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,

#10651

Klaus Michael Beier

Klaus Michael Beier
#110785
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (65 years)
Klaus Michael Beier is a German physician, psychotherapist and sexologist. He is director of the Institute for sexology and sexual medicine at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin in Berlin. Life Klaus Michael Beier began studying medicine in 1979 and philosophy at the Free University of Berlin in 1980. He received his doctorate in medicine in 1986 and two years later in philosophy. In 1988 he became a scientific assistant at the Research and Counselling Centre for Sexual Medicine of the University Hospital in Kiel. There he habilitated in 1994 in sexual medicine and in 1995 was appointed to the...
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#10652

Heather Ashton

#21349
Overall Influence
1929 - 2019 (90 years)
Heather Ashton was a British psychopharmacologist and physician. She is best known for her clinical and research work on benzodiazepine dependence. Biography Chrystal Heather Champion was born in Dehradun, northern India, to Harry Champion, a British silviculturist, and Chrystal Champion, a secretary. From the age of six, she attended a boarding school in Swanage, Dorset, England. When WWII began, she was evacuated to West Chester, Pennsylvania; during the crossing, her ship was attacked by a U-boat.
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#10653

Rick Altman

#76196
Overall Influence
1945 - Present (81 years)
Rick Altman is a professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature in the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature, University of Iowa, Iowa City, United States. He has also published under the name Charles F. Altman.
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#10654

Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson
#14913
Overall Influence
1908 - 1996 (88 years)
Roger Tory Peterson was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jamestown, New York, a small, industrial city in western New York, on August 28, 1908. His father, Charles Gustav Peterson, was an immigrant from Sweden who came to America as an infant. At the age of ten, Charles Peterson lost his father to appendicitis and was sent off to work in the mills. After leaving the mills, he earned his living as a traveling salesman. Roger's mother, Henrietta Badar...
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#10655

Frédérick Têtu

#135178
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Frédérick Têtu is a teacher born in the city of Québec in 1967. He holds a B.A. and a master's degree in philosophy from the Université Laval , and a bachelor of law from McGill University . He has done further studies in political science at Boston College .
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#10656

Paul H. Silverman

#110110
Overall Influence
1924 - 2004 (80 years)
Paul Hyman Silverman was an American medical researcher in the fields of immunology, epidemiology, and parasitology. He was recognized for his research on stem cells and on the human genome. Early life and education Silverman was born on October 8, 1924, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Growing up, he became fascinated with reading, and he won a local prize for his reading comprehension ability. He attended the University of Minnesota as a pre-medical student while also working three part-time jobs. He went on to serve in a MASH in the United States Army during World War II. He received a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University.
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#10657

John-Arne Røttingen

John-Arne Røttingen
#58889
Overall Influence
1969 - Present (57 years)
John-Arne Røttingen is a Norwegian medical scientist, research administrator and civil servant. He is currently Ambassador for Global Health in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has been a special advisor to the World Health Organization . 11 October 2023 Røttingen was named the new head of the Wellcome Trust.
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#10658

Henry J. M. Barnett

#41223
Overall Influence
1922 - 2016 (94 years)
Henry Joseph Macaulay Barnett was a Canadian physician, a leading stroke researcher and pioneer of the use of aspirin for stroke prevention. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, he graduated from the University of Toronto Schools and received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1944.
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#10659

Julia Adler-Milstein

#173027
Overall Influence
Julia Adler-Milstein is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Clinical Informatics and Improvement Research at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2019, she was named a Member of the National Academy of Medicine.
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#10660

Christoph-Hellmut Mahling

#106877
Overall Influence
1932 - 2012 (80 years)
Christoph-Hellmut Mahling was a German musicologist and lecturer at various universities. Life and career Born in Berlin, Mahling studied musicology by Walter Gerstenberg, Georg Reichert, Joseph Müller-Blattau, and Walter Salmen at the University of Tübingen and the Saarland University from 1957 to 1962.
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#10661

