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 Computer Science,
#11401
Xing Xie
#180690
Overall Influence
#11402
Helle Ploug
#180174
Overall Influence
Helle Ploug is marine scientist known for her work on particles in seawater. She is a professor at the University of Gothenburg, and was named a fellow of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in 2017.
Go to Profile#11403
Michael Buckley
#74796
Overall Influence
Michael P. Buckley is a former Clinical Professor and Director of the Property Repositioning Program at the University of Texas at Arlington. Before moving to Texas, Buckley directed Columbia University’s Master of Science in Real Estate Development Program.
Go to Profile#11404
Anil Kumar Tyagi
#49166
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Anil Kumar Tyagi is former Vice Chancellor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Delhi. Prior to this he was co-ordinator of UGC- SAP Programme and head of Department of Biochemistry at South Campus of Delhi University and was Vice President of the Society of Biological Chemists, India from the year 2004 to 2006.
Go to Profile#11405
Hong Liao
#180722
Overall Influence
#11406
Takashi Abe
#180727
Overall Influence
#11407
Valerie Maynard
#109066
Overall Influence
1937 - 2022 (85 years)
Valerie Jean Maynard was an American sculptor, teacher, printmaker, and designer. Maynard's work frequently addressed themes of social inequality and the civil rights movement. Her work has been exhibited in the United States, Sweden and Lagos, Nigeria. She had been selected for residencies in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and New York City and received a New York Foundation for the Arts grant in printmaking. Maynard resided in Baltimore, Maryland.
Go to Profile#11408
Jeremy Fairbank
#180737
Overall Influence
#11409
William Stewart
#180741
Overall Influence
#11410
Momina Duraid
#74915
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Momina Duraid is a Pakistani director and producer. She is a senior producer and creative head of television network Hum TV and CEO of her own production company MD Productions. She has produced and created several series including Dastaan , Qaid-e-Tanhai , Humsafar , Shehr-e-Zaat , Zindagi Gulzar Hai , Diyar-e-Dil , Sadqay Tumhare , Mann Mayal , Udaari , Bin Roye , Yaqeen Ka Safar , Suno Chanda and Ehd-e-Wafa .
Go to Profile#11411
William L. Holland
#77516
Overall Influence
1907 - 2008 (101 years)
William Lancelot Holland worked with the Institute of Pacific Relations from 1928 until 1960 as Research Secretary; American IPR Executive Secretary and editor of its periodical, Far Eastern Survey; IPR Secretary-General and editor of its journal, Pacific Affairs. He taught at University of British Columbia from 1961 to 1970.
Go to Profile#11412
Andreas Zimmer
#180768
Overall Influence
#11413
Thomas Müller
#180769
Overall Influence
#11414
David H. Bailey
#180771
Overall Influence
#11415
Miguel Medina
#180774
Overall Influence
#11416
Giusella Finocchiaro
#175299
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Giusella Finocchiaro is Professor of Private Law and Internet Law at the University of Bologna, Italy. She is also the founder of her own private legal practice. Besides her professional role, Giusella Finocchiaro is also the Chairperson of Working Group 4 of UNCITRAL . She has been Chairperson since 28 April 2014.
Go to Profile#11417
Marshall Summar
#132929
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Marshall L. Summar is an American physician, clinical geneticist and academic specializing in the field of genetics and rare disease. He is board-certified in pediatrics, biochemical genetics and clinical genetics. He is best known for his work in caring for children with rare genetic diseases.
Go to Profile#11418
Simon Phipps
#180795
Overall Influence
#11419
Sanjay Misra
#180796
Overall Influence
#11420
Ning Gu
#180806
Overall Influence
#11421
Pravindra Kumar
#123471
Overall Influence
Professor Pravindra Kumar is an Indian biophysicist, bioinformatician, biochemist and Professor & Head Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute Of Technology–Roorkee India. He is known for his work on protein-protein interactions, protein engineering and structure-based drug design. Prof. Pravindra Kumar's primary research interest lies in studying Bacterial enzymes and pathways involved in the degradation of toxic aromatic compounds, such as PCBs, dibenzofuran, chlorodibenzofurans, DDT, dyes, and plastics/plasticizers. He focuses particularly on oxidoreductases enzymes ...
