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 Psychology,
#2351
Daphna Oyserman
#86528
Overall Influence
Daphna Oyserman is a Dean's Professor in the Department of Psychology and of Education and Communication at the University of Southern California. She is also a co-director of the USC Dornsife Mind and Society Center. Oyserman received a PhD in psychology and social work from the University of Michigan . She was on the faculty of The Hebrew University, Jerusalem before joining the University of Michigan, where she last held appointments as the Edwin J. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Professor of Psychology, and research professor in the Institute for Social Research. She has been ...
Go to Profile#2352
Werner W. Wittmann
#104936
Overall Influence
1944 - Present (80 years)
Werner W. Wittmann is a German psychologist, evaluation researcher and research methodologist. Biography Werner W. Wittmann grew up in Nuremberg, where he completed his Abitur in 1964. He studied psychology at the University of Freiburg and received his doctorate in 1977 with a thesis on factor-analytical models, methodological studies and problems of reproducibility. In his habilitation in 1984, he dealt with the topic of evaluation research, which was published in 1985 as a book by Springer-Verlag. From 1973 to 1984 Werner W. Wittmann was a scientific assistant at the Psychological Institu...
Go to Profile#2353
Jay Lebow
#97011
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (76 years)
Jay Lebow is an American family psychologist who is senior scholar at the Family Institute at Northwestern University, clinical professor at Northwestern University and is editor-in-chief of the journal Family Process. He is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Lebow is known for his publications and presentations about the practice of couple and family therapy, integrative psychotherapy, the relationship of research and psychotherapy practice, and psychotherapy in difficult divorce, as well as for his role as an editor in the fields of couple and family therapy and family science.
Go to Profile#2354
Susan Y. Bookheimer
#109821
Overall Influence
Susan Y. Bookheimer is a professor of clinical neuroscience at UCLA School of Medicine. She is best known for her work developing brain imaging techniques to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, brain tumors, and epilepsy.
Go to Profile#2355
Maurizio Pompili
#117131
Overall Influence
#2356
Helen Astin
#62804
Overall Influence
1932 - 2015 (83 years)
Helen "Lena" S. Astin was an American academic who was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and Senior Scholar of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. She is most known for her scholarly activism and research concerning higher education issues of women and minority students, as well as women’s career development. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Research Award of Division J of the American Education Research Association and received the Howard Bowen Distinguished Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Go to Profile#2357
Michael Hengartner
#59036
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (58 years)
Michael Otmar Hengartner is a Swiss-Canadian biochemist and molecular biologist. From February 2020 he has been president of the ETH Board. Before that he was the president of the University of Zurich and president of the Swiss Rectors' Conference, swissuniversities.
Go to Profile#2358
Tristan Bekinschtein
#24428
Overall Influence
Tristan Bekinschtein is biologist, Master in Neurophysiology and PhD in neuroscience, Buenos Aires University. He is a university lecturer and Turing Fellow at Cambridge University. Dr. Bekinschtein is primarily known for his work on variable states of consciousness and auditory feedback. He presently runs the Consciousness and Cognition Laboratory at Cambridge University.
Go to Profile#2359
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz
#117321
Overall Influence
#2360
Gordon James Mogenson
#117325
Overall Influence
#2361
Edward Z. Tronick
#117329
Overall Influence
#2362
Charles Roberts Schuster
#117393
Overall Influence
#2363
Sandra Trehub
#92919
Overall Influence
1938 - Present (86 years)
Sandra Trehub was a Canadian psychologist recognized for her research in the field of music psychology. She held the position of Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Biography Trehub completed her PhD in psychology at McGill University, and subsequently joined the faculty at the University of Toronto.
