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 Philosophy,
#6051
Mihail Sokolov
#60857
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Mihail Eduardovich Sokolov is a Russian scientist and surgeon who is Deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Studies of Complex Systems of Moscow State University, Adviser to the rector of Moscow State University.
Go to Profile#6052
David Castle
#95261
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
David Castle is a Canadian philosopher and bioethicist. He is a professor in Public Administration and Business at the University of Victoria . He had previously served as Vice-President of Research at UVic from 2014 to 2019. Prior to his appointment at UVic, he was a Professor and the Chair of Innovations in the Life Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, where he investigated how to get others to innovate. From 2006 to 2010, he served as Canada Research Chair in Science and Society at the University of Ottawa, where he developed ideas leading to the creation of the Institute for Science, S...
Go to Profile#6053
Thomas Matthew Habermann
#127733
Overall Influence
#6054
Lucy Balian Rorke
#127748
Overall Influence
#6055
Barry Alan Siegel
#127757
Overall Influence
#6056
Otmar Dieter Wiestler
#127773
Overall Influence
#6057
Clyde Thornsberry
#127782
Overall Influence
#6058
Robert Stephen Kass
#127789
Overall Influence
#6059
Vernon Grounds
#35366
Overall Influence
1914 - 2010 (96 years)
Dr. Vernon Carl Grounds was an American theologian, Christian educator, Chancellor of Denver Seminary, and one of the leaders in the development of American evangelicalism. Early life and education Grounds was born July 19, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the youngest of three children born to John and Bertha Grounds. He studied at Rutgers University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1937, then studied theology at Faith Theological Seminary in Wilmington, Delaware and obtained a Bachelor of Divinity. He was part of a group that included notable evangelical leaders such as Arthur Glasser, Kenneth Kantzer, Joseph Bayly, and Francis Schaeffer.
Go to Profile#6060
Augustin Berque
#20724
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (84 years)
Augustin Berque , is a French geographer, Orientalist and philosopher. He is the son of the famous Egyptologist Jacques Berque. He is professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris . His specialist field of interest is Japan.
Go to Profile#6061
Ruth Sonntag Nussenzweig
#60628
Overall Influence
1928 - 2018 (90 years)
Ruth Sonntag Nussenzweig was an Austrian-Brazilian immunologist specializing in the development of malaria vaccines. In a career spanning over 60 years, she was primarily affiliated with New York University . She served as C.V. Starr Professor of Medical and Molecular Parasitology at Langone Medical Center, Research Professor at the NYU Department of Pathology, and finally Professor Emerita of Microbiology and Pathology at the NYU Department of Microbiology.
Go to Profile#6062
Jacques Cohen
#24160
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Jacques Cohen is a Dutch embryologist based in New York, U.S. He is currently Director at Reprogenetics LLC, Laboratory Director at ART Institute of Washington at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center , and Scientific Director of R & D at IVF-online.
Go to Profile#6063
Dale Scott Ridley
#127825
Overall Influence
#6064
Christopher L. Corless
#127829
Overall Influence
#6065
Edwin A. M. Gale
#127855
Overall Influence
#6066
R. Michael Blaese
#127858
Overall Influence
#6067
Seiichiro Tarui
#127878
Overall Influence
#6068
Robert w. Finberg
#127890
Overall Influence
#6069
Gordon Waddell
#127891
Overall Influence
#6070
Alberto Benchimol
#127907
Overall Influence
#6071
Michael L. Sr. Blute
#127908
Overall Influence
#6072
Basil Hirschowitz
#19747
Overall Influence
1925 - 2013 (88 years)
Basil Isaac Hirschowitz was an academic gastroenterologist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham best known in the field for having invented an improved optical fiber which allowed the creation of a useful flexible endoscope. This invention revolutionized the practice of gastroenterology and also was a key invention in optical fiber communication in multiple industries.
Go to Profile#6073
Jerrold F. Rosenbaum
#127918
Overall Influence
#6074
Walter E. Siegenthaler
#127932
Overall Influence
#6075
Henry Gewurz
#127945
Overall Influence
#6076
Ali Kianfar
#83019
Overall Influence
Ali Kianfar is an Iranian Sufi master, author, teacher, philosopher and international speaker. He is a co-founder and co-director of the International Association of Sufism and Editor-in-Chief of the online journal Sufism: An Inquiry. He teaches Sufism and Islamic Philosophy.
