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,

#9251

Edward A. Lee

#191063
Overall Influence
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#9252

Peter Stillman

#175226
Overall Influence
Peter Stillman is Professor of Political Science at Vassar College. He has taught there since 1970. He has an extensive range of publications and his interests cover modern political philosophy, especially that related to ecological thought, utopian political theory, and Hegel and Marx's political philosophy.
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#9253

Hillary Brown

#173729
Overall Influence
Hillary Brown is an American architect, and professor at City College of New York. She is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. She won a Berlin Prize. Life She graduated from Oberlin College and Yale University. As assistant commissioner at New York City's Department of Design and Construction, Brown founded the Office of Sustainable Design in 1996. While working for New York City's Department of Design and Construction, the firm published the City of New York's High Performance Building Guidelines in Spring of 1999. Brown is founding principal of the firm New Civic Works. She is ...
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#9254

Tony Pinkney

#92223
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
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#9255

Wolf Koenig

#94734
Overall Influence
1927 - 2014 (87 years)
Wolf Koenig was a Canadian film director, producer, animator, cinematographer, and a pioneer in Direct Cinema at the National Film Board of Canada. Early life Born in Dresden, Germany, Koenig emigrated to Canada with his family in 1937, when they fled Nazi Germany. They settled in farm along the Grand River, outside what is now known as Cambridge, Ontario. In 1948, a local representative for the Canadian department of agriculture needed the family's tractor to demonstrate a new tree-planting machine. As the young Koenig pulled the machine across a field, he noticed a small film crew from the NFB's former agricultural film unit, recording the demonstration.
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#9256

Kwame Kwei-Armah

Kwame Kwei-Armah
#172995
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Kwame Kwei-Armah is a British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. He is best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London. Kwei-Armah's award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama. He is currently the artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, succeeding David Lan.
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#9257

Sharon Mazer

#174910
Overall Influence
Sharon Mazer is an academic in New Zealand who is professor of theatre and performance studies at Auckland University of Technology. She is known for her book, Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle, and as a researcher of popular performance.
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#9258

Patricia Broderick

Patricia Broderick
#70392
Overall Influence
1925 - 2003 (78 years)
Patricia Biow Broderick was an American playwright and painter. She was the wife of actor James Broderick and the mother of actor Matthew Broderick. Early life and career Broderick was born Patricia Biow in New York City, the daughter of Sophie and Milton H. Biow , president of an advertising firm. Her family were Jewish immigrants from Germany and Poland. When she was 18, her mother died in 1943 at the age of 48. Her father died 33 years later. In Mexico, Broderick studied painting with Rufino Tamayo who had been her art teacher at the Dalton School in Manhattan. She began writing plays in the 1940s and several of them were performed in New York and London.
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#9259

Martin Sweeting

Martin Sweeting
#188351
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Sir Martin Nicholas Sweeting is the founder and executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd . SSTL is a corporate spin-off from the University of Surrey, where Sweeting is a Distinguished Professor who founded and chairs the Surrey Space Centre.
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#9260

Elizabeth Xu

#187460
Overall Influence
Elizabeth Xu is a Chinese businesswoman, author, and professor specializing in the developing advanced technology and digital business including software-as-a-service, big data, and mobile enterprise software.
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#9261

Orin M. Bullock Jr.

#191124
Overall Influence
1905 - 1994 (89 years)
Orin M. Bullock Jr. was an architect, professor, author, and historic preservationist. He was one of the original team members on the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg and wrote The Restoration Manual, a book detailing the steps and procedures that must be completed to properly restore old buildings, which is still considered the seminal book of its field.
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#9262

Phil O'Donovan

#185742
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Phil O'Donovan is a British engineer and entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of Cambridge Silicon Radio Ltd which, as London Stock Exchange FTSE 250 company CSR plc, became the Bluetooth chip market leader.
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#9263

