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 Law,

#3201

John Davis

#99564
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (70 years)
John Henry Davis is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented England, when they won the World Team Cup in 1977 and 1980. Career Davis was capped for the England national speedway team 68 times, and was the first Englishman to win the prestigious Czech Golden Helmet of Pardubice. He also raced in the Swedish and Polish Leagues for Dackarna and Wybrzeże Gdańsk. He raced for Diedenbergen in the German League for ten seasons, winning four German titles, where he was consistently the top performer. He qualified for 16 consecutive British Final appearances, his best finish b...
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#3202

Joan Sardà i Dexeus

#132777
Overall Influence
1910 - 1995 (85 years)
Joan Sardà i Dexeus, was a Spanish lawyer, economist and author, whose work inspired the Stabilization Plan in Francoist Spain in 1959 that led to the Spanish miracle of 1959–1973. Education Born in Barcelona on April 13, 1910, Sardà obtained his secondary education diploma from the Instituto General y Técnico de Barcelona in 1927 and then went on to study Law at the University of Barcelona. While he was studying law, he developed a great interest for economics, leading him to become a regular contributor on economic subjects for the newspaper L'Opinió, and eventually to become part of the editing team of the magazine Economia i Finances.
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#3203

Diego Restrepo

#181768
Overall Influence
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#3204

Mitchel Lasser

#177083
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (60 years)
Mitchel Lasser is an American lawyer, currently the Jack G. Clarke Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, and formerly the Samuel D. Thurman Professor at S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah and the Maurice R. Greenberg Visiting Professor at Yale Law School in 2007–2008.
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#3205

Daniel Grossman

#99287
Overall Influence
Daniel Grossman is an American obstetrician, gynecologist, and medical researcher. He is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is also the director of the collaborative research group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health . He is also an investigator for the Texas Policy Evaluation Project and a senior advisor at Ibis Reproductive Health. In 2013, he received the Felicia Stewart Advocacy Award from the American Public Health Association.
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#3206

Su Huiyu

#168756
Overall Influence
1934 - 2019 (85 years)
Su Huiyu was a Chinese legal scholar and a distinguished professor at the East China University of Political Science and Law. A specialist in criminal law, he was named a "National Distinguished Legal Scholar", the highest honour of the China Law Society.
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#3207

Henry Woronicz

#158459
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (70 years)
Henry Woronicz is an American actor, director, and producer who served as the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 1991 to 1995. He was an actor and resident director there starting in 1984. In addition to his work at OSF, he has acted and directed in many other theaters, and has extensive film and TV credits.
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#3208

Rolph Ludwig Edward Schwarzenberger

#67128
Overall Influence
1936 - 1992 (56 years)
Rolph Ludwig Edward Schwarzenberger was a British mathematician at the University of Warwick who worked on vector bundles , crystallography, and mathematics education. He was President of the Mathematical Association in 1983–1984.
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#3209

Kevin Williamson

Kevin Williamson
#66298
Overall Influence
1965 - Present (59 years)
Kevin Meade Williamson is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is known for developing and writing the screenplay for the slasher film Scream —which launched the Scream franchise—along with those for Scream 2 and Scream 4 . He is also known for creating the WB teen drama series Dawson's Creek , the CW supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries , the Fox crime thriller series The Following and the CBS All Access thriller series Tell Me a Story .
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#3210

John Thwaites

#104785
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (69 years)
Johnstone William "John" Thwaites , is an Australian former politician, and served as Deputy Premier of the state of Victoria from 1999 to 2007. Early life Thwaites was born in Oxford, in the United Kingdom, and came to Australia as a child with his family. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and Monash University, Melbourne, where he graduated in science and law. He practised as a barrister before entering politics. He was a ministerial advisor to Labor Party state government ministers Jim Kennan and Andrew McCutcheon before being elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the...
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#3211

Robert Carmona-Borjas

#80528
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (58 years)
Robert Carmona-Borjas is a Venezuelan-American lawyer, academic, and writer. He currently holds a faculty position at American University in Washington, D.C. and has previously taught at George Washington University. Carmona-Borjas is recognized for his work in addressing issues of governability, defending human rights, promoting democracy, and fighting against corruption. In addition to his teaching career, he has authored multiple books and serves as a columnist for various newspapers, including El Nuevo Herald , El Heraldo , El Universal , La Prensa , Tiempo Latino and the Venezuelan TV ne...
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#3212

