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,
#7801
Preston Covey
#106153
Overall Influence
1942 - 2006 (64 years)
Preston K. Covey, Jr. was the head of the philosophy department at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, during the later part of the twentieth century. Covey, who earned his Ph.D. jointly through the philosophy department and the humanities graduate programs at Stanford University, founded the Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics .
Go to Profile#7802
Carlo Amoretti
1741 - 1816 (75 years)
Carlo Amoretti was an ecclesiastic, scholar, writer, and scientist. He entered the Augustinian order in 1757. To further his studies, he went to Pavia and Parma where he also taught ecclesiastical law.
Go to Profile#7803
Franciscus Sylvius
1614 - 1672 (58 years)
Franciscus Sylvius , born Franz de le Boë, was a Dutch physician and scientist who was an early champion of Descartes', Van Helmont's and William Harvey's work and theories. He was one of the earliest defenders of the theory of circulation of the blood in the Netherlands, and commonly falsely cited as the inventor of gin – others pinpoint the origin of gin to Italy.
Go to Profile#7804
John Nichols
1745 - 1826 (81 years)
John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary. He is remembered as an influential editor of the Gentleman's Magazine for nearly 40 years; author of a monumental county history of Leicestershire; author of two compendia of biographical material relating to his literary contemporaries; and as one of the agents behind the first complete publication of Domesday Book in 1783.
Go to Profile#7805
Lina M. Obeid
#76043
Overall Influence
1955 - 2019 (64 years)
Lina M. Obeid was an American physician and cancer researcher. Early life Lina Marie Obeid was born in New York and raised in Lebanon, the daughter of Dr. Sami Obeid, a renowned Lebanese surgeon, and Rosette Z. Obeid, a Palestinian writer and cookbook author. Obeid earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Rutgers University. She earned her medical degree at the American University of Beirut in 1983.
Go to Profile#7806
Edward A. Gaensler
#116529
Overall Influence
#7807
Nancy Andrews
#38980
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
Nancy C. Andrews NAS is an American biologist and physician noted for her research on iron homeostasis. Andrews was formerly Dean of the Duke University School of Medicine. Biography Andrews grew up in Syracuse, New York. She earned a B.S. and M.S. from Yale University. She carried out her M.S. research with Joan Steitz at Yale University, studying molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and continued her graduate work with David Baltimore, earning an M.D.-Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School and M.I.T. . She completed her postdoctoral work with Stuart Orkin at Children's Hospital Boston.
Go to Profile#7808
Kenneth Prager
#54552
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Kenneth Prager is an American physician. He is Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Director of Clinical Ethics and Chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia University Medical Center.
Go to Profile#7809
Philipp Rosemann
#61830
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Philipp W. Rosemann is a German philosopher and Cottrill-Rolfes Chair at University of Kentucky. Previously he was Professor of Philosophy at Maynooth University. He is the co-editor of Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations. Prior to his tenure at Maynooth, he taught at the University of Dallas for twenty years.
Go to Profile#7810
Gene G. Hunder
#116561
Overall Influence
#7811
Julije Makanec
1904 - 1945 (41 years)
Julije Makanec was a Croatian politician, teacher, philosopher and writer. During the World War II in Yugoslavia, he was the Minister of Education of the Independent State of Croatia and a high-ranking member of the Ustashas.
Go to Profile#7812
Howard Bauchner
#79253
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Howard C. Bauchner, vice chairman of pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine, was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association from July 1, 2011 until June 30, 2021. During his time with JAMA he created the JAMA Network family of specialty journals, launched four new journals , created many new article types, established a relationship with the United States Preventive Services Task Force, and expanded the journal's digital presence through website redesign, search engine optimization of journal websites, and expanded social media and multimedia activity.