William F. Bernhard

#81941
Overall Influence
1924 - 2018 (94 years)
William F. Bernhard was an American cardiovascular surgeon, Emeritus Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and cardiovascular surgical pioneer. Bernhard's cardiovascular work first came to public light with his 1963 breakthrough hyperbaric chamber work and use of the chamber to try to save Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Bernhard continued cardiovascular research at Boston Children's Hospital and developed innovative surgical alternatives for cardiovascular disease including the Ventricular Assist Device.
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#9264

Elwyn Lee

#58131
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Elwyn Cornelius Lee is the Vice President for Community Relations and Institutional Access at the University of Houston. He is the husband of congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a member of the United States House of Representatives.
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#9265

Gong Li

#191168
Overall Influence
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#9266

Mohammad Mahdi Nayebi

#190424
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Mohammad Mahdi Nayebi is an Iranian electrical engineer and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology. He is known for his expertise on detection theory, estimation theory, radar signal processing, pattern recognition, electromagnetic compatibility and communications. Nayebi is a founder of Haamee Institute for Advancement of Humanities and Social Sciences and is featured in the documentary film Alberta Legacy.
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#9267

Ka-Man Tse

#173393
Overall Influence
Ka-Man Tse is a Hong Kong-born photographer, video artist, and educator based in New York. Influenced by her Asian-American and queer identity, Tse primarily uses portraiture to tell stories about the people, identity, visibility, and place in and around the queer community.
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#9268

John Nagle

#191178
Overall Influence
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#9269

Albert Alan Townsend

#125609
Overall Influence
1917 - 2010 (93 years)
Albert Alan Townsend was an Australian scientist specialized in fluid dynamics. He was the author of the textbook The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow . The terms Townsend's eddies, Batchelor–Howells–Townsend spectrum and Townsend–Perry constants in turbulence research are named after him. His PhD advisor was G. I. Taylor and he was a close collaborator of George Batchelor.
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#9270

Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau

#157795
Overall Influence
1944 - 1998 (54 years)
Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau was a Dutch biomechanist. He made large contributions to the field of biomechanics, particularly muscle coordination, energetics of movement, and the functions of biarticular muscles. He focused on speed skating in particular, and played a significant part in the invention of the clap skate.
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#9271

Luca Urbani

Luca Urbani
#103286
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Luca Urbani is a former ASI astronaut and was assigned as an alternate payload specialist for mission STS-78. Personal Born in Rome, Italy. He now resides in Rieti, Italy. Married to Cinzia Naccari of Senago , Italy. They have two sons. Recreational interests include flying ; gliding ; horseback-riding; skiing; tennis. He is also a licensed amateur radio operator.
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#9272

Joanne Leonard

#111578
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (86 years)
Joanne Leonard is an American photographer, photo collage artist, and feminist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her work has been included in major art history textbooks and has been shown internationally in galleries and museums.
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#9274

Andy Luckey

#133073
Overall Influence
1965 - Present (61 years)
Andrew A. Luckey is an American animator, artist, author, designer, director, illustrator and television producer, primarily of animated works. He also writes and illustrates children's books and Bible studies.
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#9275

Marco Breuer

#88055
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Marco Breuer is a German photographer. Much of his work is undertaken without the aid of a camera, aperture, or film, being instead produced through a combination of photogrammic, abrasive, and incisive techniques.
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#9276

Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

#189484
Overall Influence
1987 - Present (39 years)
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is an American robotics and autonomous airplane entrepreneur and the CEO and a co-founder of Zipline. Zipline began drone deliveries in Rwanda in late 2016, and primarily delivers blood to urgent medical situations.
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#9277

Andrew Miller

#191261
Overall Influence
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#9278

Peter G. Neumann

#191266
Overall Influence
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#9279

Alexander Titus

#185173
Overall Influence
Alexander J. Titus is an American biotechnology professional, strategist, and entrepreneur notable for significant contributions to biotechnology, artificial intelligence , and national security. His expertise in integrating AI with biotechnology and security has distinguished his career in both the public and private sectors.
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#9280

Dick Blau

#117442
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Dick Blau is a professor of film at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, a photographer and film maker, and a figure in the study of photography of the family Personal life Blau was born in 1943. His mother is actress Beatrice Manley, his biological father the painter Albert Freedberg, and his adoptive father is the theater director Herbert Blau, who raised him from the age of six. His longterm partner is Jane Gallop, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Together they have two children, Max and Ruby.
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#9281

