. He is the director of the Institute of High Technologies of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He is also a scientific advisor of Enamine Ltd and Lumobiotics GmbH .
Go to Profile#10629
Quazi Sazzad Hossain
#85217
Overall Influence
Quazi Sazzad Hossain is a Bangladesh academic and vice-chancellor of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology. Early life Hossain graduated from Narail Government Victoria College, and Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Go to Profile#10630
Bin Gao
#172749
Overall Influence
#10631
David B. Gracy II
#128555
Overall Influence
1941 - 2020 (79 years)
David B. Gracy II was an American archivist and archival educator. He developed the Southern Labour Archives, was a founding member of the Society of Georgia Archivists, and authored the first American manual on arrangement and description for the Society of American Archivists. He was an early leader in archival education and professional certification for archivists and has advocated for archivists to promote societal understanding of archives and in particular the archival profession throughout his career. He also contributed significantly to the preservation and celebration of Texas histo...
Go to Profile#10632
Marcel Méchali
#170674
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Marcel Méchali is a molecular biologist, Research Director at the CNRS, specialist in DNA and its replication. He is in charge of the genome replication and dynamics research team at the Institut de Génétique Humaine of the CNRS of Montpellier. He was Director of this Institute from 2003 to 2006. He is also Director of Labex EpiGenMed, a network of 54 laboratories in Montpellier.
Go to Profile#10633
Xiaogang Ma
#137011
Overall Influence
Xiaogang Ma or Marshall Ma is a Chinese data science and geoinformatics researcher at the University of Idaho , United States. He is an associate professor in the department of computer science at UI, and also affiliates with the department of earth and spatial sciences and several research institutes and centers at the university.
Go to Profile#10634
Nadeschda Schmidt
#172784
Overall Influence
#10635
Dale Sanders
#61038
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Dale Sanders, FRS was Director of the John Innes Centre, an institute for research in plant sciences and microbiology in Norwich, England. Education Sanders was educated at The Hemel Hempstead School. He gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of York reading Biology from 1971 to 1974, graduating with 1st Class Honours.
Go to Profile#10636
Patrick G. Carrick
#73936
Overall Influence
Patrick G. Carrick is a member of the Senior Executive Service and an academic. Career Before joining the United States Department of Defense, Carrick was assistant professor of physics at Mississippi State University and Director of the Shared Laser Facility at the University of Oregon. In 1989 he was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base to do research in rocket propulsion. He was assigned to The Pentagon in 2004. In 2007 he was named Director of Physics and Electronics of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. In 2014 he was assigned to the Department of Homeland Security as deputy director of the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency .
Go to Profile#10637
Yayoi Kusama
#37802
Overall Influence
1929 - Present (97 years)
is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art, and abstract expressionism, and is infused with autobiographical, psychological, and sexual content. She has been acknowledged as one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan, the world's top-selling female artist, and the world's most successful living artist. Her work influenced ...
Go to Profile#10638
Te Taka Keegan
#154388
Overall Influence
Te Taka Adrian Gregory Keegan is a New Zealand academic and Māori language revivalist. He is descended from the Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Apakura, Te Whānau-ā-Karuai ki Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Whakaaue iwi.
Go to Profile#10639
Edward Quist
#95177
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Edward Quist is an American director, screenwriter, producer, composer, multidiscipline artist who also works under the name Embryoroom. Themes emerging from Quist's work include electronic and biomorphic imagery, experimental narrative, the unorthodox use of motion graphics and visuals.
Go to Profile#10640
Servet A. Duran
#61444
Overall Influence
1920 - 1996 (76 years)
Servet A. Duran was a Materials Science Professor at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. Biography Duran was born on 2 January 1920, in what was then the Ottoman Empire, and moved to the United States in 1939. He attended Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy and Stanford University. After graduation, in 1947, he became a metallurgy/materials science professor at Washington State University. From 1956 to 1958, he was a visiting professor at Stanford University, and in 1969, he was a visiting professor and consultant to Middle East Tech...
Go to Profile#10641
Peter Budd
#67364
Overall Influence
Peter Martin Budd is a British chemist and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Manchester. His research in general is based on polymer chemistry, energy and industrial separations, specifically on the areas of Polymers of intrinsic microporosity , energy storage, polyelectrolytes and separation membranes.
Go to Profile#10642
Ann Macintosh
#142984
Overall Influence
Ann Macintosh is Emeritus Professor of Digital Governance at the University of Leeds. Early life and education Macintosh has a bachelor's degree from University of St Andrews. Career In 1999 Macintosh founded the International Teledemocracy Centre at Edinburgh Napier University to support interdisciplinary research into eGovernment and eDemocracy.
Go to Profile#10643
Graham Yost
#93142
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Graham John Yost is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films Speed, Broken Arrow, and Hard Rain and the TV series Justified. Early life, family and education Yost was born in Etobicoke in the Toronto metropolitan area. He is the son of Canadian television personality Elwy Yost, the longtime host of the public broadcaster TVOntario's Saturday Night at the Movies.
Go to Profile#10644
Thecla Schiphorst
#130520
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Thecla Schiphorst is a Canadian digital media artist and academic. Work Schiphorst was a founding developer of the dance and choreography software Lifeforms, alongside Tom Calvert. Using LifeForms, she collaborated over along period with the American dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham.
Go to Profile#10645
Bana Jabri
#130611
Overall Influence
Bana Jabri is a French gastroenterologist and immunologist of Syrian and Armenian descent. She is the Sarah and Harold Lincoln Thompson Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. She researches inflammatory diseases of the intestine, including celiac disease. She is an elected fellow of the Association of American Physicians.
Go to Profile#10646
Kelly Zamudio
#111733
Overall Influence
Kelly Zamudio is the Doherty Chair in Molecular Biology in the Department of Integrative Biology at University of Texas Austin. She was formerly the Goldwin Smith Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University and Curator of Herpetology at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates.
Go to Profile#10647
Jack D. Rogers
#75151
Overall Influence
1919 - 2002 (83 years)
Jack D. Rogers was an American management scientist, and Professor Emeritus in the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, who coined the term Economic lot scheduling problem in 1958.
Go to Profile#10648
Michael Wilson
#65057
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Michael Wilson is an American stage and screen director working extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at the nation's leading resident theaters. He made his screen directorial debut with the 2014 Lifetime/Ostar television film adaptation of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful, which was nominated for two 2014 Emmy Awards and six 2015 NAACP/Image Awards—including Outstanding Television Movie – as well as a DGA Award for Outstanding Direction of a Movie or Mini-Series for Television. The film won three 2015 NAACP/Image Awards ; the Black Reel Award for Outstanding TV Movie; and the Graci...
Go to Profile#10649
Kiyoto Ota
#38042
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Kiyoto Ota is a Japanese-Mexican sculptor. Life Kiyoto Ota studied atthe School of Democratic Art of the Japanese Artistic Association in Tokyo the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" of the INBA the Centro de Investigación y Experimentación Plástica of the INBA .Ota moved to Mexico in 1972, currently living in Mexico City. He came to the country to study art and learn about Mexico and decided to stay.
Go to Profile#10650
Yongsong Huang
#152269
Overall Influence
Yongsong Huang is a Chinese-American organic geochemist, biogeochemist and astrobiologist, and is a professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. He researches the development of lipid biomarkers and their isotopic ratios as quantitative proxies for paleoclimate and paleoenviromental studies and subsequent application of these proxies to study mechanisms controlling climate change and environmental response to climate change at a variety of time scales.
Go to Profile