Go to Profile#6077
Francoise Baylis
#97937
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Françoise Elvina Baylis FISC is a Canadian bioethicist whose work is at the intersection of applied ethics, health policy, and practice. The focus of her research is on issues of women's health and assisted reproductive technologies, but her research and publication record also extend to such topics as research involving humans , gene editing, novel genetic technologies, public health, the role of bioethics consultants, and neuroethics. Baylis' interest in the impact of bioethics on health and public policy as well as her commitment to citizen engagement]and participatory democracy sees her ...
Go to Profile#6078
Yasuto Itoyama
#127965
Overall Influence
#6079
Sverker Ljunghall
#127968
Overall Influence
#6080
F. A. Murphy
#53732
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (92 years)
Frederick A. Murphy is a retired American virologist. He was a member of the team of scientists that discovered the Ebola virus at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , where he served as Chief of Viropathology, near Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1976, and is internationally known for his work on rabies, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fevers, with over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles. Murphy was as an electron microscopy pioneer in the field of virology, best recognized for obtaining the first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle at the CDC in 1976.
Go to Profile#6081
Chen Pei-jer
#120932
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Chen Pei-jer is a Taiwanese hepatologist and an academician of Academia Sinica. Early life and education Chen Pei-jer was raised by his grandparents in Shalu, Taichung, while his parents worked in northern Taiwan. He and his three siblings had a strict routine, awakening at 6:00 am daily to exercise and do chores alongside their grandfather, followed by Chinese calligraphy practice. Chen earned a medical degree from National Taiwan University in 1981, and he completed a doctorate at University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1987.
Go to Profile#6082
Louis Sala-Molins
#81248
Overall Influence
1935 - Present (91 years)
Louis Sala-Molins is an essayist and political philosophy professor at Paris-I and Toulouse-II universities. He took part in UNESCO Headquarters to events dedicated to the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery . His field of work have been the works by Ramon Llull.
Go to Profile#6083
John William. Deluca
#127998
Overall Influence
#6084
Robert J. Biggar
#127999
Overall Influence
#6085
Folkert Kuipers
#128005
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
#6086
Thomas L. Perry
#128022
Overall Influence
#6087
Richard O. Iii Cannon
#128036
Overall Influence
#6088
Mark Crispin Miller
#25497
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Mark Crispin Miller is a professor of media studies at New York University. He has promoted conspiracy theories about U.S. presidential elections, the September 11 attacks and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as well as misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.
Go to Profile#6089
Richard Bradley
#78125
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Richard Bradley is a South African philosopher. He is a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, a project leader at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, and the former editor of the journal Economics and Philosophy.
Go to Profile#6090
Yong Poovorawan
#22123
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Yong Poovorawan is a professor of pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He is known for research in the fields of pediatric hepatology, viral hepatitis and virology, and avian influenza.
Go to Profile#6091
Fiona Wood
#9072
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Fiona Melanie Wood is an Australian plastic surgeon and burns specialist working in Perth, Western Australia. She is the director of the Royal Perth Hospital burns unit and the Western Australia Burns Service, and developed spray-on skin in collaboration with Marie Stoner. In addition, Wood is also a clinical professor with the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia and director of the Fiona Wood Foundation .
Go to Profile#6092
Danuta Gierulanka
#52041
Overall Influence
1909 - 1995 (86 years)
Danuta Gierulanka was a Polish mathematics educator, psychologist, philosopher, and translator. She was associated with Roman Ingarden and known for her work in phenomenology and the philosophy of mathematics.
Go to Profile#6093
Nagahiro George Saijo
#128140
Overall Influence
#6094
David Ross Camidge
#128145
Overall Influence
#6095
Martin F. Kagnoff
#128147
Overall Influence
#6096
Alexander Stuart Douglas
#115009
Overall Influence
1921 - 1998 (77 years)
Alexander Stuart Douglas FRSE FRCP was a physician and haematologist. He was Regius Professor of Medicine at Aberdeen University from 1970 to 1985. He received international acclaim for his discoveries in relation to blood coagulation, causes of abnormal bleeding, and causes of thrombosis. He played a key role in identifying the role of anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents in preventing heart attacks, setting a modern benchmark for the treatment of heart disease.
Go to Profile#6097
Ze'ev Ronai
#126090
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Ze’ev Ronai is an Israeli-American cancer research scientist and Chief Scientific Advisor at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla. Education Ze’ev Ronai was born in Haifa in 1956. He attended Hugim High School in Haifa, and received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Go to Profile#6098
Bruce R. Zetter
#128158
Overall Influence
#6099
George Scott Boyd
#128176
Overall Influence
#6100
Allan E. Tonelli
#128177
Overall Influence