Go to Profile#2364
Jaap Oosterlaan
#117445
Overall Influence
#2365
William Gehring
#69842
Overall Influence
1962 - Present (62 years)
William "Bill" Gehring is a psychologist, and in 2014 is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He researches Event Related Potentials and is one of the discoverers of the Error Related Negativity. He has made contributions to the field of cognitive neuroscience through his studies on the electrophysiological markers of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Go to Profile#2366
Carolyn Rovee-Collier
#103778
Overall Influence
1942 - 2014 (72 years)
Carolyn Rovee-Collier was a professor of psychology at Rutgers University. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, she was a pioneer and an internationally renowned expert in cognitive development. She was named one of the 10 most influential female graduates of Brown University. The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology awards the Rovee-Collier Mentor Award in her honor.
Go to Profile#2367
Stan Deno
#102676
Overall Influence
2000 - 2016 (16 years)
Stanley Lynn "Stan" Deno was an American educational psychologist and professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, where he was also the director of the Special Education Program.
Go to Profile#2368
Seth Schwartz
#94281
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (53 years)
Seth J. Schwartz is an American developmental psychologist who is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education in the University of Texas at Austin College of Education. He is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Intercultural Relations. He joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in January 2021 after teaching at the University of Miami from 2000 to 2020.
Go to Profile#2369
Amy Wrzesniewski
#69987
Overall Influence
Amy Wrzesniewski is an American organizational psychologist. She attended the University of Pennsylvania before pursuing graduate study in organizational psychology at the University of Michigan, where she earned her master's and doctoral degree. Prior to joining the Yale University faculty in 2006, Wrzesniewski taught at New York University. At Yale, she started as an associate professor of management, and was appointed to a full professorship in 2015. She was named the Michael H. Jordan Professor of Management in 2018.
Go to Profile#2370
Ronald E. Fox
#43039
Overall Influence
1936 - 2018 (82 years)
Ronald E. Fox is a psychologist and a former president of the American Psychological Association . Career Fox was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina and Ohio State University early in his career. By 1975, he was exploring the possibility of founding a school of professional psychology in Ohio that would offer the Doctor of Psychology degree. He founded one of the first Psy.D. programs in the country at Wright State University in 1979. He was the APA's 1994 president. In 2009, he was selected to receive an APA award of excellence named after Raymond D. Fowler.
Go to Profile#2371
Dennis D. Drotar
#117643
Overall Influence
#2372
Neal J. Cohen
#88264
Overall Influence
Neal J. Cohen is a professor of psychology in the Cognitive Neuroscience division of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He is appointed as a full-time faculty member in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois. He is the founding director of the Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory , a partnership of the University of Illinois and Abbott Laboratories as of 2011. He is also the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative at the University of Illinois, formed 2014.
Go to Profile#2373
Timothy Andrew Brown
#117721
Overall Influence
#2374
Alcino J. Silva
#48403
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (63 years)
Alcino J. Silva is a Portuguese-American neuroscientist who was the recipient of the 2008 Order of Prince Henry and elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013 for his contributions to the molecular cellular cognition of memory, a field he pioneered with the publication of two articles in Science in 1992.
Go to Profile#2375
Dan Olweus
#117751
Overall Influence
#2376
Rainer Spanagel
#117752
Overall Influence
#2377
Kirby Deater-Deckard
#117792
Overall Influence
Kirby D. Deater-Deckard is an American developmental psychologist who is Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as well as director of the Healthy Development Initiative at the UMass Center in Springfield. He has been a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science since 2008.
Go to Profile#2378
Jacqueline Andrade
#45665
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (71 years)
Jacqueline Andrade, also known as Jackie Andrade, FAcSS is a British psychologist. She is a professor of psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, located in Plymouth, England.
Go to Profile#2379
Edwin Ernest Ghiselli
#117841
Overall Influence
#2380
Ralph Norman Haber
#117848
Overall Influence
#2381
Alison Bailey
#76343
Overall Influence
1966 - Present (58 years)
Alison L. Bailey is a professor and Division Head of Human Development and Psychology in the Department of Education, School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and a Faculty Partner at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing .
Go to Profile#2382
Richard William Byrne
#116944
Overall Influence
Richard William Byrne is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience of the University of St Andrews. With an h-index of 77, he is renowned in the area of the evolution of cognitive and social behavior such as machiavellian intelligence.
