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,

#3001

Richard J. Bandler

#140054
Overall Influence
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#3002

Kenneth Rigby

#140067
Overall Influence
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#3003

Robert Louis Ruff

#140130
Overall Influence
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#3004

Robert D. Abbott

#140165
Overall Influence
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#3005

Rona Moss-Morris

#81466
Overall Influence
Rona Moss-Morris is Head of Health Psychology and Chair in Psychology as Applied to Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. Her research investigates long-term, medically unexplained disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome . She joined the IoP in 2011 and presented an inaugural lecture entitled "Trials and tribulations: A journey towards integrated care for long term conditions."
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#3006

Robert Weisbord

#44664
Overall Influence
1933 - Present (93 years)
Robert G. Weisbord is professor emeritus of History at the University of Rhode Island. He has published seven books and numerous articles dealing with issues of racism in sports, the Vatican, and the Holocaust. He taught an Afro-American history course at the University of Rhode Island in 1966 that was the first such offering at a New England state university.
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#3007

Eberhard H. Uhlenhuth

#140247
Overall Influence
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#3008

Monica Biernat

#92012
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Monica Rose Biernat is a social psychologist known for her research on social judgment, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Kansas.
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#3009

Alice Auersperg

#65272
Overall Influence
Alice Auersperg is an Austrian cognitive biologist specializing in the evolution of intelligence in birds. Her research is primarily focused on the physical cognition, play behavior, problem-solving and tool-making abilities in parrots and corvids. Since 2011, she has managed the Goffin Lab of Comparative Cognition at the Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria, where she has extensively studied the intelligence of the Tanimbar corella, also known as the Goffin's cockatoo.
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#3010

Nancy E. Hill

#42791
Overall Influence
Nancy E. Hill is an American developmental psychologist. She is the Charles Bigelow Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hill is an expert on the impact of parental involvement in adolescent development, cultural influences on minority youth development, and academic discourse socialization, defined as parents' academic beliefs, expectations, and behaviors that foster their children's academic and career goals.
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#3011

Brenda Rapp

#117072
Overall Influence
Brenda Carla Rapp professor and chair of the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University. In 2010, she was appointed joint editor-in-chief of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychology.
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#3012

Craig K. Enders

#140390
Overall Influence
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#3013

Jelte Wicherts

#39841
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Jelte Michiel "J.M." Wicherts is a Dutch psychologist and professor in the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University. His research interests include biases in decision making, as well as scientific misconduct and reproducibility. He has also researched group differences in IQ scores and the Flynn effect.
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#3014

Sidney Segalowitz

#56736
Overall Influence
Sidney J. Segalowitz is a Canadian psychologist and neuroscientist who is a professor of psychology at Brock University. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is known for his research using electroencephalography to study brain activity associated with human behavioral phenotypes.
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#3015

Gonneke A. H. M. Willemsen

#140638
Overall Influence
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#3016

Ralph Norgren

#140648
Overall Influence
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#3017

Ray E. Clouse

#140659
Overall Influence
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#3018

Gregory J. Schraw

#140662
Overall Influence
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#3019

David Indermaur

#40042
Overall Influence
David Indermaur is an Australian clinical psychologist, criminologist, writer, and academic. He is a research associate professor at the University of Western Australia's Crime Research Centre. Education and career Indermaur graduated from the University of Western Australia, obtaining a masters in clinical psychology in 1979 and a Doctor of Law in 1997. In 1976 he worked as a psychologist for prisoners in Western Australia, researching public views on punishment for crimes and court sentencing. In the 1980s and 1990s Indermaur worked on criminal investigations involving drugs and violent crime.
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#3020

Patricia Frazier

#132676
Overall Influence
Patricia A. Frazier is an American psychology professor who researches the application of social psychological theory and research to problems of concern to counseling psychologists. In particular, coping with stressful or traumatic life events, and developing innovative interventions. She heads the Stress and Trauma Lab at the University of Minnesota.
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#3021

Brigitte S. Rockstroh

#140689
Overall Influence
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#3022

Shuu‐jiun Wang

#140775
Overall Influence
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#3023

M. Van Schilfgaarde King's College London

#140780
Overall Influence
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#3024

Nina Schooler

#131478
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (92 years)
Nina R. Schooler is an American psychologist. She is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, as well as a founding member of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation's scientific council. She is known for her research on the treatment of schizophrenia, as well as tardive dyskinesia and first-episode psychosis. She is a past president of the American Psychopathological Association and of the Association for Clinical Psychosocial Research. She previously worked at the National Institute of Mental Health and the University of Pittsburgh.
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#3025

