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 …
See additional learning tools, study tips, features on campus life and much more at our Student Resources Headquarters.
List of the most influential people in Philosophy,
#7451
Jonathan W. Friedberg
#142030
Overall Influence
#7452
Ronald B. Postuma
#142069
Overall Influence
#7453
Shan Ratnam
#15600
Overall Influence
1928 - 2001 (73 years)
Emeritus Professor Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam , also known as Shan Ratnam, was a Singaporean obstetrician and gynaecologist. He was professor and head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the National University Hospital of Singapore and specialized in human reproduction research. He was a medical pioneer and leader in the field of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, both in Singapore and internationally. At the peak of his career, he was the Secretary-General of the Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the President of the International Federation of Obstetrics...
Go to Profile#7454
George Michael Hall
#142079
Overall Influence
#7455
George Mashour
#106853
Overall Influence
George Alexander Mashour is an American anesthesiologist. Early life and education Mashour completed his undergraduate degree in philosophy at St. John's College and then completed his medical degree and PhD at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Following his medical degree, Mashour completed his residency in the Department of Anesthesia & Critical Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, he also accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research for his project "Electrophysiology of Analgesic and Anesthetic Action on Serotonin Rece...
Go to Profile#7456
Jean-Claude Vuillemin
#99979
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (72 years)
Jean-Claude Vuillemin is Liberal Arts Research Professor Emeritus of French literature in the Department of French and Francophone Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. Career The recipient in March 2011 of the prestigious PSU Class of 1933 Award for Distinction in the Humanities, JC Vuillemin pursues research in 17th-Century French Literature and Philosophy; Post-structuralism and Reception theories; Baroque Episteme; Semiotics of Drama; Theater and Performance Theories; Continental Philosophy and Contemporary French Literature. Inspired by the Foucaldian notion of épistémè, and by t...
Go to Profile#7457
Robert Joseph Ginsberg
#142098
Overall Influence
#7458
Serge Erlinger
#142112
Overall Influence
#7459
Susumu Prof Okabe
#142160
Overall Influence
#7460
Jean-pierre Dallongeville
#142161
Overall Influence
#7461
Julian T. Hoff
#142164
Overall Influence
#7462
Ross C. Donehower
#142167
Overall Influence
#7463
Yoon‐koo Kang
#142184
Overall Influence
#7464
Adel Mahmoud
#32818
Overall Influence
1941 - 2018 (77 years)
Adel K. Mahmoud was an Egyptian-born American doctor and expert in infectious diseases. He was credited with helping with the development of the Gardasil HPV vaccine and the rotavirus vaccine while serving as President of Merck Vaccines. Both the HPV and rotavirus vaccines were under development prior to Mahmoud joining Merck Vaccine Division; he assisted in ensuring that they remained a priority for Merck to continue development to commercial launch. After retiring from Merck he became a professor at Princeton University.
Go to Profile#7465
Joep Lange
#23139
Overall Influence
1954 - 2014 (60 years)
Joseph Marie Albert "Joep" Lange was a Dutch clinical researcher specialising in HIV therapy. He served as the president of the International AIDS Society from 2002 to 2004. He was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down on 17 July 2014 over Ukraine.
Go to Profile#7466
Shukri F. Khuri
#142202
Overall Influence
#7467
Peter Manicas
#89992
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (92 years)
Peter Manicas was a philosopher of science and society at [Queens College, City University of New York] and [the University of Hawaii at Manoa]. He is the author of many books that includeDeath of the StateWar and DemocracyLogic as PhilosophyA History and Philosophy of the Social SciencesA Realist Philosophy of the Social SciencesSocial Process in HawaiiRescuing Dewey: Essays in Pragmatic NaturalismFollowing description of his book: A History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences, provides some of the core elements of his thought which are radically different from mainstream views. This book ...
Go to Profile#7468
Joseph A. Smith Jr.
#96519
Overall Influence
Joseph A. Smith Jr is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Urology and William L. Bray Professor in the Department of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the chair of the Department of Urology from 1991 to 2015. He has served as the President of American Board of Urology Southeastern Section, American Urologic Association and the Utah Urologic Society .