Marina Goldovskaya

#31293
Overall Influence
1941 - 2022 (81 years)
Marina Yevseyevna Goldovskaya was a Russian-American documentary filmmaker known for her candid portrayal of people. Early life and education Her father worked with Eisenstein in starting the VGIK. Career Goldovskaya documented ordinary people, seamstresses, a female astronaut, literary and artistic legends, as well as political leaders. Born in Moscow, she was the winner of USSR State Prize in 1989.
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#9282

Joanne Jackson Johnson

#181845
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Joanne Jackson Johnson is a Canadian photographer. Early life and education Johnson was born on October 17, 1943, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1965, Johnson received a BS from the University of Manitoba. In 1972, Johnson received an MFA in Film and Photography from the University of Minnesota.
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#9283

Martha Davis

#74344
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Martha F. Davis is a professor of law at Northeastern University in Boston. She authored the book Brutal Need, a study of the welfare rights movement of 1960 to 1973. Early life and education Davis is a native of Kansas. She holds an A.B. in anthropology, magna cum laude from Harvard College , a B.A. and M.A. from Trinity College, Oxford, and a J.D. from University of Chicago Law School where she was a member of its Law Review.
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#9284

Rolland Hein

#70074
Overall Influence
1932 - Present (94 years)
Rolland Hein was an American academic of English literature. He was professor emeritus of English at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Early life and education Hein was born on September 12, 1932, as the son of George and Henrietta Hein. He grew up on a farm outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended Bob Jones University and graduated from Wheaton College in 1954.
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#9285

Dory Reeves

#179962
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Dory Elizabeth Reeves is a New Zealand planning academic. As of 2018 she is a full professor at the University of Auckland. Academic career After a 1990 PhD titled 'An examination of building for sale under licence as a low cost home ownerhsip [sic] tool.' at the University of Sheffield, Reeves worked in the public sector, higher education and private practice in the UK before moving to the University of Auckland in 2008, rising to full professor.
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#9286

Arthur Leipzig

#93594
Overall Influence
1918 - 2014 (96 years)
Arthur Leipzig was an American photographer who specialized in street photography and was known for his photographs of New York City. Career Leipzig was born in Brooklyn. After sustaining a serious injury to his right hand while working at a glass wholesaler, Leipzig joined the Photo League where he studied photography, took part in Sid Grossman's Documentary Workshop, taught Advanced Technique classes for three years, and exhibited his work. From 1942 until 1946 he was a staff photographer for PM. He also studied under Paul Strand before quitting the League to pursue a career as a freelance...
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#9287

Reza Sheikholeslami

#86991
Overall Influence
1941 - 2018 (77 years)
Ali Reza Sheikholeslami was Masoumeh and Fereydoon Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies at Wadham College in the University of Oxford from 1990 to 2006. He was born in Tehran and attended Bell School in Cambridge, England . He received a BA from Columbia University , an MA from Northwestern University , an MA from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Islamic studies from the University of California, Los Angeles . His dissertation title was "The Structure of Central Authority in Qajar Iran 1871–1896".
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#9288

Nora Sayre

#121886
Overall Influence
1932 - 2001 (69 years)
Nora Clemens Sayre was an American film critic and essayist. She was a reviewer of films for The New York Times in the 1970s, and, from 1981, a writing teacher for many years at Columbia University. She specialised in the Cold War and authored books such as Running Time: Films of the Cold War in which she examined Hollywood movie-making in the 1950s.
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#9289

Al Snow

Al Snow
#110892
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known as a wrestler for Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and WWF/E. Snow has also held various backstage positions for professional wrestling promotions. Snow worked as a road agent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2010 to 2017 and has owned Ohio Valley Wrestling since 2018 .
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#9290

Felicia Lee

#180618
Overall Influence
1992 - Present (34 years)
Felicia Lee is an American competition swimmer. She is currently on the U.S. National Team, and was a member of the American silver medal team in the 4x50-meter medley relay at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships. She previously competed for Stanford University as a collegiate swimmer, and was recognized as the top college female swimmer in the United States in 2014.
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#9291