Marcus Berquist

#174823
Overall Influence
1934 - 2010 (76 years)
Marcus Berquist was one of the founders of Thomas Aquinas College, a professor, and an expert on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. and his licentiate degree in philosophy from Université Laval in Quebec. He nearly completed his Ph.D. from Université Laval with Charles De Koninck as his mentor but did not due to De Koninck's death.
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#10662

Arturo Carsetti

Arturo Carsetti
#133313
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (86 years)
Arturo Carsetti is an Italian Philosopher of sciences and former Professor of philosophy of science at the University of Bari and the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He is the editor of the Italian Journal for the philosophy of science La Nuova Critica founded in 1957 by Valerio Tonini. He is notable for his contributions, also as a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, to philosophy of science, epistemology, metabiology, cognitive science, semantics and philosophy of mind.
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#10663

Qanta A. Ahmed

#63002
Overall Influence
Qanta A. Ahmed is a British-American physician who came to prominence as a doctor specializing in sleep disorders. She has also worked as an author, women's rights activist, journalist and public commentator.
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#10664

Laurent Cesalli

#174464
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (58 years)
Laurent Cesalli is a Swiss historian of philosophy who focuses on philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and metaphysics. Life Laurent Cesalli was born in Vevey in 1968. After graduating from high school in 1987, he studied at the University of Fribourg and graduated in 1993 under the supervision of Ruedi Imbach. Upon graduation he focused on non-academic activities: in 1995–1996, he cycled from Geneva to Beijing and, in 1997, he became a mountain guide. In 1998, he began his Ph.D. in medieval philosophy at the University of Geneva under the supervision of Alain de Libera, completing it in 2003.
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#10665

Shreyas Vasanawala

#135732
Overall Influence
Shreyas Vasanawala is an American pediatric radiologist and biomedical engineer. In 2021, Vasanawala was appointed the Division Chief, Associate Chair, and Radiologist-in-Chief for Pediatric Radiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the inaugural William R. Brody Professor of Pediatric Radiology and Child Health.
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#10666

Ross Harrison

#71545
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Ross Harrison is a British philosopher and academic. He served as Provost of King's College, Cambridge from 2006 to 2013. He was previously Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London. Harrison's books include "Bentham" , which explores the philosophy of Jeremy Bentham.
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#10667

Werner Braun

#105726
Overall Influence
1926 - 2012 (86 years)
Werner Hermann Georg Braun was a German musicologist. Life Born in Sangerhausen, Braun studied musicology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1946 to 1950 with Max Schneider and school music with main instrument piano and Germanistics. In 1950 he passed the Staatsexamen for the teaching profession in the subjects music and German. From 1951 on he worked as and later as senior assistant at the musicological institute of the Martin-Luther-University in Halle. In 1952 he received his doctorate with a dissertation on Johann Mattheson. In 1958, the University of Halle-Wittenberg accepted his habilitation on the Central German Choral Passion in the 18th century.
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#10668

Alberto Basso

#83182
Overall Influence
1931 - Present (95 years)
Alberto Basso is an Italian musicologist and librarian. He started his activity in 1952 with a monograph on Stravinsky. In 1956 he graduated in law at the University of Turin but his activity was then fully devoted to music. From 1961 to 1974 he taught history of music at the Conservatory of Turin, where he was also librarian from 1974 to 1993. From 1973 to 1979 and from 1994 to 1997 he was president of the Italian Society of Musicology. In 1986 Basso founded the Istituto per i Beni Musicali in Piemonte . In 1982 he became a member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Basso is also a ...
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#10669

Christine Berg

#89494
Overall Influence
Christine Dorothy Berg is an American radiation oncologist and physician-scientist who was chief of the early detection research group at the National Cancer Institute. Life Berg completed a M.D. at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine from 1977 to 1981 at the McGaw Medical Center. Berg conducted a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology from 1981 to 1984 at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. She was a resident in radiation oncology from 1984 to 1986 with MedStar Health.
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#10670