Go to Profile#7469
Stefan Agewall
#142224
Overall Influence
#7470
Jean‐yves Douillard
#142228
Overall Influence
#7471
Terence Penelhum
#112811
Overall Influence
1929 - 2020 (91 years)
Terence Michael Penelhum was a British-Canadian philosopher and writer, known for his work on the philosophy of religion, personal identity and Hume. Biography Penelhum was born in Bradford-on-Avon. His early education was received at Weymouth Grammar School, he then went on to study for an M.A. in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1950 and a B.Phil in philosophy from Oriel College, Oxford in 1952.
Go to Profile#7472
Leo Allen Whiteside
#142260
Overall Influence
#7473
Bevra Hannahs Hahn
#142262
Overall Influence
#7474
J. H. R. Bond
#142276
Overall Influence
#7475
Kenneth A. Kudsk
#142295
Overall Influence
#7476
Alan Frazer
#142307
Overall Influence
#7477
Richard J. Gralla
#142308
Overall Influence
#7478
Gaetano Santulli
#142339
Overall Influence
#7479
Rodger L. Bıck
#142361
Overall Influence
#7480
Sherif R. Zaki
#142362
Overall Influence
#7481
Antti R. Reunanen
#142389
Overall Influence
#7482
Rafaël Pividal
#75747
Overall Influence
1934 - 2006 (72 years)
Rafaël Pividal was a French writer and philosopher. Biography Rafaël Pividal was the son of a French mother, a classical dancer, and an Argentinean father, a lawyer. Rafael's maternal grandmother was a well-known actress, Germaine Dermoz .
Go to Profile#7483
Do-youn Dy Oh
#142427
Overall Influence
#7484
Mariana Castells
#142432
Overall Influence
Mariana Castells is a Spanish-American allergist who focuses on mast cell diseases, including mastocytosis, mast cell activation syndrome and hereditary alpha tryptasimia. Mastocytosis is a rare disease with limited treatment options. Castells works at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts in the Department of Allergy, Rheumatology, and Immunology and at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Go to Profile#7485
A. Mark Fendrick
#142438
Overall Influence
#7486
S. P. Steven P. Roose
#142449
Overall Influence
#7487
Curtis A. Hanson
#142455
Overall Influence
#7488
Tomasz Brzozowski
#142457
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (72 years)
#7489
Michael Jerome Yaszemski
#142458
Overall Influence
#7490
Gary L. Davis
#142519
Overall Influence
#7491
Robert Stevenson
#108569
Overall Influence
1916 - 2012 (96 years)
Robert Murrell Stevenson was an American musicologist. He studied at the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas at El Paso , the Juilliard School of Music , Yale University and the University of Rochester ; further study took him to Harvard University , Princeton Theological Seminary and Oxford University . He taught at the University of Texas and at Westminster Choir College in the 1940s. In 1949 he became a faculty member at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he taught until 1987. Stevenson is well known for having studied with Igor Stravinsky when he w...
Go to Profile#7492
Anthony James Comerota
#142531
Overall Influence
#7493
Stuart M. Cobbe
#142532
Overall Influence
#7494
Peter G. Kopelman
#142536
Overall Influence
#7495
Hutan Ashrafian
#142541
Overall Influence
#7496
Stephen Lawn
#134263
Overall Influence
1966 - 2016 (50 years)
Stephen David Lawn was a Professor of Infectious diseases and Tropical medicine known for research on tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Personal life Lawn was married to Professor Joy Lawn. They have a son, Tim, and a daughter, Joanna.
Go to Profile#7497
Pierre Rustin
#142554
Overall Influence
#7498
Johan M. J. Fevery
#142563
Overall Influence
#7499
Shlomo Mashiach,
#142582
Overall Influence
#7500
Jonathan Rosenbaum
#30034
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for The Chicago Reader from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to such notable film publications as Cahiers du cinéma and Film Comment.
Go to Profile