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,
#8601
Azra Aksamija
#134306
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Azra Akšamija is a Bosnian-Austrian artist and architectural historian. Her work focuses on the role of cultural and religious identity in conflicts, especially in the recent history of the Bosnian War and its aftermath. Akšamija is currently a professor at the Art, Culture and Technology program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .
Go to Profile#8602
Nicolae Robu
#125928
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Nicolae Robu is a Romanian politician, engineer, computer science professor. He was mayor of Timișoara from 2012 until 2020 and the former president of PNL Timiș. He served as rector of the Politehnica University of Timișoara from 2004 to 2012 and prorector from 1990 to 2000 and sat in the Senate for Timiș County from 2008 to 2012. He is a member of the National Liberal Party .
Go to Profile#8603
Ewert Bengtsson
#182914
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Ewert Bengtsson of Uppsala University, Sweden is a biomedical engineer who was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2015 for his contributions to quantitative microscopy and biomedical image analysis.
Go to Profile#8605
Gene Deitch
#59211
Overall Influence
1924 - 2020 (96 years)
Eugene Merril Deitch was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons such as Munro, Tom Terrific, and Nudnik, as well as his work on the Popeye and Tom and Jerry series.
Go to Profile#8606
Laurence Clancy
#118506
Overall Influence
1929 - 2014 (85 years)
Laurence Joseph Clancy was an Education Officer in aerodynamics at Royal Air Force College Cranwell where his textbook Aerodynamics became standard. He was born in Egypt to Alfred Joseph Clancy and Agnes Hunter. In 1951 he gained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Liverpool.
Go to Profile#8607
Winnie Ye
#180682
Overall Influence
Winnie N. Ye is a Canadian electronics engineer specializing in silicon-based photonics. She is a professor of electronics at Carleton University. Education and career Ye's parents are both computer scientist professors. She studied electrical engineering as an undergraduate at Carleton University. After earning a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Toronto, she returned to Carleton for her Ph.D.
Go to Profile#8608
Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez
#108019
Overall Influence
Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez is an American biomedical engineer who is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work involves the development of polymeric biomaterials for medical devices and tissue regeneration. She also serves on the scientific advisory board of ECM Biosurgery and as a consultant to several companies on biostability evaluation of medical devices. Cosgriff-Hernandez is an associate editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Fellow of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, Royal Societ...
Go to Profile#8609
Peter Richardson
#183002
Overall Influence
#8610
Sachi Sri Kantha
#68302
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Sachi Sri Kantha is a Sri Lanka-born scientist, historian and bilingual author. He has been residing in Japan since 1986, and became a naturalised Japanese citizen in 2016. Education A native of Point Pedro, Sri Lanka, Sachi Sri Kantha received his early education in 1960s at the Colombo Hindu College and at the Aquinas University College, Colombo. In 1972, he entered University of Colombo and graduated in zoology in 1976. During his undergraduate days, he was active in Tamil student drama circle, and held the presidency of University of Colombo Tamil Society during 1974–75, when it celebrated its Golden Jubilee.
Go to Profile#8611
Gilbert Hage
#176859
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Gilbert Hage is a Lebanese photographer. He studied at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik and teaches there since 1990. He also teaches at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA. He sometimes collaborates with curator and researcher Ghada Waked, his wife, and is co-publisher and co-editor, with Jalal Toufic, of Underexposed Books.
Go to Profile#8612
Mauro Olivieri
#174146
Overall Influence
Mauro Olivieri is a professor of electronics at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Grown up in Genoa, Italy, Olivieri received his Master degree in electronics engineering and his Doctorate degree in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Genoa, where he was also assistant professor from 1995 to 1998. In 1998 he joined Sapienza University, where he is responsible for the Digital System Lab and holds the chairs of Digital Electronics and Digital Integrated System Architectures. Since 2018 he has been a visiting researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain, within the European Processor Initiative project.
Go to Profile#8613
Deana Lawson
#161640
Overall Influence
1979 - Present (47 years)
Deana Lawson is an American artist, educator, and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is primarily concerned with intimacy, family, spirituality, sexuality, and Black aesthetics. Lawson has been praised for her ability to communicate the nuances of African American experience: "Lawson's oeuvre explores intimacy, affinity, sexuality and relationships. She has work held in the International Center for Photography collections. Her photographs have been exhibited in a number of museums and galleries including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Ins...
Go to Profile#8614
Haiyan Wang
#171234
Overall Influence
Haiyan Wang is an American engineer. As the Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering at Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, she is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Ceramic Society, and American Physical Society.
Go to Profile#8615
Earl McCune
#174842
Overall Influence
1956 - 2020 (64 years)
Earl W. McCune Jr. was an American electrical engineer, telecommunications engineer, inventor, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and IEEE Fellow. He is known for his research on achieving "Green" communications systems that have optimal energy efficiency.