Go to Profile#7813
Kaadsiddheshwar
#79334
Overall Influence
1905 - 2001 (96 years)
Shri Samarth Muppin Kaadsiddheswar Maharaj was a guru in the Navnath tradition of Hindu philosophy. He was a disciple of Shri Samarth Siddharameshwar Maharaj, disciple of Shri Samarth Bhausaheb Maharaj, disciple of Shri Gurulingajangam Maharaj , disciple of the 22nd Shri Samarth Muppin Kaadsiddheswar Maharaj.
Go to Profile#7814
Williams C. Hutton
#116577
Overall Influence
#7815
Edward Lawrence Kaplan
#116580
Overall Influence
#7816
Augustine M. K. Choi
#116610
Overall Influence
#7817
Geoffrey C. Farrell
#116612
Overall Influence
#7818
Catharine Macaulay
1731 - 1791 (60 years)
Catharine Macaulay , was an English Whig republican historian. Early life Catharine Macaulay was a daughter of John Sawbridge and his wife Elizabeth Wanley of Olantigh. Sawbridge was a landed proprietor from Wye, Kent, whose ancestors were Warwickshire yeomanry.
Go to Profile#7819
Heinz Wiendl
#87146
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (58 years)
Heinz Wiendl is a German neurologist and professor at the University Hospital Muenster. He is known for his works in the field of nervous system inflammation and multiple sclerosis. Biography Wiendl studied psychology and medicine from 1989 to 1996 at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, Duke University, North Carolina, and Bale University, Switzerland. He obtained his MD in 1996. In the following years, he was a scholar of the German Research Council at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology , worked as a clinical and research fellow at the Department of Neurology Tuebingen, received board certification and completed his habilitation .
Go to Profile#7820
Niall Patrick Quinn
#116626
Overall Influence
#7821
Anne Ferguson
#105405
Overall Influence
1941 - 1998 (57 years)
Anne Ferguson was a Scottish physician, clinical researcher and expert in inflammatory bowel disease. She was considered one of the most distinguished gastroenterologists in Britain. Early life and education Anne Glen was born in Glasgow in 1941. Her parents were Monica and John Glen. She was educated at Notre Dame High School and the University of Glasgow, graduating with a first class honours BSc in physiology in 1961, followed in 1964 with a MB ChB with honours. She won the Brunton Medal for the most distinguished graduate in medicine at the University.
Go to Profile#7822
Adam Ignacy Zabellewicz
1784 - 1831 (47 years)
Adam Ignacy Zabellewicz was a professor of philosophy at Warsaw University. Life Zabellewicz was professor of philosophy at Warsaw University from 1818 to 1823. Zabellewicz was one of nearly all the university professors of philosophy in Poland before the November 1830–31 Uprising who held a position that shunned both Positivism and metaphysical speculation, affined to the Scottish philosophers but linked in certain respects to Kantianian critique.
Go to Profile#7823
Kristian Helin
#116662
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
#7824
Jonathan Rhoads
#44727
Overall Influence
1907 - 2002 (95 years)
Jonathan Evans Rhoads was an American surgeon, responsible for the development of total parenteral nutrition . Early life and education Rhoads was born to a Quaker family with roots in Pennsylvania dating to 1682. His father, Edward, was a physician in Philadelphia, who had interned under Sir William Osler at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania . He attended Germantown Friends School, Westtown School, Haverford College and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, all Quaker affiliated. An accomplished athlete, he was a track and field star at Haverford, undefeated as a pole-vaulter in int...
Go to Profile#7825
Éric Vicaut
#116700
Overall Influence
#7826
Philip. R. Bromage
#116701
Overall Influence
#7827
Charles G. Mullighan
#116702
Overall Influence
#7828
Kurt Huber
#116708
Overall Influence
#7829
John Wyllie Coburn
#116713
Overall Influence
#7830
Richard Horton
#7019
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Richard Charles Horton is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a United Kingdom–based medical journal. He is an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Oslo.
