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,
#4401
G. Fred. Lee
#129733
Overall Influence
#4402
Athina. P. Petropulu
#129739
Overall Influence
#4403
Moshe Tur
#129740
Overall Influence
#4404
Tibor Grasser
#127960
Overall Influence
1970 - Present (56 years)
Tibor Grasser is an electrical engineer and full professor at the Vienna University of Technology in Vienna, Austria. Since 2016 he heads the Institute for Microelectronics at that University. Grasser's research interests are focused on numerical simulation of solid-state devices and integrated circuits. For contributions to the modeling of the reliability of semiconductor devices, he was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2016.
Go to Profile#4405
Thiagalingam T. Kirubarajan
#129765
Overall Influence
#4406
Chandima Gomes
#104580
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Chandima Gomes is a Sri Lankan engineer, physicist and writer who is now working as a distinguished professor of high-voltage engineering at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also a permanent resident of Malaysia. The platform of his research and engineering career is mainly Asia and Africa, where he works on lightning protection, grounding, and electromagnetic interference, on which topics he has put several of his research outputs into practice. Apart from lightning protection and electromagnetic compatibility that reduces economic losses from natural and ma...
Go to Profile#4407
Olivia Graeve
#93944
Overall Influence
Olivia Graeve is a mechanical and aerospace engineer and Professor at University of California San Diego. She is also the Director of the CaliBaja Center for Resilient Materials and Systems at UC San Diego — a binational research institute on both sides of the California-Mexico border.
Go to Profile#4408
Joan L. Mitchell
#58455
Overall Influence
1947 - 2015 (68 years)
Joan Laverne Mitchell was an American computer scientist, data compression pioneer, and inventor who, as a researcher at IBM, co-invented the JPEG digital image format. Early life Mitchell was born on May 24, 1947, in Modesto, California. Mitchell's father was William Mitchell and her mother was Doris Mitchell.
Go to Profile#4409
Stanley S. Siegelman
#129816
Overall Influence
#4410
Ana P. Barros
#104441
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (64 years)
Ana Paula Barros is an African-born American civil and environmental engineer currently the Donald Biggar Willett Chair of Engineering and Department Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an Elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. In 2019 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "contributions to understanding and prediction of precipitation dynamics and flood hazards in mountainous terrains". Prior to joining the University of Illinois, Professor Barros was the James L.
Go to Profile#4411
Farhad. Rachidi
#129844
Overall Influence
#4412
John Perkins
#95567
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
#4413
Ugo Piomelli
#129869
Overall Influence
#4414
Satyandra K. Gupta
#122388
Overall Influence
Dr. Satyandra K. Gupta is a researcher and educator working in the field of automation and robotics. He started his career as a Research Scientist in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in 1995. He moved to the University of Maryland, College Park in 1998 as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He was appointed as the founding director of the Maryland Robotics Center in 2010. He was appointed as a Program Director for National Robotics Initiative at National Science Foundation and served in this role from 2012 to 2014. He was appointed as a member of the Task For...
Go to Profile#4415
Hans Juergen Grabke
#129894
Overall Influence
#4416
Meisam Tabatabaei
#129899
Overall Influence
#4417
Michael Ernest Kassner
#121683
Overall Influence
Michael Ernest Kassner is an American materials science engineer who serves as the Choong Hoon Cho Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering. He is a former Director of Research at the Office of Naval Research.
Go to Profile#4418
Kai Huei Chang
#129913
Overall Influence
#4419
Sarah Bergbreiter
#107017
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Sarah Bergbreiter is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, previously a professor at the University of Maryland. Her research specifically has focused on microrobotics, with projects influencing the medicine and consumer electronic spheres. She has given TED Talks highlighting her micro robots that can jump over 80 times their height. One such micro robot is the 4 millimeter "flea". She has won multiple awards for her work including the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2008, the NSF CAREER Award in 2011, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers Award in 2013.
Go to Profile#4420
Nader Bagherzadeh
#85298
Overall Influence
Nader Bagherzadeh is a professor of computer engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he served as a chair from 1998 to 2003. Bagherzadeh has been involved in research and development in the areas of: Computer Architecture, Reconfigurable Computing, VLSI Chip Design, Network-on-Chip, 3D chips, Sensor Networks, Computer Graphics, Memory and Embedded Systems. Bagherzadeh was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2014 for contributions to the design and analysis of coarse-grained reconfigurable processor architectures.