Go to Profile#8616
Chen
#183095
Overall Influence
#8617
Antony Sher
#57027
Overall Influence
1949 - 2021 (72 years)
Sir Antony Sher was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and toured in many roles, as well as appearing on film and television. In 2001, he starred in his cousin Ronald Harwood's play Mahler's Conversion, and said that the story of a composer sacrificing his faith for his career echoed his own identity struggles.
Go to Profile#8618
Suzanne Barber
#183136
Overall Influence
Suzanne Barber is an American engineer, who is currently the AT&T Foundation Endowed Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin,
Go to Profile#8619
S. P. Muthuraman
#71840
Overall Influence
1935 - Present (91 years)
S. P. Muthuraman, also referred to as SPM, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed 72 films in Tamil. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly with R. Muthuraman, Jaishankar, Sivaji Ganesan and went on to direct successful films with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
Go to Profile#8620
Rintaro
#16859
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
Rintaro is the pseudonym of Shigeyuki Hayashi, a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse , though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation industry—at age 17—as an in-between animator on the 1958 film Hakujaden. His works have won and been nominated for multiple awards, including a nomination for Best Film at the 2001 Festival de Cine de Sitges.
Go to Profile#8621
Xia Changliang
#182649
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (58 years)
Xia Changliang is a Chinese engineer and administrator currently serving as president of Tiangong University. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering . Biography Xia was born in Tianjin, on 1 April 1968. He earned a B.S. degree from Tianjin University in 1990 and an M.S. and a Ph.D degree from Zhejiang University in 1993 and 1995, respectively. After graduating in 1996, he stayed at the university, becoming a professor at the School of Electrical and Automation Engineering in 2002. In April 2010, he became vice president of Tiangong University, rising to president in October 2018.
Go to Profile#8622
Eric Patrick
#151226
Overall Influence
Eric Patrick is an independent filmmaker, freelance animator, Guggenheim fellow, musician, and educator. He is currently a tenured professor in the Radio-TV-Film program at Northwestern University. Originally from Port Arthur, Texas, he played in a band throughout the Southern United States before he studied art and film at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He completed his MFA in experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts .
Go to Profile#8623
Bruce Prichard
#5056
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
Bruce Prichard is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, where he works as a member of the creative team. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also appeared as an on-screen character under the ring name Brother Love. As Brother Love, Prichard was the original manager of The Undertaker, and hosted a talk show segment, The Brother Love Show.
Go to Profile#8624
Sarah Bohndiek
#117423
Overall Influence
Sarah Elizabeth Bohndiek is a physicist whose research involves developing novel imaging approaches for early cancer detection. She is a Professor in Biomedical Physics at the University of Cambridge and a Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
Go to Profile#8625
Frederick Malloch Bruce
#183243
Overall Influence
1912 - 1997 (85 years)
Prof Frederick Malloch Bruce FRSE FPS FIEE was a Scottish electrical engineer and educationalist. He developed electrode profiles described as Bruce profiles. Life He was born in Aberdeen on 13 July 1912. He was educated in Aberdeen.
Go to Profile#8626
Ellen Moons
#118218
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Ellen Moons is a Belgian materials scientist who is a professor at Karlstad University. Her research considers the organisation of molecules and materials in thin films. She is mainly interested in organic and hybrid materials for solution processed photovoltaics.
Go to Profile#8627
Walter Voit
#181829
Overall Influence
Walter Voit is an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the CEO of Adaptive 3D, a company that was acquired by Desktop Metal in May 2021, and specialized in producing polymers for additive manufacturing. He was also inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is currently the head of the Advanced Polymer Research Lab at the University of Texas at Dallas, and his research into shape memory polymers allowed for the creation of flexible bioelectronic devices that passed an ...
Go to Profile#8628
Victor O. K. Li
#183286
Overall Influence
#8629
Jean C. Chance
#84238
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Jean C. Chance is an American academic. She received her JM and MA from the University of Florida. She has served as a member of the Hearst Awards Committee for 25 of those years, and was also the chairman as well. In addition Chance has been a faculty member at UF since 1969. She was a professor of Journalism until her retirement in 2003, and was inducted into the UF Hall of Fame and Independent Florida Alligator Hall of Fame; she served as chairwoman of the Campus Communications Inc. board and Gator Wesley Foundation board.
Go to Profile#8630
Peter Frank Stott
#180833
Overall Influence
1927 - 1993 (66 years)
Peter Frank Stott CBE was a British civil engineer. Specialising in prestressed concrete, he designed several bridges in Australia. Stott's work on the Hammersmith flyover brought him to the attention of the London County Council where he was appointed deputy chief engineer. He subsequently became chief engineer and was appointed Director of Highways and Transportation upon the creation of the Greater London Council. He became one of the first joint controllers at the council when the planning department became part of his remit. Stott left the council to become Director-General of the National Water Council.
Go to Profile#8631
Emilia Entcheva
#182391
Overall Influence
Emilia Entcheva is a Bulgarian–American engineer who is a professor of biomedical engineering at George Washington University. She serves as Director of the Cardiac Optogenetics and Optical Imaging Laboratory. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Go to Profile#8632
Maria Ibáñez
#102703
Overall Influence
Maria Ibañez Sabaté is a Spanish materials scientist and Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Her research considers functional nanomaterials for next generation technologies. She was awarded the ETH Zurich Ružička Prize in 2017.
