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,
#11501
Brigitte Schlegelberger
#149130
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
#11502
Robert Irving Fox
#149140
Overall Influence
#11503
Charles Faiman
#149149
Overall Influence
#11504
Enrico di Robilant
#66689
Overall Influence
1924 - 2012 (88 years)
Enrico di Robilant was an Italian philosopher of law. He taught philosophy of law and political philosophy at the University of Turin , where he had been a follower of Norberto Bobbio. He focused his attention on classical liberalism, Canon Law, libertarian legal theory, and the relationship between Catholicism and Law.
Go to Profile#11505
Henry Noble Day
1808 - 1890 (82 years)
Henry Noble Day was an American philosopher. Day, the second son of Col. Noble and Elizabeth Day, and nephew of Yale President Jeremiah Day, was born in the village of New Preston, in Washington, Connecticut, August 4, 1808.
Go to Profile#11506
André De Troyer
#149194
Overall Influence
#11507
Gorou Kajiyama
#149212
Overall Influence
#11508
Jeff Volek
#147613
Overall Influence
Jeff S. Volek is an American kinesiologist and low-carbohydrate diet advocate who focuses on the clinical application of ketogenic diets. Volek obtained a MSc in Exercise Physiology in 1995 and PhD in Kinesiology from Pennsylvania State University in 1999. He is a registered dietitian.
Go to Profile#11509
Lynn T. Landmesser
#149238
Overall Influence
#11510
Darko Tresnjak
#26642
Overall Influence
Darko Tresnjak is a director of plays, musicals, and opera, and winner of several awards, including the Tony Award. He was the artistic director of the Hartford Stage in Connecticut, United States. Early life and education Tresnjak is of Serbian heritage. Tresnjak and his mother moved from Zemun, Yugoslavia to Maryland in 1976. He graduated from Swarthmore College, became a US citizen, and received a master of fine arts degree from Columbia University.
Go to Profile#11511
Barbara Burtness
#142397
Overall Influence
Barbara Ann Burtness is an American internist and oncologist. She is a Anthony N. Brady Professor of Medicine at Yale University and Chief Translational Research Officer at Yale Cancer Center. She is co-director of the Stand Up to Cancer Fanconi Anemia Research Fund-Farrah Fawcett Foundation Head and Neck Cancer Research Team.
Go to Profile#11512
Thomas Boston Clarkson
#149244
Overall Influence
#11513
Patrizio Rigatti
#149264
Overall Influence
#11514
Hermann Askan Demme
1802 - 1867 (65 years)
Hermann Askan Demme was a German-Swiss physician. Demme was the son of Hermann Gottfried, Generalsuperintendent of Sachsen-Altenburg. At first, he studied philosophy and theology in Jena and Berlin. 1822 he entered the Jenaischen Burschenschaft. He finished his studies 1830 and became assistant to Johann Lukas Schönlein. 1831 he was a military doctor in Warschau, 1832 he visited the United States of America.
Go to Profile#11515
Daniel Callus
1888 - 1965 (77 years)
Daniel Callus was a Maltese historian and philosopher. His main interest was in the history of Medieval philosophy. Life Beginnings Callus was born at Żebbuġ, Malta, on January 20, 1888. Formation Callus joined the Dominicans in 1903 at 15 years of age, and studied with them at Rabat, Malta . In 1906, after receiving his Minor Orders, he was sent to Fiesole, Italy, to pursue his studies there. Four years later, in 1910, he obtained the degree of Lector in Theology and Philosophy from the University of Florence. At the same university Callus undertook studies in philosophy, history of art, an...
Go to Profile#11516
Bruce Kaplan
#149272
Overall Influence
#11517
Kunle Odunsi
#109499
Overall Influence
Adekunle O. Odunsi is an American gynecologic oncologist. In 2020, Odunsi was named the director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. Early life and education Growing up in Nigeria, Odunsi attended the University of Ife for his Bachelor of Science degree and medical degree. Following this, he completed his PhD in immunogenetics at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.
Go to Profile#11518
Johan Bellemans
#149304
Overall Influence
#11519
Christian Ruben
1805 - 1875 (70 years)
Christoph Christian Ruben was a German painter. Born in Trier, Ruben studied in Düsseldorf under Peter von Cornelius from 1823, and in 1826 settled in Munich, where he worked on the designs for the new stained glass windows for the Regensburg Cathedral and for a church in Auer. In 1836 he worked on designs for the decoration of Hohenschwangau Castle, and produced oil paintings as well. In 1841 he was appointed director at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he decorated the belvedere with wall paintings. He also painted a hall for the Prince of Salm and three altarpieces for the church in Turnau .
Go to Profile#11520
Ravi Kant
#25754
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Ravi Kant is a professor of Surgery at Sharda University, who was the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh from 2017 to 2021 and the Vice Chancellor of King George's Medical University from 2014 to 2017. Earlier he was head of surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhopal and faculty at Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2016.
Go to Profile#11521
Ori D. Rotstein
#149336
Overall Influence
#11522
Heather Anne Mckay
#149341
Overall Influence
#11523
Jennifer Kurinczuk
#128674
Overall Influence
Jennifer J. Kurinczuk is a British physician who is a Professor of Perinatal Epidemiology and Director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. In 2019 she was named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurinczuk investigated the neonatal complications of coronavirus disease.