Kermit E. Krantz

Kermit E. Krantz
#54654
Overall Influence
1923 - 2007 (84 years)
Kermit Edward Krantz was a surgeon, inventor and faculty member at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is most known as the co-developer of the Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz , a medical procedure for stress urinary incontinence which he performed over 5000 times. He served as Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He was largely credited with desegregating the maternity ward of that hospital in the 1960s.
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#10671

Teresa Forcades

Teresa Forcades
#18557
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (60 years)
Teresa Forcades i Vila is a Catalan physician, Benedictine nun and social activist. Forcades i Vila is known for her outspoken and sometimes controversial views on the church, public health and Catalan independence, and for her vaccine skepticism.
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#10672

Suetonia Palmer

#112903
Overall Influence
Suetonia Cressida Palmer is a New Zealand nephrology academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Otago. Academic career After a 2009 PhD titled Kidney function in cardiovascular disease at the University of Otago, Palmer rose to full professor.
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#10673

Josephine Gatt Ciancio

#112288
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
Josephine Gatt Ciancio is a Maltese social scientist, and minor philosopher. In philosophy she is mostly interested in Possible-world theories. Life Gatt Ciancio was born at Msida, Malta, in 1946. She studied at the University of Malta, from who acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Maltese Language, English Language, and Mediterranean Studies . She also studied at the Pacific Western University in Los Angeles, California, United States. From here she acquired a Master’s degree in Science with a major in Neuroscience. She also conducted studies in Social Democracy and Political Economy. In 1967 Gatt...
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#10674

Aklilu Lemma

Aklilu Lemma
#19169
Overall Influence
1934 - 1997 (63 years)
Aklilu Lemma was an Ethiopian pathobiologist. In 1989, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award "for discovering and campaigning relentlessly for an affordable preventative against bilharzia." Education Lemma was educated at Addis Ababa University College and at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. where he obtained his D.Sc. in 1964. His dissertation was on sandfly-borne leishmaniasis.
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#10675

Hiroshi Matsumoto

#175103
Overall Influence
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#10676

Dal Yong Jin

#63146
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Dal Yong Jin is a media studies scholar. He is Distinguished SFU Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada where his research explores digital platforms, digital games, media history, political economy of communication, globalization and trans-nationalization, the Korean Wave, and science journalism. He has published more than 30 books and penned more than 200 journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews. Jin has delivered numerous keynote speeches, conference presentations, invited lectures, and media interviews on subjects such as digital platforms, video games, globalization, transnational culture, and the Korean Wave.
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#10677

James S. Economou

#78712
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
James S. Economou is an American physician-scientist on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles where he is also a surgical oncologist and tumor immunologist. He was Vice Chancellor for Research at UCLA where he promoted academic entrepreneurship, transdisciplinary research, and support of the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The UCLA research enterprise generates almost one billion dollars in extramural funds annually.
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#10678

Alisa Bokulich

#124214
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Alisa Bokulich is an American philosopher of science and Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. Since 2010 she has been the Director of the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, where she organizes the Boston Colloquium for Philosophy of Science, and serves as a Series Editor for Boston Studies in Philosophy and History of Science. She was the first woman ever to be tenured in the Philosophy Department at Boston University and the first woman to become a director of a center for history and philosophy of science in North America.
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#10679

Egil A. Wyller

Egil A. Wyller
#75654
Overall Influence
1925 - 2021 (96 years)
Egil Anders Wyller was a Norwegian philosopher, historian, non-fiction writer and translator. He was born in Stavanger, the son of Trygve Christian Wyller and Anne Kathrine Dons, and brother of Thomas Christian Wyller. He was assigned professor at the University of Oslo from 1969. Among his books are Tidsproblemet hos Olaf Bull from 1958 and Enhet og annethet from 1981. He has translated dialogues of Plato into Norwegian language, and been a co-editor of the book series Idé og tanke. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 2000.
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#10680