Margaret Beznak

#125951
Overall Influence
1914 - 1999 (85 years)
Margaret Beznak was a Hungarian-born Canadian medical researcher and chair of the physiology department at the University of Ottawa. Early life Margaret Hortobagyi was born in Hungary, the daughter of Béla and Margaret Hortobagyi. Both of her parents were medical doctors; her father was chief of surgery at a hospital in Budapest. Her brother also became a doctor.
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#3213

Victoria Plaut

#137462
Overall Influence
Victoria Caroline Plaut is a professor of law and social science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studies the challenges and opportunities of multiculturalism and diversity. Her pioneering work has examined barriers faced by women in computer science, Whites' reactions to multiculturalism, and the myth of colorblindness in organizations. A noted expert on the causes and consequences of implicit bias, she has penned articles for venues such as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Scientific American; and served as an amicus curae to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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#3214

Luis Ortega Álvarez

Luis Ortega Álvarez
#120243
Overall Influence
1953 - 2015 (62 years)
Luis Ignacio Ortega Álvarez was a Spanish judge. He served on the Constitutional Court of Spain since January 2011. He was noted as an expert of Spanish public law. Biography Ortega was born in 1953 in Madrid. He did his doctoral studies in Rome. Ortega worked at the University of Castilla–La Mancha since 1988. He obtained the Jean Monnet chair in 1999 and started the Center for European Studies at the UCLM.
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#3215

Viveca Lindfors

Viveca Lindfors
#82902
Overall Influence
1920 - 1995 (75 years)
Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors was a Swedish American stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the daughter of Karin Emilia Therese and Axel Torsten Lindfors.
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#3216

Alphadi

#77854
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (67 years)
Alphadi is a notable Nigerien fashion designer often known as the "Magician of the Desert". He is Mauritanian, from an upper caste lineage, on both his parents sides. Alphadi was born in Timbuktu, Mali, but moved to his parents native Niger at a young age.
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#3217

Dana Cordell

#88098
Overall Influence
Dana Cordell is a Research Director at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney, where she directs and undertakes international and Australian research on sustainable food and phosphorus futures. Cordell's work in sustainability research has been recognised with the Eureka Prize for Environmental Research , a Banksia Mercedes-Benz Environmental Research Award, the Advance Food and Agriculture Award and she was named one of Australia's 100 Women of Influence .
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#3218

Carmen Twillie Ambar

#116906
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (56 years)
Carmen Twillie Ambar is an American attorney, academic, and the current president of Oberlin College in Ohio. She was appointed to the post in May 2017. In 2002, she became the ninth woman to lead Douglass College and the youngest dean in its history. She was dean of Douglass College until August 2008 when she became president of Cedar Crest College. Ambar was appointed by Governor Corzine to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Board of Directors. In 2017, she was named 15th president of Oberlin College.
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#3219

Abbe Gluck

#149274
Overall Influence
Abbe R. Gluck is an American lawyer who serves as the Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law and faculty director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School. She is also professor of internal medicine at Yale Medical School and professor at Yale's institution for social and policy studies. She previously served as special counsel to the president from November 2020 to November 2021, in which capacity she served as the lead counsel for the White House COVID-19 Response Team; during this time, she also served as a member of the White House Counsel’s Office.
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#3220

George W. Pring

#176231
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (82 years)
George W. "Rock" Pring is a Professor of Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He coined the acronym SLAPP for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation" and is the co-author, together with Penelope Canan, of SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out.
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#3221

Armando Aráuz Aguilar

#182297
Overall Influence
1922 - 2003 (81 years)
Armando Aráuz Aguilar was a Costa Rican lawyer and politician who served as Second Vice President of Costa Rica between 1982 and 1986, serving under president Luis Alberto Monge. He was also a Deputy in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica between 1966 and 1970 and again between 1979 and 1982. He was a law professor at the University of Costa Rica. He died of a heart attack.
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#3222

Stephen L. Braga

#179125
Overall Influence
Stephen L. Braga is an American lawyer, best known for his pro bono representation of Martin Tankleff and the West Memphis Three. He also represented Michael Scanlon, the number two target in the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. Braga is currently the Director of the Appellate Litigation Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law. In addition, he chairs the national white collar practice at Bracewell LLP.
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#3223

Gerald P. Lopez

#168383
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (76 years)
Gerald P. López is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is also the author of several influential books about lawyering and law practice. Education and early career López obtained his B.A. degree in Economics from the University of Southern California in 1970 and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1974.
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#3224

