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).
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List of the most influential people in Philosophy,
#7551
Girolamo Fracastoro
1478 - 1553 (75 years)
Girolamo Fracastoro was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden causes in scientific investigation. His studies of the mode of syphilis transmission are an early example of epidemiology.
Go to Profile#7552
Franklin Merrell-Wolff
1887 - 1985 (98 years)
Franklin Merrell-Wolff was an American mystic and esoteric philosopher. After formal education in philosophy and mathematics at Stanford and Harvard, Wolff devoted himself to the goal of transcending the normal limits of human consciousness. After exploring various mystical teachings and paths, he dedicated himself to the path of jnana yoga and the writings of Shankara, the expounder of the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.
Go to Profile#7553
Hossein Baharvand
#28062
Overall Influence
1972 - Present (54 years)
Hossein Baharvand is an Iranian stem cell and developmental biologist. He received his B.Sc. in biology from Shiraz University in 1994, and M.Sc. in Developmental Biology from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran in 1996. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Khwarizmi University in 2004. He first joined the Royan Institute in 1995 in which he founded Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology.
Go to Profile#7554
Stephen Walsh
#17098
Overall Influence
Stephen Walsh is a British journalist, broadcaster, musicologist, and classical music biographer. He is the author of biographies of Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, and Debussy, as well as books on Schumann, Bartók, and the music of Stravinsky. As of 2021, he is an emeritus professor of Cardiff University.
Go to Profile#7555
Mikhail Minakov
#69474
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Mikhail Minakov is a philosopher, political scholar and historian , Doctor of Philosophy. His studies focus on human experience, social knowledge, the phenomenon of ideology, political creativity, and the history of modernization.
Go to Profile#7556
Xu Xing
400 BC - Present (2426 years)
Xu Xing was a Chinese philosopher and one of the most notable advocates of the egalitarian political philosophy of agriculturalism. With a group of followers he settled in the state of Teng in about 315 BC. A disciple of his visited the Confucian philosopher Mencius, and a short report of their conversation discussing Xu Xing's philosophy survives.
Go to Profile#7557
Axel Block
#101086
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Axel Block is a German cinematographer. Since 1974, Block has worked as director of photography on more than a hundred cinema and television productions, and lectured on film composition at several academies. From 1997 to 2015, Block held the position of applied visual arts professor at the University of Television and Film Munich.
Go to Profile#7558
Steven Grosby
#88196
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Steven Elliot Grosby is Professor of Religion at Clemson University. Education Grosby received his PhD from the Committee on Social Thought of the University of Chicago. Career Grosby's areas of research include the ancient Near East, the Hebrew Bible, the relation between religion and nationality, and Social and Political Philosophy.
Go to Profile#7559
Theodore Locke Phillips
#114061
Overall Influence
#7560
Drew Weissman
#7372
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Drew Weissman is an American physician and immunologist known for his contributions to RNA biology. Weissman is the inaugural Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, and professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania .
Go to Profile#7561
Daniel Clowes
#5382
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Daniel Gillespie Clowes is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in Eightball, a solo anthology comic book series. An Eightball issue typically contained several short pieces and a chapter of a longer narrative that was later collected and published as a graphic novel, such as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron , Ghost World , David Boring and Patience . Clowes's illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Newsweek, Vogue, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. With filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, Clowes adapted Ghost World into a 2001 film and another Eightball story into the 2006 film, Art School Confidential.
Go to Profile#7562
David Farrell Krell
#81906
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
David Farrell Krell , is an American philosopher. He is professor emeritus of philosophy at DePaul University. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy at Duquesne University, where he wrote his dissertation on Heidegger and Nietzsche. He has taught at many universities in Germany, France, and England. Specializing in Continental Philosophy, he has written many books on Heidegger and Nietzsche, including Daimon Life: Heidegger and Life Philosophy , Intimations of Mortality: Time, Truth, and Finitude in Heidegger's Thinking of Being , The Good European: Nietzsche's Work Sites in Word and Image , and Infectious Nietzsche .
Go to Profile#7563
Harriet P. Dustan
#99581
Overall Influence
1920 - 1999 (79 years)
Harriet Pearson Dustan was an American physician who is known for her pioneering contributions to effective detection and treatment of hypertension. She was the first woman to serve on the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Go to Profile#7564
Crispin Jenkinson
#114110
Overall Influence
#7565
Michael Moravcsik
1928 - 1989 (61 years)
Michael Julius Alexander Moravcsik was a Hungarian-born American theoretical high energy physicist whose areas of research included the two nucleon system, particle spin symmetries. He also made important contributions to the practice and study of science policy in developing nations, scientific methodology, and scientometrics , especially the study of citation and citation indices.
