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,
#12251
Ignacio Chávez Sánchez
1897 - 1981 (84 years)
Ignacio Chávez Sánchez, M.D., F.A.C.P. was a prominent Mexican educator, cardiologist, and founding member of El Colegio Nacional. Education and professional career Dr. Chávez studied at Colegio de San Nicolás and the School of Medicine of Morelia. He received his bachelor's degree in medicine-surgery from the National University in 1920. He was the rector of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo from 1920 to 1921. He taught several subjects in the School of Medicine of Morelia and at the National School of Medicine since 1922. He specialized in cardiology in Paris under Henri Vasquez and Charles Laubry.
Go to Profile#12252
Najm al-Din Razi
1177 - 1256 (79 years)
Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh b. Moḥammad b. Šahāvar b. Anūšervān al-Rāzī commonly known by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse" was a 13th-century Sufi. Hamid Algar, translator of the Persian Merṣād to English, states the application of "wetnurse" to the author of the Merṣād derives from the idea of the initiate on the Path being a newborn infant who needs suckling to survive. Dāya followed the Sufi order, Kubrawiyya, established by one of his greatest influences, Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Dāya traveled to Kārazm and soon became a morīd of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā. Kubrā then appointed Shaikh Majd al-Dīn Bagdādī as the spiritual trainer who also became Dāya's biggest influence.
Go to Profile#12253
Philippe Beutels
#155695
Overall Influence
#12254
Francisco Canals Vidal
#118248
Overall Influence
1922 - 2009 (87 years)
Francisco Canals Vidal was a Spanish philosopher, theologian, academic and lay Catholic activist. The longtime chair of Catedra de Metafísica of the Barcelona University, he is recognized mostly as one of the most distinguished contemporary Thomists and leader of the so-called Barcelona Thomist school; his scientific focus was mostly on metaphysics of cognition. As a theologian he specialized in theology of history and Josephology, as lay Catholic he contributed to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Historian of ideas and partially political theorist himself, he remained related to the Ca...
Go to Profile#12255
Prof. P. O. Madsen
#155698
Overall Influence
#12256
Herbert Barton Grossman
#155700
Overall Influence
#12257
Harvey Dillon
#151955
Overall Influence
Harvey Albert Dillon is an Australian expert in auditory science and linguistics. Dillon did research for many years at the Australian National Acoustic Laboratories , where he was appointed Director in 2000. From 1991 to 2007, Dillon was also a deputy director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Innovations. While at NAL, Dillon created, jointly with Denis Byrne, the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement questionnaire for guiding improvements in hearing ability. In 2016, while Director at NAL, Dillon was awarded the Aram Glorig Award ‘for lifelong dedicati...
Go to Profile#12258
Bennett M. Shapiro
#155705
Overall Influence
#12259
David Patrick Ryan
#155727
Overall Influence
#12260
Richard P. Macdermott
#155728
Overall Influence
#12261
Robert Hume
#155729
Overall Influence
#12262
Norman Dott
1897 - 1973 (76 years)
Norman McOmish Dott, CBE FRCSE FRSE FRCSC was a Scottish neurosurgeon. He was the first holder of the Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of Edinburgh. Life Norman Dott was born in Edinburgh on 26 August 1897, the third of the five children of Rebecca Morton and Peter McOmish Dott , a picture dealer based at 127 George Street in Edinburgh's New Town. He was educated at George Heriot's School and originally intended a career in engineering. However a serious motorcycle accident on Lothian Road, hospitalised him and left him with a permanent leg injury . The long spell in hospital re-inspired Dott and he changed his ambition to focus upon medicine rather than engineering.
Go to Profile#12263
Michael B. Reid
#155762
Overall Influence
#12264
Mojca Kumerdej
#109324
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Mojca Kumerdej is a Slovene writer, philosopher and critic. She works as the cultural chronicler for the daily newspaper Delo. Biography Kumerdej graduated in philosophy and sociology of culture from the University of Ljubljana. Her debut novel Krst nad Triglavom is a parody and a witty and ironical revision of one of Slovene literary history's most important works, the epic poem Krst pri Savici by France Prešeren. Her next two published books, Fragma and Temna snov, are collections of short stories. Her stories have been translated into many languages and have been published in various Slo...
Go to Profile#12265
Terence M. Mayhew
#155772
Overall Influence
#12266
Michael K. Brawer
#155781
Overall Influence
#12267
Jonathan B. Rothbard
#155782
Overall Influence
#12268
Benjamin Banneker
1731 - 1806 (75 years)
Benjamin Banneker was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. A landowner, he also worked as a surveyor and farmer. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free African-American mother and a father who had formerly been enslaved, Banneker had little or no formal education and was largely self-taught. He became known for assisting Major Andrew Ellicott in a survey that established the original borders of the District of Columbia, the federal capital district of the United States.
