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,
#13251
Jerome I. Kleinerman
#164911
Overall Influence
#13252
John Hyttel
#164912
Overall Influence
#13253
Renzo Galanello
#164914
Overall Influence
#13254
Bryan Talmadge Kelly
#164925
Overall Influence
#13255
Gretel Ammann
#62651
Overall Influence
1947 - 2000 (53 years)
Margarita Ammann Martínez, better known as Gretel Ammann was a Spanish philosopher, essayist, activist, radical feminist, and lesbian separatist. She was a pioneer of feminism in Barcelona. Early years and education Margarita Ammann Martínez was born in Donostia. Her mother was Basque and her father was Austrian, a fugitive from Nazi Germany. When she was two years old, the family moved to Barcelona, where she lived the rest of her life. From childhood, she was trained in different artistic disciplines, including writing, drawing, photography and music. During her baccalaureate and elementary...
Go to Profile#13256
Albert M. Lerner
#164929
Overall Influence
#13257
Patrick Croskerry
#164935
Overall Influence
#13258
James P. Lichtenberger
1870 - 1953 (83 years)
James Pendleton Lichtenberger was an American sociologist and academic. Lichtenberger served as the twelfth president of the American Sociological Association. Early life and education Lichtenberger was born on 10 June 1870 in Decatur, Illinois to Conrad H. and Anna Elizabeth Lichtenberger, née Nesbitt. Lichtenberger attended Eureka College and received a bachelor's degree in 1893. He soon after enrolled in the ministry of the Church of the Disciples of Christ and was a pastor in the church in Canton, Illinois from 1896 to 1899, after which we transferred to a congregation in Buffalo, New York.
Go to Profile#13259
Herbert J. Kayden
#164952
Overall Influence
#13260
Elisabeth Shane
#164971
Overall Influence
#13261
Lawrence J. Burgart
#164989
Overall Influence
#13262
Victor E. Koteliansky
#165002
Overall Influence
#13263
Yasumasa Monden
#165010
Overall Influence
#13264
Lennart Angervall
#165018
Overall Influence
#13265
Atanasio Pandiella
#165019
Overall Influence
#13266
Nathan Michael Bass
#165020
Overall Influence
#13267
Douglas Brian Sawyer
#165023
Overall Influence
#13268
Kirkwood F. Jr. Adams
#165043
Overall Influence
#13269
Nikos Nissiotis
1924 - 1986 (62 years)
Nikolaos "Nikos" A. Nissiotis was a Greek theologian, philosopher, university professor, and basketball coach. Basketball coaching career Nissiotis is largely credited with developing the sport of basketball in Greece. He was the head coach of the Greek League club Panellinios Athens, during its famous "Golden Five", or "Fabulous Five" era, during the 1950s decade. With Panellinios, he won 3 Greek League championships, in the years 1953, 1955, and 1957. He also won two European-wide International Club Tournament Championships with the club, as he won the 1955 Brussels Basketball Tournament and the 1956 San Remo Basketball Tournament.
Go to Profile#13270
Daisuke Aoki
#165075
Overall Influence
#13271
Minoru Ueda
#165076
Overall Influence
#13272
Mark Joseph Franklin Haykowsky
#165083
Overall Influence
#13273
Gordon Gamsu
#165092
Overall Influence
#13274
John Arthur Parsons
#165109
Overall Influence
#13275
Ngaire Kerse
Ngaire Margaret Kerse is a New Zealand medical academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Auckland. Academic career After a 1998 PhD titled 'Health promotion and older people : a general practice intervention study' at the University of Melbourne, Kerse moved to the University of Auckland, rising to full professor. Notable students include Valerie Wright-St Clair.
Go to Profile#13276
Amund Gulsvik
#165127
Overall Influence
#13277
Kurt H. Debus
1908 - 1983 (75 years)
Kurt Heinrich Debus was a German-American rocket engineer and NASA director. Born in Germany, he was a member of the Schutzstaffel during World War II, where he served as a V-weapons flight test director. Following the war, he was brought to the United States via Operation Paperclip, and directed the design, development, construction and operation of NASA's Saturn launch facilities. He became the first director of NASA's Launch Operations Center , and, under him, NASA conducted 150 launches of military missiles and space vehicles, including 13 launches of the Saturn V rocket as part of the A...
Go to Profile#13278
Etsuro Mori
#165148
Overall Influence
#13279
Leisha Ann Emens
#165151
Overall Influence
#13280
Girish N. Vyas
#165164
Overall Influence
#13281
Naomi Lynn Gerber
#153969
Overall Influence
Naomi Lynn Gerber is an American internist and physician-scientist who researches chronic illness, human movement, and the treatment of fatigue. She is a professor at George Mason University in the department of health administration and policy and director of research in the department of medicine at Fairfax Hospital Inova Health System.
Go to Profile#13282
Vay Liang W. Go
#165167
Overall Influence
#13283
Lorentz M. Irgens
#13284
Ali S. Salim
#165190
Overall Influence
#13285
Roger B. Cohen
#165192
Overall Influence
#13286
Hermann von dem Busche
1468 - 1534 (66 years)
Hermann von dem Busche was a German humanist writer, known for his Vallum humanitatis . He was a pupil of Rudolph von Langen. Vallum humanitatis, sive Humaniorum litterarum contra obrectatores vindiciae was in effect a manifesto for the humanist movement of the time.
Go to Profile#13287
Frank Plummer
#49871
Overall Influence
1952 - 2020 (68 years)
Francis Allan Plummer was a Canadian scientist, academic and HIV/AIDS researcher. He was "a recognized specialist in infectious diseases whose work influenced public health policy in Canada and abroad". He was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba and Scientific Director General, National Microbiology Laboratory.
Go to Profile#13288
Sheldon A. Magder
#165195
Overall Influence
#13289
Nobuhiro Watsuki
#31770
Overall Influence
1970 - Present (56 years)
, better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story , which has over 70 million copies in circulation and a sequel he is currently creating titled Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc . He has written three more series, the western Gun Blaze West , the supernatural Buso Renkin , and the horror manga Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein- . Watsuki has mentored several well-known manga artists, including One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, Hiroyuki Takei of Shaman King fame, and Mr. Fullswing ...
Go to Profile#13290
William Scott Helton
#165201
Overall Influence
#13291
Steven David Schaefer
#165205
Overall Influence
#13292
Charles‐edouard Luyt
#165212
Overall Influence
#13293
Sergei i. Grivennikov
#165218
Overall Influence
#13294
Shannon Bell
#96892
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Shannon Bell is a Canadian performance philosopher who lives and writes philosophy-in-action, experimental philosophy. Bell is also professor and graduate programme director in the York University Political Science Department, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She teaches postmodern theory, fast feminism, sexual politics, cyber politics, identity politics and violent philosophy.
Go to Profile#13295
Jonathan C.t. Carlson
#165225
Overall Influence
#13296
Taiji Tsukamoto
#165228
Overall Influence
#13297
William Roscoe
1753 - 1831 (78 years)
William Roscoe was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast. In his day he was also respected as a historian and art collector, as well as a botanist and miscellaneous writer.
Go to Profile#13298
Dale C. Snover
#165237
Overall Influence
#13299
Aaron Lewis
#165242
Overall Influence
#13300
Holger T. A. Pettersson
#165250
Overall Influence