Go to Profile#7566
Ralph L. Nachman
#114145
Overall Influence
#7567
Alan J. Mccomas
#114166
Overall Influence
#7568
Peter Aaby
#90719
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
Peter Aaby is trained as an anthropologist but also holds a doctoral degree in medicine. In 1978, Peter Aaby established the Bandim Health Project, a Health and Demographic Surveillance System site in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, which he has run ever since. In 2000, Peter Aaby was awarded the Novo Nordisk Prize, the most important Danish award within health research.
Go to Profile#7569
Massimo Cristofanilli
#114177
Overall Influence
#7570
Judy Lieberman
#74478
Overall Influence
Judy Lieberman is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and holds an endowed chair in cellular and molecular medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. Early life Judy Lieberman was born in September 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in New Jersey with her parents and two sisters Phyllis and Donna.
Go to Profile#7571
Bertram Sacktor
#114194
Overall Influence
#7572
Charles Vacanti
#12582
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Charles Alfred "Chuck" Vacanti is a researcher in tissue engineering and stem cells and the Vandam/Covino Professor of Anesthesiology, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School. He is a former head of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Massachusetts and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, now retired.
Go to Profile#7573
Gerald Gaus
#86923
Overall Influence
1952 - 2020 (68 years)
Gerald Francis "Jerry" Gaus was an American philosopher and the founding editor of the academic journal Politics, Philosophy & Economics. His last academic post was as the James E. Rogers Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. His books include Public Reason and Diversity: Reinterpretations of Liberalism , The Open Society and Its Complexities , The Tyranny of the Ideal: Justice in a Diverse Society , The Order of Public Reason , On Philosophy, Politics, and Economics , Contemporary Theories of Liberalism , Political Concepts and Political Theories , Justificatory Liberalism , ...
Go to Profile#7574
Joaquim Bellmunt
#114226
Overall Influence
#7575
Bernard Nieuwentyt
1654 - 1718 (64 years)
Bernard Nieuwentijt, Nieuwentijdt, or Nieuwentyt was a Dutch philosopher, mathematician, physician, magistrate, mayor , and theologian. Career As a philosopher, Nieuwentyt was a follower of Descartes and an opponent of Spinoza. In 1695 he was involved in a controversy over the foundations of infinitesimal calculus with Leibniz. Nieuwentijt advocated 'nilsquare' infinitesimals , whereas Leibniz was uncertain about explicitly adopting such a rule - they did however come to be used throughout physics from then on.
Go to Profile#7576
Tadashi Terada
#114244
Overall Influence
#7577
Gordon David Rubenfeld
#114246
Overall Influence
#7578
Quarraisha Abdool Karim
#62904
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Quarraisha Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and co-founder and Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA. She is a Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York and Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Go to Profile#7579
William Morgan
1750 - 1833 (83 years)
William Morgan, FRS was a British physician, physicist and statistician, who is considered the father of modern actuarial science. He is also credited with being the first to record the "invisible light" produced when a current is passed through a partly evacuated glass tube: "the first x-ray tube".
Go to Profile#7580
Kireet Joshi
#30573
Overall Influence
1931 - 2014 (83 years)
Kireet Joshi was an Indian philosopher, and disciple of Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa. In 1976, the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, appointed Kireet as Education Advisor to the Government of India. He also served as the Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research.
Go to Profile#7581
Bodo‐eckehard Strauer
#114296
Overall Influence
#7582
Lisa Bortolotti
#86265
Overall Influence
1974 - Present (52 years)
Lisa Bortolotti is an Italian philosopher who is currently professor of philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her work is in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences, including philosophy of psychology and philosophy of psychiatry, as well as bioethics and medical ethics. She was educated at the University of Bologna, King's College London, University of Oxford and the Australian National University, and worked briefly at the University of Manchester before beginning at Birmingham, where she has been a lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and...
Go to Profile#7583
Keimpe Algra
#107787
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Keimpe Arnoldus Algra is a Dutch professor of Ancient and Medieval philosophy at Utrecht University. Career Algra was born on 5 April 1959 in Utrecht. He studied classical languages and literature at Utrecht University. In 1985 he became a university lecturer. Three years later he obtained his PhD with a dissertation on Concepts of space in classical and hellenistic greek philosophy. Between 2000 and 2003 he was Academy professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences at Utrecht University. In 2001 he started as professor of Ancient and Medieval philosophy at the same university.