Go to Profile#2383
Helen V Worthington
#117938
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (24 years)
#2384
Ragnar Rommetveit
#90643
Overall Influence
1924 - 2017 (93 years)
Ragnar Rommetveit was a Norwegian psychologist. He was born in Stord. Rommetveit graduated as dr.philos. from the University of Oslo in 1953, with the thesis Social Norms and Roles. He was appointed professor at the University of Oslo from 1959 to 1994. His textbook Språk, Tanke og Kommunikasjon from 1970 has been used for decades in Norway as an introductory book in language psychology. He is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Go to Profile#2385
Niki Harré
#88017
Overall Influence
Nicole Harré is a New Zealand academic and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Auckland specialising in community psychology and the psychology of sustainability at University of Auckland. Her research addresses issues of sustainability, citizenship, values and political activism. Harré is the author of Psychology for a Better World: Strategies to Inspire Sustainability and The Infinite Game How to Live Well Together.
Go to Profile#2386
L. K. Lan Chow Wing
#118083
Overall Influence
#2387
Ido Erev
#33415
Overall Influence
Ido Erev holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina, 1990 in Cognitive/Quantitative Psychology. Erev is a full professor at the Technion's Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences. Academic contribution Erev is widely regarded for his contributions to learning in behavioral economics and experimental economics.
Go to Profile#2388
Joshua M. Smyth
#118194
Overall Influence
#2389
David A. Hamburg
#31841
Overall Influence
1925 - 2019 (94 years)
David Allen Hamburg was an American psychiatrist. He served as president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1982 to 1997. He also served as the President of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He had also been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1998. He was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He had previously been chair of the department of psychiatry at Stanford. His wife, Beatrix Hamburg, followed a similarly successful career path.
Go to Profile#2390
Michael G. H. Coles
#118284
Overall Influence
#2391
Steffen Moritz
#118293
Overall Influence
#2392
Helen Landgarten
#60187
Overall Influence
1921 - 2011 (90 years)
Helen Landgarten was an American psychotherapist. Alongside Edith Kramer and Judith A. Rubin, she was one of the leading pioneers of art therapy. Biography Helen Barbara Trapper was born in Detroit, Michigan, March 4, 1921. She earned a Bachelor's degree at University of California, Los Angeles and a Master's degree from Goddard College .
Go to Profile#2393
Douglas Clements
#112148
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (74 years)
Douglas H. Clements is an American scholar in the field of early mathematics education. Previously a preschool and kindergarten teacher, his research centers on the learning and teaching of early mathematics, computer applications for mathematics teaching, and scaling up successful educational interventions. Clements has contributed to the writing of educational standards including the Common Core State Standards, the NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the NCTM's 2006 Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics.
Go to Profile#2394
Glenn Daniel Wilson
#118359
Overall Influence
#2395
J. Mark G. Williams
#118387
Overall Influence
#2396
Wendy Kellogg
#69525
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (24 years)
Wendy A. Kellogg is an American psychologist and computer scientist who specializes in human-computer interaction. She founded the Social Computing Group at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center of IBM Research, and helped found the field of social computing.
Go to Profile#2397
John P. O’doherty
#118458
Overall Influence
#2398
Brian Mustanski
#110749
Overall Influence
Brian Mustanski is an American psychologist noted for his research on the health of LGBT youth, HIV and substance use in young gay and bisexual men, and the use of new media and technology for sexual health promotion and HIV prevention. He is a Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Psychology and Director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Go to Profile#2399
Walter H Kaye
#118549
Overall Influence
#2400
Michael C. Seto
#74072
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (57 years)
Michael Chikong Seto is a Canadian forensic psychologist, sexologist, and author. He is director of Forensic Rehabilitation Research at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, where his research focuses on pedophilia, sexual offenses committed against children, child pornography, risk assessment, offenders with mental disorders, psychopathy, and program evaluation.
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