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 Engineering,
#5401
Suresh Subramaniam
#118782
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Suresh Subramaniam is a Department Chair and Professor of Engineering at the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science in Washington, DC. He was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2015 for his contributions to optical network architectures, algorithms, and performance modeling.
Go to Profile#5402
Norman R. Hertzer
#142479
Overall Influence
#5403
John Gielgud
#7669
Overall Influence
1904 - 2000 (96 years)
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of Shakespeare in 1929–31.
Go to Profile#5404
Francisco Veloso
#44781
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (57 years)
Francisco Veloso is a Portuguese academic. He is the dean of INSEAD and the former dean of the Imperial College Business School. Early life and education Francisco Veloso was born in 1969 in Lisbon, Portugal. He graduated from the University of Lisbon, where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. In 2001, he earned a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Go to Profile#5405
Saleem A. Kassam
#142526
Overall Influence
#5406
Ronan Sauleau
#142533
Overall Influence
#5407
Rameen Beroukhim
#142560
Overall Influence
#5408
Martin Reisslein
#123897
Overall Influence
Martin Reisslein is an engineer from Arizona State University in Tempe. He was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2014 for his contributions to the design and performance evaluation of metropolitan networks and multimedia networking mechanisms. He holds B.S. from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Go to Profile#5409
Nicholas de Monchaux
#93805
Overall Influence
1973 - Present (53 years)
Nicholas de Monchaux is a designer and author, and currently Professor and Head of Architecture at MIT. He was formerly Professor of Architecture and Urban Design in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Berkeley Center for New Media.
Go to Profile#5410
Jan-Eric Sundgren
#131312
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Jan-Eric Sundgren , is a Swedish engineer who served as senior vice president at Volvo Group from 2006 until 2013. Prior to that, he was a professor of physics at Linköping University, and served as rector at Chalmers University of Technology from 1998 until 2006.
Go to Profile#5411
Kumares C. Sinha
#102290
Overall Influence
Kumares C. Sinha is an Indian-American engineer, researcher and educator known for contributions to transportation systems analysis, transportation infrastructure economics and management, transportation safety, and the use of emerging technologies in transportation. He has served as Edgar B. and Hedwig M. Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. since 1998.
Go to Profile#5412
James K. Knowles
#142654
Overall Influence
#5413
Philippe Hernigou
#142657
Overall Influence
#5414
Susheel K. Kodali
#142659
Overall Influence
#5415
Amardeo Sarma
#37138
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Amardeo Sarma is a qualified engineer for electrical and telecommunications engineering, chair of the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften and former chair of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations. Professionally, he works for NEC Laboratories Europe.
Go to Profile#5416
Moncef Krarti
#142702
Overall Influence
#5417
Anastasios Tefas
#142703
Overall Influence
#5418
Louis A. Gilula
#142707
Overall Influence
#5419
Kenneth Leonard Reifsnider
#142711
Overall Influence
#5420
Jonathan C. Clare
#142714
Overall Influence
#5421
Peretz P. Friedmann
#142734
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (92 years)
Peretz P. Friedmann is an American aerospace engineer, the François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, and the editor-in-chief of the AIAA Journal.
Go to Profile#5422
Mykola Azarov
#34303
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Mykola Yanovych Azarov is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007. Azarov also served ex officio as an acting Prime Minister in the First Yanukovych Government when Viktor Yanukovych ran for president at first and then upon the resignation of his government.
Go to Profile#5423
Christian Breyer
#142788
Overall Influence
1977 - Present (49 years)
#5424
Richard D. Penn
#142797
Overall Influence
#5425
Nicolas Moussiopoulos
#112371
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Nicolas Moussiopoulos is a Greek engineer and university professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research interests are in the field of Environmental Engineering. He received the Gerhard Hess Award of the German Research Association, the Heinrich Hertz Award and Aristotle University's Excellence Prize .
Go to Profile#5426
William Gehrlein
#60632
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
William V. Gehrlein is a notable researcher in the areas of social choice theory, decision theory and graph theory. He received his B.S. in physics from Gannon College in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1968, his M.S. in physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1972, and his Ph.D. in business administration from Pennsylvania State University in 1975. His teaching interests are operations management and operations research. He is currently professor of business administration at the University of Delaware.
Go to Profile#5427
Eckart Fleck
#142811
Overall Influence
#5428
Jian-zhong Zhou
#142824
Overall Influence
#5429
Simin Davoudi
#100896
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Simin Davoudi FAcSS is Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning at Newcastle University. She is Past President of the Association of European Schools of Planning and, as coordinator of the Planning Research Network, advised the Department of Communities and Local Government on its research priorities until 2007. Currently, she is a member of the DCLG Expert Panel on Housing market and Planning, and is expert advisor for the DG Environment of European Commission for Urban Environment.
Go to Profile#5430
Marianne Elliott
#36688
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Marianne Phoebe Elliott is a British theatre director and producer who works on the West End and Broadway. She has received numerous accolades including three Laurence Olivier Awards and four Tony Awards.
Go to Profile#5431
Kathryn H. Anthony
#76902
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Kathryn H. Anthony is an American professor of architecture, author and spokesperson specializing in gender issues in architecture. She is a Distinguished Professor from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture lifetime laureate. Her research has earned national awards from the American Institute of Architects and the Environmental Design Research Association.
Go to Profile#5432
Emmanuel Desurvire
#142879
Overall Influence
#5433
Huan-feng Shen
#142889
Overall Influence
#5434
Gengfeng Zheng
#142907
Overall Influence
#5435
Robert Sabourin
#142917
Overall Influence
#5436
Robert A. Chase
#23291
Overall Influence
1923 - Present (103 years)
Robert Arthur Chase is an American retired surgeon, researcher and educator. He is considered to be a pioneer in the field of surgery of the hand and of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Early life and education Robert A. Chase obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1945. Due to war-time acceleration, he was able to earn an M.D. from Yale University in 1947.
Go to Profile#5437
Chunjiang Qian
#142923
Overall Influence
#5438
James Duffin
#142926
Overall Influence
#5439
Meng – Sing Liou
#142938
Overall Influence
#5440
Paul R. Berger
#65958
Overall Influence
Paul R. Berger is a professor in electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State University and physics , and a distinguished visiting professor at Tampere University in Finland, recognized for his work on self-assembled quantum dots under strained-layer epitaxy, quantum tunneling based semiconductor devices and solution processable flexible electronics.
Go to Profile#5441
Gary R. Duckwiler
#142968
Overall Influence
#5442
Philip J. Bray
#142973
Overall Influence
#5443
Craig A. Rogers
#142975
Overall Influence
#5444
Joseph DeCarolis
#102571
Overall Influence
Joseph F. DeCarolis is an American scientist and academic who currently serves as the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration in the Biden administration. His nomination was sent to the United States Senate for consideration on October 4, 2021, and confirmed on March 31, 2022.
Go to Profile#5445
Ola Uduku
#73017
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
Ola Uduku is a British African architect who is Head of School at the Liverpool School of Architecture. Uduku is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects. She specialises in African educational architecture.
Go to Profile#5446
Tian-ping Chen
#142993
Overall Influence
#5447
Russell Louis Tedrake
#143046
Overall Influence
#5448
Robin T. Cotton
#143062
Overall Influence
#5449
Ken Herrmann
#143070
Overall Influence
#5450
Ning Cai
#72197
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Ning Cai was a Chinese mathematician and electrical engineer. Ning Cai got his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1988 at Bielefeld University in the group of Rudolf Ahlswede. He was faculty at Xidian University. In 2015, he was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for "contributions to network coding theory and arbitrarily varying channels".
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