Edgar Acuña

Edgar Acuña
#183671
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Edgar Acuña is a Professor of Statistics, Data Mining and Machine Learning at the University of Puerto Rico in UPRM. Early life and education Edgar Acuña was born on February 26, 1956, in Chincha Alta, Peru. He started his elementary school education at Chala and it continued at Huacho. After finishing his high school in the Colegio Emblemático Luis Fabio Xammar Jurado at Huacho, Professor Acuña continued undergraduate studies in Statistics at the National Agrarian University, UNALM in Lima, Peru, graduate studies in Applied Mathematics at the PUCP, in Lima, Peru, and doctoral studies in Sta...
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#9292

Bob Backlund

Bob Backlund
#109300
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Robert Louis Backlund is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history as recognized by WWE . Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
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#9293

Konrad Fiałkowski

#96395
Overall Influence
1939 - 2020 (81 years)
Konrad R. Fiałkowski was a Polish engineer, information technology scientist and hard science fiction writer. Life Born in Lublin, Fiałkowski held the titles of Professor at American Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Warsaw University.
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#9294

Simon Phillips

#75074
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Simon Phillips is a New Zealand-Australian director of theatre, musicals and opera. He is a former Artistic Director of Melbourne Theatre Company. Phillips graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1980 with a Diploma in Acting. Phillips directed the original 2015 production of Tim Finn's musical Ladies in Black for the Queensland Theatre in Brisbane which then travelled to Melbourne and toured Australia in 2017.
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#9295

George Hayhoe

#101251
Overall Influence
George Hayhoe is an engineer at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2016 for his contributions to professional and technical communication.
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#9296

Jacqueline Hayden

#169171
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Jacqueline Hayden is an American feminist artist and professor emerita of film and photography at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Biography In the 1980s, Hayden created a Sightings Natural History Series, in which "she has traveled to the four corners of the zoo, and to the very ends of the natural history museum" according to a review by Pamela Kessler in The Washington Post. In a review of work from her Dislocation/Relocation series, Jo Ann Lewis writes for The Washington Post that Hayden "composes her layered color photographs within the camera, often reusing the same film in two different cameras, one to establish background, another for foreground.
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#9297

John McCallum

John McCallum
#118223
Overall Influence
1918 - 2010 (92 years)
John Neil McCallum, was an Australian theatre and film actor, highly successful in the United Kingdom. He was also a television producer. Early life McCallum's father, John Neil McCallum Sr., was a theatre owner and entrepreneur, who built and for many years ran the 2,000 seat Cremorne Theatre on the banks of the Brisbane River. After emigrating from Scotland, McCallum Snr. became an accomplished musician and was soon heavily involved in Brisbane's entertainment scene. His mother was an accomplished amateur actress who was born in England.
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#9298

George Ferguson

#152461
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
George Robin Paget Ferguson CBE, PPRIBA, RWA is a British politician, former architect, and entrepreneur who served as the first elected mayor of Bristol from 2012 to 2016. Ferguson was co-founder of Ferguson Mann Architects in 1979, where regeneration and historic building work formed the foundation of the practice. He was also the founder of the national architectural group Acanthus. He is a past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects where "he was noted for championing the causes of education, the environment and good urbanism". He was a founding director of The Academy of Urbanism and a founding member of the British sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
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#9299

Ernest Kurnow

#95394
Overall Influence
1912 - 2014 (102 years)
Ernest Kurnow was a professor at New York University. Early life Kurnow was born in 1912 in Brooklyn, New York and attended The City College of New York and New York University. He was featured in a 2009 The New York Times interview on his experience growing up during the Great Depression.
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#9300

Joanna Priestley

Joanna Priestley
#91471
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Joanna Priestley is an American contemporary film director, producer, animator and teacher. Her films are in the collections of the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Priestley has had retrospectives at the British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art and Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan. Bill Plympton calls her the "Queen of independent animation". Priestley lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
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