Go to Profile#4421
Gianluca Iaccarino
#129941
Overall Influence
#4422
Jiaxing Huang
#108218
Overall Influence
Jiaxing Huang is a Chinese researcher, materials scientist, and chair professor of materials science at Westlake University. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 2016, he received the Humboldt Prize for research.
Go to Profile#4423
Richard Plunz
#87927
Overall Influence
Richard Plunz is an American architect, critic, and historian. He is Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in the City of New York and the Founder and Director of the Urban Design Lab, a research unit of Columbia's Earth Institute, where he also serves as professor.
Go to Profile#4424
Tawfique Hasan
#106140
Overall Influence
Tawfique Hasan is a Bangladeshi scientist who is Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Cambridge. He leads the nanoengineering group in the Cambridge graphene centre and serves as deputy head of division B in the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.
Go to Profile#4425
Viking Olov Björk
#129969
Overall Influence
#4426
Katsuhito Nakazato
#50350
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
is a Japanese photographer of the man-made environment, particularly sheds, alleys and night scenes. Life and career Nakazato was born in Taki, Mie Prefecture, Japan. When young he enjoyed painting, and he joined a painting club in Hosei University , from which he graduated in Geography. It was only when he was 25 that he first had any interest in photography, thinking that a SLR camera his grandmother had bought for him really ought to get some use, and enrolling in a photography class for the public that happened to be taught by Kazuo Kitai, whose teaching he found enormously stimulating. Th...
Go to Profile#4427
Henry John Caulfield
#130024
Overall Influence
#4428
Danny Clinch
#68095
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Danny Clinch is an American photographer and film director. Biography Born in Toms River, New Jersey, Clinch graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982. After attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England School of Photography, a two-year institution located in Boston.
Go to Profile#4429
Masayuki Inaba
#130054
Overall Influence
#4430
Peter J. Roughley
#130055
Overall Influence
#4431
Shigeo Ohno
#130134
Overall Influence
#4432
Mladen Kezunovic
#130175
Overall Influence
#4433
Dave Singh
#130200
Overall Influence
#4434
Jerry G. Fossum
#127580
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Jerry G. Fossum is an American electrical engineer who is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida College of Engineering. Early life and education Fossum is a native of Phoenix, Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona.
Go to Profile#4435
Irem Y. Tumer
#125170
Overall Influence
Irem Y. Tumer is a mechanical engineer. She is Oregon State University’s vice president for research. She has served as the associate dean for research and economic development at the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. Tumer worked at the Ames Research Center from 1998 to 2006 as a research scientist and group lead of programs including intelligent systems, engineering for complex systems, aviation safety, and constellation programs. She completed her college degrees at University of Texas at Austin. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1991. She earned a Master of Science in Engineering in mechanical engineering in 1995.
Go to Profile#4436
Frank H. P. Fitzek
#130214
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
#4437
Anthony A. Romeo
#130220
Overall Influence
#4438
J. Allan. Waitz
#130227
Overall Influence
#4439
Hendrik Tennekes
#130230
Overall Influence
#4440
Jörg E. Drewes
#130252
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
#4441
Kevin Kennon
#102582
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Kevin Kennon is an American architect. Kennon is the Director of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies and is a founding principal of United Architects, a finalist in the prestigious 2002 World Trade Center Design Competition organized by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Go to Profile#4442
Luigi Fortuna
#130275
Overall Influence
#4443
Wu Ziliang
#123872
Overall Influence
1917 - 2008 (91 years)
Wu Ziliang , also known as Tsu-Liang Wu, was a Chinese materials engineer, physical metallurgist, and physicist. He led the team that developed the essential membrane separation technology which enabled China to separate uranium-235 used for making its first nuclear bomb. He was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999, and also made significant contributions to steel metallurgy, semiconductors, and superconductivity research. Wu was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Go to Profile#4444
Nicholas Chiorazzi
#130283
Overall Influence
#4445
Robert P. H. Chang
#130287
Overall Influence
#4446
Graham F. Carey
#130289
Overall Influence
#4447
James E. Braun
#130301
Overall Influence
#4448
Tuomas O. Virtanen
#130323
Overall Influence
#4449
Wolfram Jaegermann
#130324
Overall Influence
#4450
Murali Sastry
#130349
Overall Influence