Go to Profile#8633
Su Donglin
#182831
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Su Donglin is a Chinese engineer specializing in electromagnetic compatibility. She is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Beihang University. She has been hailed as "female electromagnetic detective".
Go to Profile#8634
Jean Langhorne
#119593
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Jean Langhorne is a British biologist who is a group leader at the Francis Crick Institute. Langhorne has studied immune responses to malaria and Plasmodium falciparum. She was awarded the 2016 EMBO-BioMalPar Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on malaria immunology. She is Associate Editor of PLOS Pathogens and on the Advisory Board of Trends in Immunology.
Go to Profile#8635
Roger Wootton
#155234
Overall Influence
1944 - 2017 (73 years)
Leslie Roger Wootton was an aeronautical engineer and balloonist. He was dean of engineering for City University and in 1966 prepared a report on the aircraft maintenance industry for the British Civil Aviation Authority.
Go to Profile#8636
Arun Kumar Shukla
#183400
Overall Influence
#8637
Mark Rylance
#27644
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters is an English actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Olivier Awards and three Tony Awards. In 2016, he was included in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2017 he was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II.
Go to Profile#8638
Sandy Skoglund
#29845
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
Sandy Skoglund is an American photographer and installation artist. Skoglund creates surrealist images by building elaborate sets or tableaux, furnishing them with carefully selected colored furniture and other objects, a process of which takes her months to complete. Finally, she photographs the set, mostly including live models. The works are characterized by an overwhelming amount of one object and either bright, contrasting colors or a monochromatic color scheme.
Go to Profile#8639
Richard Digby Day
#50618
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
Richard Digby Day is a British stage director and international professor and lecturer. He is well known for his work in the classical theatre, in particular the plays of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. He is a vice president of the Shaw Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has staged more productions of Shaw's work than any other living director. His productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals have also been notable.
Go to Profile#8640
Olav Bjarte Fosso
#183418
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Olav Bjarte Fosso is a Norwegian engineer and full professor of power engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology . He is known for his research on hydro scheduling, offshore/onshore grid and market integration of intermittent generations, and smart energy systems. He was elected President of the Norwegian Climate Foundation in 2015.
Go to Profile#8641
Harvey Borovetz
#183420
Overall Influence
Harvey S. Borovetz is an American bioengineer currently a Distinguished Professor and former Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and an Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, Council on Arteriosclerosis, American Heart Association.
Go to Profile#8642
L. Joseph Thomas
#75162
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (84 years)
Louis Joseph Thomas is an American educator and administrator who is the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean Emeritus and professor of operations management of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He served Johnson as its dean for five years, prior to returning to the faculty in 2012.
Go to Profile#8643
Daphne Spain
#91980
Overall Influence
Daphne Spain is an American academic who studies urban and environmental planning. She is the James M. Page Professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia.
Go to Profile#8644
Xu Binshi
#175672
Overall Influence
1931 - 2023 (92 years)
Xu Binshi was a Chinese engineer specializing in equipment maintenance surface engineering, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Biography Xu was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, on 12 March 1931, while his ancestral home is in Zhaoyuan County , Shandong. In 1947, he was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology, where he majored in mechanical manufacturing and welding. After graduating in 1954, he was despatched to Harbin Military Academy of Engineering , where he developed the first vibration arc surfacing equipment of China. He moved to the PLA Armored Corps Engineering Academy in 1961.
Go to Profile#8645
Don Rees
#150248
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Dr. Donald Rees is the former warden of Hugh Stewart Hall in the University of Nottingham for 29 years . Dr. Rees was a highly respected academic, being a professor of mathematics, and a leading member of the University community. He was the last warden to inhabit the Warden's House at Hugh Stewart in its entirety. The Hall library is now named after Dr. Rees in recognition of his service to the Hall, the University and the City.
Go to Profile#8646
Dennis S. Bernstein
#183484
Overall Influence
#8647
John S. MacDonald
#176383
Overall Influence
1943 - 2019 (76 years)
John Spencer MacDonald, was a Canadian engineer, businessman, and academic. He was co-founder of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates , an aerospace, information systems, and technology company. MacDonald served as the chancellor at the University of Northern British Columbia from 2010 through 2016.
Go to Profile#8648
John E. Bowers
#183503
Overall Influence
#8649
Pablo G. Debenedetti
#123156
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Pablo G. Debenedetti is the Dean for Research, the Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science, and a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University. His research focuses on thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and computer simulations of liquids and glasses.
Go to Profile#8650
Rex Gibson
#68577
Overall Influence
1932 - 2005 (73 years)
Dr Rex Gibson was an English academic writing on the theatre. He is best known for his creation and editing of the Cambridge School Shakespeare series, for which he was given the first Sam Wanamaker Award in 1994.
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