Richard Armitage

#97302
Overall Influence
1945 - Present (79 years)
Richard Lee Armitage is an American former diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a riverine warfare advisor. After leaving active duty, he served in a number of civil-service roles under Republican administrations. He worked as an aide to Senator Bob Dole before serving in various posts in the Defense Department and State Department.
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#3225

David Johnston

#106521
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (68 years)
David Albert Lloyd Johnston is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate from 2002 to 2016, representing the state of Western Australia. Johnston was the Minister for Defence from 18 September 2013 to 23 December 2014, when he was replaced by Kevin Andrews.
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#3226

Andrew Holding

Andrew Holding
#114400
Overall Influence
Andrew Holding MChem , PhD MRSC leads an academic research group at the University of York. His current research focus is the genetic drivers of breast cancer and has previously published research on antibiotic biosynthesis and DNA replication. Previously Holding was a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, a Turing Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute and led the experimental team in the Markowetz lab at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute .
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#3227

Posani Krishna Murali

Posani Krishna Murali
#106476
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (66 years)
Posani Krishna Murali is an Indian screenwriter, actor, director and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He worked as a writer for over 150 Telugu films and directed a number of films. In 2009, he also contested in Andhra Pradesh state legislative assembly elections from Chilakaluripet constituency but lost the elections.
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#3228

Katrin Nyman-Metcalf

#85729
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (61 years)
Katrin Nyman-Metcalf is an Estonian-Swedish legal scholar. From 1990 to 1992 she was the State Secretary of Estonia of the Estonian government-in-exile. She was born in Stockholm to Estonian-Swedish engineer Einar Nyman and Estonian textbook author and drawing teacher . In 1987, she graduated from Uppsala University's Faculty of Law. She defended her doctoral thesis in 1999 also in Uppsala. She was the State Secretary of the Estonian government-in-exile from 1990 to 1992.
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#3229

Phillippa Poole

#179276
Overall Influence
Phillippa Jane Poole is a New Zealand academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor and Head of School at the University of Auckland; she was previously head of the medical program. Academic career After studying medicine at the University of Auckland, Poole joined the staff, rising to full professor. She was Head of the Medical Programme from 1999–2009, then Head of the Department of Medicine, becoming Head of the School of Medicine in 2018. Poole divides her time between academic duties and being a consultant general physician at Auckland City Hospital. She is a past president of the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand.
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#3230

Robert Alexy

#182485
Overall Influence
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#3231

Frank Morse

#166570
Overall Influence
Frank P. Morse is a California businessman and attorney. His clientele previously included aviator and industrialist Howard Hughes, Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi and American businessman and intelligence agent Larry J. Kolb.
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#3232

Franco Gaetano Scoca

Franco Gaetano Scoca
#99508
Overall Influence
1935 - Present (89 years)
Franco Gaetano Scoca is an Italian lawyer and professor. Books Attività privata e potere amministrativo. Il modello della dichiarazione di inizio attività, Giappichelli EditoreManuale di Diritto Amministrativo, Giappichelli EditoreLa pubblica Amministrazione e la sua azione, Giappichelli EditoreI servizi pubblici locali, Giappichelli EditoreAccordi amministrativi tra provvedimenti e contratti, Giappichelli EditoreDiritto Amministrativo 2011, Giappichelli EditoreLa rivista nel diritto, Giappichello EditoreUna giustizia per la pubblica amministrazione, Giappichelli EditoreGiustizia Amministrati...
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#3233

Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

#146380
Overall Influence
Elizabeth Chamblee Burch is an American lawyer, currently the Fuller E. Callaway Chair of Law at University of Georgia, and from 2017 to 2018, the Charles Hughes Kirbo Chair at the same university. In 2013, she was elected to the American Law Institute. She received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated cum laude. While obtaining her Juris Doctor degree from Florida State University, she was an editor for their Law Review. She has been called before Congress as an expert in complex litigation.
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#3234

William Dawes

William Dawes
#47538
Overall Influence
William Dawes was a 19th century abolitionist who worked at Oberlin College. Life Dawes and John Keep toured England in 1839 and 1840 gathering funds for Oberlin College in Ohio. They both attended the 1840 anti-slavery convention in London.
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#3235

Emilio Chuayffet

#117027
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (73 years)
Emilio Chuayffet Chemor is a Mexican lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party since 1969. He previously held the office of Governor of the State of Mexico from 1993 to 1995 and Secretary of the Interior during the government of Ernesto Zedillo. He served as Secretary of Public Education under President Enrique Peña Nieto.
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#3236

Martin J. Lipton

#182673
Overall Influence
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#3237