Go to Profile#12269
Vidar Hansson
#155807
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
#12270
William Denovan
#103525
Overall Influence
William Denovan was a Scottish philosopher with an interest in theophysics and physics. One of the earliest occurrences of the term multiverse used in reference to the physical world is due to Denovan, in a letter to Scientific American in 1873.
Go to Profile#12271
Duncan Liddel
1561 - 1613 (52 years)
Duncan Liddel was a Scottish mathematician, physician and astronomer. Life Liddel was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Having received an education in languages and philosophy at the local school and the University of Aberdeen, he went abroad at age 18. Moving to Gdańsk in Polish Prussia first, he arrived after a few months at the Viadrina European University , where a Scot, John Craig was teaching logic and mathematics; Craig superintended his studies.
Go to Profile#12272
Lars‐erik Rutqvist
#155837
Overall Influence
#12273
George Redmayne Murray
1865 - 1939 (74 years)
George Redmayne Murray was an English physician who pioneered in the treatment of endocrine disorders. In 1891, he introduced the successful treatment of myxedema, with injections of sheep thyroid extract, the first instance of hormone replacement therapy.
Go to Profile#12274
James Metcalfe
#155854
Overall Influence
#12275
C. Warren Olanow
#155855
Overall Influence
#12276
T. William Shields
#155871
Overall Influence
#12277
François J. P. Lemaire
#155892
Overall Influence
#12278
Mary Reilly
#119755
Overall Influence
Mary M. Reilly FRCP is an Irish neurologist who works at National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. She studies peripheral neuropathy. She is the President of the Association of British Neurologists.
Go to Profile#12279
Christian August Lorentzen
1749 - 1828 (79 years)
Christian August Lorentzen was a Danish painter. Early life and education Christian August Lorentzen was born in Sønderborg, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Peter Lorentzen and Maria Christina Hansdatter. His father was a watchmaker. He arrived in Copenhagen around 1771 where he frequented the Royal Academy of Fine Arts but it is unclear whether he received formal training. After arriving in Copenhagen, he was soon used as a portrait painter. From 1779 to 1782 he went abroad to develop his skills, visiting the Netherlands, Antwerp and Paris where he copied old masters. In 1792 he traveled to...
Go to Profile#12280
Masato Kusunoki
#155939
Overall Influence
#12281
Hirotaro Narabayashi
#155941
Overall Influence
#12282
Cheryl A.. Conover
#155956
Overall Influence
#12283
Bryan G. Norton
#155988
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (82 years)
#12284
Jens Ulrich Werner
#155991
Overall Influence
#12285
André Louis Blum
#156009
Overall Influence
#12286
Charles Edgar Ganote
#156010
Overall Influence
#12287
Homer A. Boushey
#156040
Overall Influence
#12288
Tim Hunter
#58561
Overall Influence
Timothy B. Hunter, better known as Tim Hunter, is an American radiologist and amateur astronomer, who was the president of the International Dark-Sky Association. Education and profession Hunter received his M.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1968. He teaches as a professor of radiology and orthopaedic surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He also earned a B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1980 and M.S. in astronomy from Swinburne University of Technology in 2006.
Go to Profile#12289
Fereydoun Davatchi
#27257
Overall Influence
Fereydoun Davatchi is the director of Rheumatology Research Center in Tehran University of Medical sciences. Davatchi studied medicine in France and received d'Etat Diploma in Rheumatology from Paris University. He is currently full professor of medicine in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. He established modern Rheumatology in Iran and trained most of the Iranian Rheumatologists who are working and researching Rheumatology in medical universities of Iran.
Go to Profile#12290
Theodore B. Van Itallie
#156061
Overall Influence
#12291
Felix Anton Largiadèr
#156068
Overall Influence
#12292
Reiner-michael Kroppenstedt
#156070
Overall Influence
#12293
Magdy K. Younes
#156072
Overall Influence
#12294
M. J. G. Farthing
#156086
Overall Influence
#12295
Marcos Soares Tatagiba
#156089
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
#12296
John R. T. Monson
#156096
Overall Influence
#12297
Desiderio Passali
#51048
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Desiderio Passali is an Italian doctor and ear, nose and throat professor at the ENT Department of Siena University. Passali worked for 40 years in ENT departments of various University hospitals, in Italy, and established ENT departments in Rome, Siena and L'Aquila he headed for 45 years, and where many physicians and students studied otolaryngology and audiology. His clinical, surgical and scientific main interest centered on rhinology, inflammatory ear diseases, pediatric otolaryngoloy, allergy, equilibrium.
Go to Profile#12298
Volodymyr Yermolenko
#107009
Overall Influence
1980 - Present (46 years)
Volodymyr Yermolenko is a Ukrainian philosopher, essayist, translator, doctor of political studies , candidate of philosophical sciences , and senior lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He is laureate of the Yurii Sheveliov Prize and of the Petro Mohyla Award .
Go to Profile#12299
Richard J. Paulson
#156124
Overall Influence
#12300
Jennifer K. Peat
#156131
Overall Influence