Go to Profile#7831
David York Mason
#116718
Overall Influence
#7832
Michael J. Baum
#116721
Overall Influence
#7833
Laurence B. Leonard
#116727
Overall Influence
#7834
Aaron Ridley
#113102
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (64 years)
Aaron Ridley is a British philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton. He is known for his works on aesthetics, particularly the philosophy of music, and on Nietzsche. Books The Deed is Everything: Nietzsche on Will and Action. Oxford University Press. 2018 Arguing about art: contemporary philosophical debates. . Routledge. 2007Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Nietzsche on Art. . Routledge. 2007The Philosophy of Music: Theme and Variations. Edinburgh University Press. 2004Beginning Bioethics. Palgrave Macmillan. 1998Nietzsche's Conscience: Six Character Studies from the Genealogy.
Go to Profile#7835
L. S. Cousins
#9933
Overall Influence
1942 - 2015 (73 years)
Lance Selwyn Cousins was a British scholar who specialised in the field of Buddhist Studies. Biography Born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, he studied history and oriental studies at Cambridge University, and took up a post in the Department of Comparative Religion at Manchester University as lecturer and then senior lecturer. After early retirement in the 1990s he settled in Oxford and continued to publish scholarly papers and reviews including a widely cited historical summary such as "The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review article," which was published in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Go to Profile#7836
Leonid Sher
#7837
Nobuyuki Ito
#116783
Overall Influence
#7838
Elias J. Anaissie
#116785
Overall Influence
#7839
Gerardo Van Den Hoek
#116804
Overall Influence
#7840
Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa
#42891
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (58 years)
Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa is a Mexican-American neurosurgeon, author, and researcher. Currently, he is the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and Chair of Neurologic Surgery and runs a basic science research lab at the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in Florida.
Go to Profile#7841
Cornelis J. H. Van De Velde
#116828
Overall Influence
#7842
Adrian Martin
#25897
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Adrian Martin is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and newspapers around the world, and has been translated into over twenty languages and has regular columns in the Dutch De Filmkrant and in Caiman: Cuadernos de cine.
Go to Profile#7843
John J. Crowley
#116843
Overall Influence
#7844
Dr. D. Vergani
#116849
Overall Influence
#7845
William Uricchio
#25788
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
William Charles Uricchio is an American media scholar and Professor of Comparative Media Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor of Comparative Media History at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Together with Henry Jenkins, he helped to build and direct MIT's Comparative Media Studies program. Uricchio was Principal Investigator of the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. He is founder and Principal Investigator of the MIT Open Documentary Lab. He is also author or editor of several books including We Europeans? Media, Representations, Identity; Media Cultures; Die ...
Go to Profile#7846
R. R. Rockingham Gill
#95541
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
Richard Rowan Rockingham Gill was a lecturer of philosophy—in particular, logic—and is an author. Rockingham Gill received a MA from the University of St Andrews and has published variously in the Journal of Symbolic Logic, Archiv für mathematische Logik und Grundlagenforschung and other journals.
Go to Profile#7847
Željko Loparić
#116742
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Željko Loparić is a Yugoslav-born Brazilian philosopher, historian of philosophy and university teacher. Born in modern-day Croatia, he is a naturalized Brazilian, and professor at the University of Campinas.
Go to Profile#7848
Caroline Crowther
#97179
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Caroline Anne Crowther is an Australian/New Zealand medical researcher specialising in maternity and child health. She is associated with both the University of Auckland and the University of Adelaide, being a professor at each institution. Crowther has been the recipient of multiple medical research grants.
Go to Profile#7849
Marcia Stefanick
#21193
Overall Influence
Marcia L. Stefanick is a Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Stanford Women's Health and Sex Differences in Medicine Center. Stefanick’s research investigates the role of lifestyle, particularly exercise, diet, weight control, and menopausal hormone therapy, on chronic disease prevention. Her major focus is heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, and dementia.
Go to Profile#7850
William J. Iii Hamilton
#116892
Overall Influence