Go to Profile#7584
Jennifer Marie Tetzlaff
#114324
Overall Influence
#7585
Friedrich Jäger von Jaxtthal
1784 - 1871 (87 years)
Christoph Friedrich Jäger Ritter von Jaxtthal was an Austrian ophthalmologist who was a native of Kirchberg an der Jagst. Early life and education He studied medicine in Vienna and Landshut, and in 1809 became a physician in the Napoleonic Wars. He later returned to Vienna, where in 1812 he received his medical degree at the university.
Go to Profile#7586
Hugh Latimer Dryden
1898 - 1965 (67 years)
Hugh Latimer Dryden was an American aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958, until his death. Biography Early life and education Dryden was born in Pocomoke City, Maryland, the son of Samuel Isaac and Nova Hill Culver Dryden, and was named after a popular local Methodist clergyman. During the financial panic of 1907, his father lost his job and the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
Go to Profile#7587
Alan P. F. Sell
#47713
Overall Influence
1935 - 2016 (81 years)
Alan Philip Frederick Sell FSA, FRhistS was a minister of the United Reformed Church and was formerly Professor of Christian Doctrine and Philosophy of Religion at the United Theological College, Aberystwyth in Wales. An author in the fields of philosophy, theology, ethics and history he held prominent positions in various ecumenical organizations including the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
Go to Profile#7588
L. Jonathan Cohen
#68575
Overall Influence
1923 - 2006 (83 years)
Laurence Jonathan Cohen, , was a British philosopher. He was Fellow and Praelector in Philosophy, 1957–90 and Senior Tutor, 1985–90 at The Queen's College, Oxford and British Academy Reader in Humanities, University of Oxford, 1982–84.
Go to Profile#7589
James Eugene Dalen
#114402
Overall Influence
#7590
Jay Loeffler
#63425
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Jay Steven Loeffler was an American physician at Massachusetts General Hospital where he served as Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology since 2000. He was the Herman and Joan Suit Professor of Radiation Oncology and Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.
Go to Profile#7591
Lawson Wilkins
1894 - 1963 (69 years)
Lawson Wilkins was a pioneering pediatric endocrinologist. He is known along with John Money for pioneering surgeries for visibly intersex newborns. Honors Borden Award, American Academy of Pediatrics Amory Prize, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Koch Award, Endocrine Society John Howland Award, American Pediatric Society
Go to Profile#7592
Francesco Tava
#82707
Overall Influence
1984 - Present (42 years)
Francesco Tava is an Italian philosopher and associate professor of philosophy at the University of the West of England. He is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of Future Humanities. Tava is known for his works on phenomenology.
Go to Profile#7593
Géza Fodor
#79303
Overall Influence
1943 - 2008 (65 years)
Géza Fodor was a Hungarian art and literary critic, philosopher, and dramaturge. He was one of the founding members of the Katona József Theater in Budapest. He worked at the Institute of Philosophy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 1967 and 1973 and at the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University thereafter.
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Vasily Anisimoff
1878 - 1938 (60 years)
Vasily Onisimovich Afanasiev was a revolutionary and a propagandist of Marxism as well as a prominent activist and supporter of the Russian and international Socialist movement. He was among the active members of the RSDLP and was a Menshevik. In 1925, Anisimoff became the deputy head of the economic department of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy of the RSFSR, managing the "Exportles" trust.
Go to Profile#7595
Padmanee Sharma
#114466
Overall Influence
#7596
Sean McGrath
#99927
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Sean Joseph McGrath is a Canadian philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is known for his published work in the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. Major single-authored works include The Dark Ground of Spirit: Schelling and the Unconscious , Nature: An Essay in Negative Ecology, and Philosophical Foundations of the Late Schelling: The Turn to the Positive. McGrath was awarded the President's Award for Outstanding Research at Memorial University in 2012. He was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada as Member of the College of New Scholars in 2014.
Go to Profile#7597
Zdzisław Najder
#9903
Overall Influence
1930 - 2021 (91 years)
Zdzisław Najder was a Polish literary historian, critic, and political activist. He was primarily known for his studies on Joseph Conrad, for his periods of service as political adviser to Lech Wałęsa and Jan Olszewski, and for having served as chief of the Polish-language section of Radio Free Europe.
Go to Profile#7598
Julie Renee Brahmer
#114469
Overall Influence
#7599
Dimitri Ginev
#95959
Overall Influence
1956 - 2021 (65 years)
Dimitri Ginev held the position of Professor of History of Discourses in Cultural Studies at St. Kliment Ohridski University. Ginev specialized in philosophy of science, particularly hermeneutic philosophy of science.
Go to Profile#7600
Anthony Y. H. Lu
#114481
Overall Influence