Go to Profile#11524
Mats Brännström
#149347
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
#11525
Jes Bertelsen
#69881
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
Jes Bertelsen , Dr. phil. in History of ideas, is a Danish spiritual teacher and author. Since 1982 he has been the leader of Vækstcenteret , which he and his wife at the time, Hanne Kizach, founded in Norre-Snede Municipality, Denmark. His teachings are based on an experiential investigation of the nature of consciousness, using comparative analysis of Eastern and Western spiritual teachings and consciousness practices on a foundation of modern psychological, philosophical and scientific approaches. He teaches in Danish. A number of his books have been translated into German.
Go to Profile#11526
Zhao‐you Tang
#149368
Overall Influence
#11527
Linda Rabeneck
#149369
Overall Influence
#11528
Eric L. Michelson
#149372
Overall Influence
#11529
Brigitte Autran
#149388
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (72 years)
#11530
Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi
1855 - 1902 (47 years)
'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi was a Syrian author and Pan-Arab solidarity supporter. He was one of the most prominent intellectuals of his time; however, his thoughts and writings continue to be relevant to the issues of Islamic identity and Pan-Arabism. His criticisms of the Ottoman Empire eventually led to Arabs calling for the sovereignty of the Arab Nations, setting the basis for Pan-Arab nationalism. Al-Kawakibi articulated his ideas in two influential books, Tabai al-Istibdad wa-Masari al-Isti’bad and Umm Al-Qura . He died in 1902 of “mysterious” causes. His family alleged that he was po...
Go to Profile#11531
Raul Fleischmajer
#149410
Overall Influence
#11532
William Shippen Jr.
1736 - 1808 (72 years)
William Shippen Jr. , was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery and obstetrics in Colonial America and founded the first maternity hospital in America. He was the 3rd Director General of Hospitals of the Continental Army.
Go to Profile#11533
Gunnar Kahlmeter
#149437
Overall Influence
#11534
Ferdinand Knobloch
#78292
Overall Influence
1916 - 2018 (102 years)
Ferdinand Knobloch CSc.[Cz], F. R. C. P. was a Czech-Canadian psychiatrist and professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia. Knobloch was born in Prague in August 1916. He spent two years in the Flossenbürg concentration camp, and his first wife Zuzana was murdered in Auschwitz. He established, with his second wife, Jirina Knobloch, a type of psychotherapy called integrated psychotherapy . He turned 100 in August 2016 and died in January 2018 at the age of 101.
Go to Profile#11535
Shirley Kaneda
#114992
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (75 years)
Shirley Kaneda is an abstract painter and artist based in New York City. Early life Shirley Kaneda is an American artist who was born in Tokyo to Korean-born parents. She was educated in English attending The American School in Japan. She came to New York in 1970 to attend Parsons School of Design and has since lived and worked in New York City. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1986.
Go to Profile#11536
J. Phillip Smith
#149470
Overall Influence
#11537
Richard Gaskin
#122781
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Richard Maxwell Gaskin is a British philosopher who is a professor at the University of Liverpool. He has published on metaphysics, philosophy of language and logic, and history of philosophy, as well as on philosophy of literature, literary theory, and the European literary tradition. Gaskin received his Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in classics and philosophy at University College, Oxford, and has held academic posts at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, as well as at the University of Sussex.
Go to Profile#11538
Gerard A. Silvestri
#149483
Overall Influence
#11539
Howard A. A. Bird
#149491
Overall Influence
#11540
Robert H. Miller
#106508
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Robert Harold Miller, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S. is an American surgeon and the executive director of the American Board of Otolaryngology in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Education and career Miller graduated from Metairie Park Country Day School in 1965. Miller received his B.S. degree in Biology from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1969, and his M.D. degree from Tulane's School of Medicine in 1973. He was also named to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society that same year. He completed Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery residency training in 1978 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, and subsequently practiced at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Go to Profile#11541
Mario Thevis
#149506
Overall Influence
#11542
Hermes A. Kontos
#149514
Overall Influence
#11543
Malcolm I. Levene
#149518
Overall Influence
#11544
Gregory Russell Pond
#149528
Overall Influence
#11545
William L. Young†
#149540
Overall Influence
#11546
Petrus Aureolus
1280 - 1322 (42 years)
#11547
Paul Dudley White
1886 - 1973 (87 years)
Paul Dudley White was an American physician and cardiologist. He was considered one of the leading cardiologists of his day, and a prominent advocate of preventive medicine. Early life and education White was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of Herbert Warren White and Elizabeth Abigail Dudley. White's interest in medicine was sparked early in life, when he accompanied his father, a family practitioner, on rounds and house calls in a horse and buggy. A 1903 graduate of the Roxbury Latin School, his undergraduate education at Harvard College encompassed history and forestry as well as pre-medical courses.
Go to Profile#11548
Beau M. Ances
#149545
Overall Influence
#11549
Jacques Jamart
#149558
Overall Influence
#11550
Tim-matthias Strom
#149572
Overall Influence