Sophie Jamal

#63622
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Sophie Jamal is a Canadian endocrinologist and former osteoporosis researcher who was at the centre of a scientific misconduct case in the mid-to-late 2010s. Jamal published a high-profile paper suggesting that the heart medication nitroglycerin was a treatment for osteoporosis, and was later demonstrated to have misrepresented her results. She received a lifetime ban from receiving funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and was named directly in their disclosure report, becoming the first person mentioned by name by the institute for scientific misconduct. Jamal was later st...
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#10681

Tim Dean

#86484
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Tim Dean is a British academic, author, notable in the field of contemporary queer theory, and author of several works on the subject: Gary Snyder and the American Unconscious , Beyond Sexuality , and Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking , all published by the University of Chicago Press, and a co-editor of Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis . Dean published Hatred of Sex together with Oliver Davis in 2022.
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#10682

Karin Schallreuter

#152455
Overall Influence
Karin Uta Schallreuter is a German-born medical scientist, and emerita professor for Clinical and Experimental Dermatology at the University of Bradford, England. She has researched the fields of vitiligo and eczema.
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#10683

Nuzhat Husain

#29898
Overall Influence
Nuzhat Husain is an Indian pathologist. She is former director of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. Education She completed her MBBS at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University in 1985 and MD from King George Medical College, University of Lucknow in 1989 with high merit and several awards including the President of India’s silver medal for best woman student at the University in 1985 and the KB Kunwar Gold medal for best thesis in 1989, She also worked as a post doctoral fellow at Molecular Neuro-oncology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University during 1997.
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#10684

Allan Rosenfield

#42671
Overall Influence
1933 - 2008 (75 years)
Allan Rosenfield was an advocate for women's health during the worldwide AIDS pandemic as dean of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. Early life Rosenfield was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on April 28, 1933. He received a B.A. in biochemistry from Harvard College in 1955. In 1959, he graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons with his M.D. degree.
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#10685

Richard Bleiler

#46070
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (67 years)
Richard James Bleiler is an American bibliographer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime, and adventure fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 2002 and for the Munsey Award in 2019–2022. He won the 2023 Munsey Award, given to “an individual or organization that has bettered the pulp community.” He is the son of bibliographer and publisher Everett F. Bleiler.
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#10686

Shiranee Sriskandan

#172833
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Shiranee Sriskandan is a British academic who is Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant at Hammersmith Hospital. Her research considers how Gram-positive bacteria cause disease, with a particular focus on the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes.
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#10687

George Brownlee

#43033
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (84 years)
George Gow Brownlee FRS FMedSci is a British pathologist and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Education Brownlee was educated at Dulwich College and Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he studied Natural Sciences and was awarded a Master of Arts degree followed by PhD in 1967 for research on nucleotides supervised by Fred Sanger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology .
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#10688

Patricia Reif

#101032
Overall Influence
1930 - 2002 (72 years)
Patricia Reif, also known as Sister Richard, , was an American professor of philosophy and theology, known locally and nationally for her involvement in ecumenical issues, for her innovative leadership in the field of feminist spirituality and for her leadership in the Women's Ordination Conference. She was a founding member and leader of the ecumenical Immaculate Heart of Mary Community established in 1970 in Los Angeles as a result of irreconcilable differences between Cardinal James F. McIntyre over the implementation of Vatican II reforms. Along with the 455 vowed members of the canonic...
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#10689

Vanessa Grubbs

Vanessa Grubbs
#60097
Overall Influence
Vanessa Grubbs is a nephrologist and a writer based in Oakland, California. She is an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She works at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
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#10690

Andy Lamey

#171317
Overall Influence
Andy Lamey is a Canadian philosopher and journalist. He is a teaching professor at the University of California, San Diego . He is the author of Frontier Justice: The Global Refugee Crisis and What To Do About It Duty and the Beast: Should We Eat Meat in the Name of Animal Rights? and The Canadian Mind: Essays on Writers and Thinkers .
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#10691

Paola Voci

#80666
Overall Influence
Paola Voci is an Italian-born academic specialising in Chinese language and culture, film and media studies, visual culture, and digital culture. She is a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
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#10692