Go to Profile#11422
Abdeldjelil Belarbi
#83151
Overall Influence
Abdeldjelil "DJ" Belarbi is an Algerian-American Structural Engineer and Researcher whose research deals with the design, evaluation, and rehabilitation of reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges and buildings. He is currently the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor at University of Houston and previously a Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Go to Profile#11423
Marjan Dema
#53366
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Marjan Dema is a professor of mathematics. He was involved for many years in the Balkan Universities Network and from March 2016 until September 2020 he was Rector of the University of Pristina Biography Marjan Dema earned a master's degree in mathematics with the thesis "Some interpolation features of analytical functions within the Hilbert transform and Doctor of Mathematical Sciences in 1987 with the work Multiple interpolation in HP premises, at the University of Pristina.
Go to Profile#11424
Niki Davis
#117239
Overall Influence
Niki Davis is an educator and researcher based in Aotearoa New Zealand whose work has focused on equipping teachers to effectively deliver information and communication technologies in a global education context. Her research has explored how teaching, learning and assessment can be inclusive and ethically managed in non-traditional spaces involving E-learning while acknowledging the role of the knowledge of indigenous peoples in assisting to build critically reflective research communities. She worked in universities in the United Kingdom and the United States before becoming a Distinguished Professor at the University of Canterbury in 2008, retiring and becoming Professor Emeritus in 2020.
Go to Profile#11426
Yvonne Jacquette
#55502
Overall Influence
1934 - 2023 (89 years)
Yvonne Helene Jacquette was an American painter, printmaker, and educator. She was known in particular for her depictions of aerial landscapess, especially her low-altitude and oblique aerial views of cities or towns, often painted using a distinctive, pointillistic technique. Through her marriage with Rudy Burckhardt, she was a member of the Burckhardt family by marriage. Her son is Tom Burckhardt.
Go to Profile#11427
Gregg Bordowitz
#57097
Overall Influence
1964 - 2003 (39 years)
Gregg Bordowitz is a writer, artist, and activist currently working as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Biography Gregg Bordowitz was born August 14, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York. In 1982, Bordowitz began his academic career at the School of Visual Arts, then studied at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program from 1985 to 1986, and at New York University from 1986 to 1987. In 1987, Bordowitz dropped out of school to become a full-time video artist, guerilla TV director, and activist with the direct action advocacy group ACT UP.
Go to Profile#11428
Hideki Hashimoto
#180886
Overall Influence
#11429
Paul Cohen
#180894
Overall Influence
#11430
Dan Jackson
#180902
Overall Influence
#11431
Li Xiaowei
#178666
Overall Influence
Li Xiaowei is a Chinese computer scientist. He is a professor and the Executive Deputy Director of the State Key Lab of Computer Architecture, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences .
Go to Profile#11432
Mary Ellen Carroll
#90078
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Mary Ellen Carroll is a conceptual artist who lives and works in New York City. The artist has exhibited at Whitney Museum, Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, ICA London, PS1-New York, The Menil Collection in Houston, and MUMOK in Vienna.
Go to Profile#11433
Nancy Arana-Daniel
#105435
Overall Influence
Nancy Guadalupe Arana–Daniel is a Mexican computer scientist specializing in machine learning approaches including support vector machines and artificial neural networks applied to robot motion planning, computer vision and related problems. Her research has included the development of methods for robots working in disaster response to distinguish human victims from rubble.
Go to Profile#11434
Minoru Ueda
#180940
Overall Influence
#11435
Lawrence King
#94553
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Lawrence Peter King is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Prior to 2017, he held a position as a professor of sociology and political economy at the University of Cambridge. His research work is focused on the political economy of postcommunism and, more recently, the political economy of public health.
Go to Profile#11436
Atsuo Fukuda
#180949
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
#11437
Mel Ziegler
#115971
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Mel Ziegler is an American artist whose artistic practice includes community art, integrated arts, and public art. Biography Ziegler began his undergraduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, later transferring to the Kansas City Art Institute. He earned an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia in 1982. Born in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, Ziegler currently lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is the current chair of the Department of Art at Vanderbilt University, and where he was also the host of the 2014 National Arts Administrators' conference.