Alison Cernich

#92341
Overall Influence
Alison Nenos Cernich is an American neuropsychologist specializing in traumatic brain injury and computerized neuropsychological assessment. She is the deputy director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Cernich was previously deputy director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, assistant professor of neurology at University of Maryland School of Medicine, and chief of neuropsychology at the VA Maryland Health Care System.
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#3026

Shimon Edelman

#140795
Overall Influence
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#3027

David H. Zald

#140843
Overall Influence
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#3028

Frank Pajares

#140862
Overall Influence
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#3029

Michael D. Robinson

#140979
Overall Influence
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#3030

Ian D. L. Clark

#140987
Overall Influence
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#3031

Michela Balconi

#141024
Overall Influence
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#3032

Shepard Siegel

#77072
Overall Influence
Shepard Siegel is a Canadian psychologist, having been a Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Society of Experimental Psychologists.
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#3033

Nicola Gavey

#129204
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
Nicola Gavey is a New Zealand psychology academic. She is currently a full professor at the University of Auckland. Academic career After a 1985 MA titled 'Depressive self-schemata and gender-schemata in women' and a 1990 PhD titled 'Rape and sexual coercion within heterosexual relationships : an intersection of psychological, feminist, and postmodern inquiries' at the University of Auckland, she joined the staff, rising to full professor.
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#3034

Sari L. Reisner

#141101
Overall Influence
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#3035

Clayton P. Alderfer

#141133
Overall Influence
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#3036

Leslie Morey

#139541
Overall Influence
1956 - Present (70 years)
Leslie Charles Morey is an American psychologist and an expert in diagnosis and psychiatric classification. He was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois on May 4, 1956. Morey received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1977, and a Master of Science and Doctorate from University of Florida in clinical psychology in the years 1979 and 1981. Morey continued on to serve a clinical internship in 1981 at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. From 1981 to 1982 he worked at the Department of Psychology at the University of Tulsa. Beginni...
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#3037

Bente Kiens

#141219
Overall Influence
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#3038

J. Kevin Ford

#141226
Overall Influence
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#3039

Robert M. Donaldson

#141261
Overall Influence
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#3040

Oscar Ybarra

Oscar Ybarra
#99744
Overall Influence
Oscar Ybarra is an American psychologist. He is professor of organizational behavior at the University of Illinois, and he is professor emeritus of psychology and management and organizations at the University of Michigan. Ybarra is also Research Director of the adaptive social cognition lab, and at Michigan he was Director of Innovate Blue, an organization focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship education. He has also been a visiting professor at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. His research largely revolves around the impact that social connections and social dynamics have on in...
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#3041

Jean E. Shaoul

#141367
Overall Influence
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#3042

William Maixner

#141407
Overall Influence
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#3043

Henry J. Steadman

#141436
Overall Influence
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#3044

Arnold P. Goldstein

#141472
Overall Influence
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#3045

Danielle M. Dick

#106780
Overall Influence
Danielle Marie Dick is an American psychologist. She is the inaugural director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute. She researches the genetic epidemiology of substance abuse and related behavioral disorders.
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#3046

Jason Jason P. Lerch

#141628
Overall Influence
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#3047

William P. Morgan

#141690
Overall Influence
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#3048

Patricia Arredondo

#117680
Overall Influence
1945 - Present (81 years)
Patricia Arredondo is an American counseling psychologist, primarily recognized for her efforts in developing the area of multicultural counseling. She has been recognized in the field of psychology for her contributions to the advancement of Ethnic Minority Psychology. She has been associated with the APA , and the National Hispanic Psychological Association along with many other associations. She is the 2018 recipient of the Anthony J. Marsella Award from the Psychologists for Social Responsibility.
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#3049

M. Lynne Cooper

#141111
Overall Influence
M. Lynne Cooper is the Curators' Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Missouri. She is known for her research on risk-taking and psychological adjustment of adolescents, young adults, and couples. Many of her studies and published works are related to alcohol, substance use, and sexual activity in adolescents and young adults at the transition to adulthood. Other influential research has examined health outcomes of parents who experience stress due to conflicts between work and family responsibilities.
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#3050

W. Grant Dahlstrom

#119144
Overall Influence
1922 - 2006 (84 years)
William Grant Dahlstrom was an American psychologist who worked on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. He received the APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research in 1991 and the Bruno Klopfer Award in 1994. In 1969 he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award with E. Earl Baughman for their study Negro and White Children: A Psychological Study in the Rural South.
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