Gary Leib

#89577
Overall Influence
1901 - 2021 (120 years)
Gary David Leib was an American underground cartoonist, animator, and musician. Best known for the comic book Idiotland , Leib's work also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Musician Magazine, The New York Observer, RAW, BLAB! and as weekly features in New York Press for many years. His animation work was featured in films like American Ultra, American Splendor, and Happiness. Leib was a founding member of the Grammy Award-nominated band Rubber Rodeo, which recorded two albums for Mercury Records. He created original music for independent and feature films, including the critical...
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#10693

Richard Schatzki

#45915
Overall Influence
1902 - 1992 (90 years)
Richard Schatzki was a German-American radiologist. He was born in Klafeld, Germany on February 22, 1901. In 1933, Nazi leadership declared that no one of Jewish background could hold a position in German governmental facilities. As a result, Schatzki was forced to leave his University Hospital position. Four months later, Schatzki moved to America with his wife Greta and young son Stefan. They were the first Schatzkis to leave Germany, although other family members would join them in America in the years leading up to the war as conditions in Germany deteriorated further. Upon leaving his home nation, Germany, his wife was pregnant with their second son.
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#10694

Lesley Campbell

#83711
Overall Influence
Lesley Veronica Campbell is an Australian endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine with a special interest in clinical diabetes, appetite and metabolism. She is a principal research fellow at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia.
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#10695

Kevin Brownlow

#65539
Overall Influence
1938 - Present (88 years)
Kevin Brownlow is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. Brownlow has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of early mass-entertainment cinema. He received an Academy Honorary Award at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 13 November 2010.
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#10696

Maja Solar

#162892
Overall Influence
1980 - Present (46 years)
Maja Solar is a Serbian poetress and Marxist-feminist philosopher. Biography Maja Solar studied philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Novi Sad, graduated with Magister thesis on Darwin and Essentialism in 2008 and obtained her doctorate as PhD with thesis on The problem of ownership in Rousseau’s and Marx's philosophy in 2014. She was assistant at the department of philosophy of the university, specialized in philosophy of economics with focus on Marxism, political philosophy, philosophy of science and feminist theory from 2009–14.
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#10697

Stuart C. Ray

#55568
Overall Influence
Stuart C. Ray is an American physician. He is Vice Chair of Medicine for Data Integrity and Analytics, Associate Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. Ray also holds appointments in Viral Oncology and the Division of Health Sciences Informatics. He is affiliated with the Institute for Computational Medicine at Johns Hopkins and is licensed to practice medicine in Maryland.
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#10698

Menno Sluijter

#47152
Overall Influence
1932 - 2022 (90 years)
Menno Emanuël Sluijter is an anaesthetist from the Netherlands. Sluijter obtained his MD at the University of Amsterdam in 1957 and his PhD at the same institution in 1963 with the dissertation The treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning by administration of oxygen at high atmospheric pressure. Sluijter is credited with the development of pulsed radiofrequency treatment. He is involved in research related to chronic pain. He is also affiliated with the Jan van Goyen Clinic in Amsterdam. He has helped to work on shifting how physicians deal with long term pain from 'pain management', to 'pain t...
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#10699

Kenneth Laine Ketner

#148705
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Kenneth Laine Ketner is an American philosopher. He is Paul Whitfield Horn Professor, Charles Sanders Peirce Interdisciplinary Professor and Director of Institute for Studies in Pragmaticism, Texas Tech University.
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#10700

Vicki Sara

#41533
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
Vicki Rubian Sara is an Australian endocrinologist, who specialises in research into growth hormones and foetal brain development. Sara was born in Sydney, and attended Sydney Girls High School. She attended the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a PhD in 1974 for her thesis titled "The action of prenatal trophic hormones on brain growth and behaviour". She worked at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research from 1973 to 1976, then as a research fellow at the International Brain Research Organization . In 1980, she joined the Karolinska Institute in Stoc...
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