Go to Profile#11438
Colin Cooper
#180957
Overall Influence
#11439
Sachiko Tsuruta
#95376
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Sachiko Tsuruta is a Japanese-born American astrophysicist. Education Tsuruta received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in 1956. She subsequently went on to Columbia University where she earned a master's degree in 1959 and a doctorate in 1964. While at Columbia she worked with Hong-Yee Chiu and Alastair G. W. Cameron at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Go to Profile#11440
Satoshi Matsuoka
#180970
Overall Influence
#11441
Ray Chan
#63623
Overall Influence
Raymond Javan Chan is an Australian oncology nurse, clinical trialist, researcher, and senior administrator. He is Matthew Flinders Professor of Cancer Nursing, and Director of the Caring Futures Institute and Dean of Research within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University. He also holds academic titles as NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Matthew Flinders Fellow. He also currently holds an NHMRC Investigator Fellowship.
Go to Profile#11442
Michael Emerson
#180978
Overall Influence
#11443
David Karp
#136735
Overall Influence
1986 - Present (40 years)
David Karp is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as an intern under Fred Seibert at the animation company Frederator Studios, where he built the studio's first blogging platform and conceived, wrote, and edited their first internet video network, Channel Frederator. Karp went on to work for the online parenting forum UrbanBaby until it was sold to CNET in 2006. Karp then started his own software consulting company, Davidville, where he worked with software engineer Marco Arment on projects for clients.
Go to Profile#11444
Pawan Gupta
#152502
Overall Influence
1995 - Present (31 years)
Pawan Gupta is an Indian biotechnologist, immunobiologist, cell biologist and a Senior principal scientist at the Institute of Microbial Technology of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is known for his studies on Nuclear Receptors in Chronic Inflammatory Disorders and host-pathogen interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 66 of them. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the DBT IYBA Award in 2009 and Nat...
Go to Profile#11445
Stephen Pevnick
#100219
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
Stephen Pevnick is an American interdisciplinary artist who works in a variety of media, including interactive art, public art, permanent installations, and installations for the trade show industry. He is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Go to Profile#11446
Lin Hsin Hsin
#166249
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Lin Hsin Hsin is an IT inventor, artist, poet and composer from Singapore, deeply rooted in mathematics and information technology. Early life and education Lin was born in Singapore. She graduated in mathematics from the University of Singapore and received a postgraduate degree in computer science from Newcastle University, England. She studied music and art in Singapore, printmaking at the University of Ulster, papermaking in Ogawamachi, Japan and paper conservation at the University of Melbourne Conservation Services.
Go to Profile#11447
Alison Ashcroft
#163350
Overall Influence
Alison E Ashcroft is a British chemist and Emeritus Professor of Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry at the University of Leeds. Her work is focused on method development in mass spectrometry to study protein folding and protein aggregation in relation to diseases.
Go to Profile#11448
Tim Winter
#180585
Overall Influence
Tim C. Winter is an Australian sociologist and international relations scholar, Professor and Senior Research Fellow at Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. His research interests revolve around understanding how cultural heritage influences public audiences and features in issues such as urban development, diplomacy, geopolitics, post-conflict recovery, sustainability, postcolonial identities, and nationalism. He has contributed to the conceptual development of heritage diplomacy and introduced geocultural power to the analysis of IR. He was previously an Australian Re...
Go to Profile#11449
Helen Glaves
#172764
Overall Influence
Helen Glaves is the Senior Data Scientist at the British Geological Survey. She serves as Editor for the American Geophysical Union Earth and Space Science journal and was awarded the European Geosciences Union Ian McHarg medal. Glaves will serve as the President of the European Geosciences Union from 2021 to 2023.
Go to Profile#11450
Martin Antonio
#171740
Overall Influence
Martin Antonio is an Ghanaian Biologist who is Principal Investigator at the Medical Research Council Unit at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is Director of the World Health Organization Centre for New Vaccines Surveillance and leads the West and Central Africa Regional Reference Laboratory for Invasive Bacterial Diseases.
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