Cissy Kityo

#77592
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (62 years)
Cissy Kityo Mutuluuza , is a Ugandan physician, epidemiologist and medical researcher. She is the Executive Director of the Joint Clinical Research Centre, a government-owned medical research institution in Uganda, specializing in HIV/AIDS treatment and management.
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#3238

Billy Martin

#134798
Overall Influence
William R. Martin is a Partner at the D.C. office of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP. His notable past clients have included NBA stars Allen Iverson and Jayson Williams, Monica Lewinsky's mother, and Chandra Levy's parents. He also represented former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell on racketeering, bribery and wire fraud charges; Campbell was convicted of three counts of tax fraud, but acquitted on racketeering and bribery charges. Martin also defended former NBA player Jayson Williams at trial during Spring 2004.
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#3239

Louis Sauer

#57006
Overall Influence
1928 - Present (96 years)
Louis Edward Sauer is a North American architect and design theorist of dual American and Canadian nationality, known for his role in the renewal in Society Hill, Philadelphia and his contributions to low-rise, high-density housing. Sauer worked with housing developers to produce low-rise high-density housing projects throughout the 1960s and 70s.
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#3240

David Williams

#100904
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (78 years)
David Vernon Williams is a professor, and former deputy dean of the University of Auckland's Faculty of Law. He comes from the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand, and was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School.
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#3241

Sohn Kyung-han

#177849
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (73 years)
Sohn Kyung-han is a defence attorney and law professor based in Seoul, South Korea. Sohn is a specialist in intellectual property law, international trade law, technology law, information society law, sports law, entertainment law and international arbitration. Sohn is president of the Korean Intellectual Property Society and the Korea Private International Law Association, and a law professor at Sungkyunkwan University.
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#3242

Pamela Greenwood

#176171
Overall Influence
Pamela T. Greenwood is the former presiding judge of the Utah Court of Appeals and was a pioneer woman lawyer in the state of Utah. Early life and education Pamela Greenwood attended the University of Utah, graduating with a bachelor's degree in music. She obtained her law degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1972 where she was a member of the Utah Law Review and elected to the Bar & Gavel Society. She was an associate professor at the law school from 1972–1977.
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#3243

David Atkinson

#182973
Overall Influence
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#3244

Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani
#72577
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (90 years)
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained renown working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta, and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 2001, Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion. In 2010, he opened the Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. He is also the wealthiest openly bisexual person in the world. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of 2021, Arman...
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#3245

Diane von Fürstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg
#103839
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (78 years)
Diane von Fürstenberg is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. Following their separation in 1972 and divorce in 1983, she has continued to use his family name.
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#3246

Dorcas Coker-Appiah

#93763
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (78 years)
Dorcas Ama Frema Coker-Appiah is a Ghanaian lawyer and women's rights activist, and the executive director of the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre, also known as the "Gender Centre", in Accra, Ghana. She has had important roles in several organisations promoting women's rights at national, regional and international levels.
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#3247

Manning G. Warren III

Manning G. Warren III
#149729
Overall Influence
Manning Warren is an American academic and researcher specialising in corporate and securities law. Career In 1973 Warren received his Juris Doctor, with honors, from the National Law Center at George Washington University. He briefly served as a clerk to U.S. District Judge Seybourn Harris Lynne, former Chief Judge of the Northern District of Alabama before entering private practice in 1974.
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#3248

Patricia Balbuena

#150646
Overall Influence
1974 - Present (50 years)
Patricia Jacquelyn Balbuena Palacios is a Peruvian lawyer and public servant. She was the Minister of Culture of Peru from April to November 2018 during the first eight months of Martín Vizcarra's government.
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#3249

Richard M. Locke

Richard M. Locke
#52092
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (65 years)
Richard Michael Locke is Dean of Apple University. Locke joined Apple after serving as the 13th provost of Brown University. He served as provost for 7.5 years, one of the longest serving provosts of Brown University.
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#3250

Brockway McMillan

Brockway McMillan
#7771
Overall Influence
1915 - 2016 (101 years)
Brockway McMillan was an American government official and scientist, who served as the eighth Under Secretary of the Air Force and the second Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. McMillan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1915, the only child of Franklin Richardson McMillan, a civil engineer, and Luvena Lucille Brockway McMillan, a schoolteacher. He received his B.S. in 1936 and a Ph.D. 1939 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a thesis entitled The calculus of discrete homogenous chaos supervised by Norbert Wiener. He also served in the U.S. Navy at Dahlgren and Los Alamos during World War II.
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