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,
#3251
Victoria Clarke
#93601
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Victoria Clarke is a UK-based chartered psychologist and an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology at the University of the West England, Bristol. Her work focuses on qualitative psychology and critical psychology, and her background and training is in the fields of women studies, feminist psychology, LGBTQ psychology, and qualitative methods. She is particularly known for her ongoing collaboration with Professor Virginia Braun around qualitative methods. Braun and Clarke developed a widely cited approach to thematic analysis in 2006 and have published extensively around thematic analysis since then.
Go to Profile#3252
Sarah Garfinkel
#121936
Overall Influence
1980 - Present (46 years)
Sarah Garfinkel is a British neuroscientist and Professor of neuroscience and psychiatry based at the University of Sussex and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Her research is focused on the link between interoception and emotion and memory. In 2018, she was selected as one of 11 researchers on the Nature Index 2018 Rising Stars.
Go to Profile#3253
Maureen Dennis
#148482
Overall Influence
#3254
Zalman Amit
#148530
Overall Influence
#3255
Charles J. Gelso
#148538
Overall Influence
#3256
Patricia M. Bricklin
#133316
Overall Influence
1932 - 2010 (78 years)
Patricia Bricklin was a professor of Psychology in the Institute of Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University. She was President of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. She was awarded the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions and the American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology. The Pennsylvania Psychological Foundation annually awards the Patricia M. Bricklin Student Ethics Award to a student who lives in Pennsylvania or attends school in Pennsylvania for contributions to ethics or law in psychology.
Go to Profile#3257
Alan R. Crossman
#148686
Overall Influence
#3258
Leola Neal
#102816
Overall Influence
1911 - 1995 (84 years)
Leola Neal was a Canadian psychologist born in Merlin, Ontario. Neal taught at the University of Western Ontario where she was appointed the Dean of Women, and was the first female president of the Ontario Psychological Association and the second woman to serve on the board of the Canadian Psychological Association. Neal's work helped promote undergraduate psychology curriculums and define standards for psychological counselling.
Go to Profile#3259
Stanley L. Brodsky
#148810
Overall Influence
#3260
P. Marshall Noller
#148883
Overall Influence
#3261
George W. Hynd
#148937
Overall Influence
#3262
Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
#148950
Overall Influence
#3263
Joseph O. Prewitt Díaz
#82940
Overall Influence
1943 - Present (83 years)
Joseph Orlando Prewitt Díaz is a retired psychologist who specialized in psychosocial theory. He received the APA International Humanitarian Award from American Psychological Association Early years Prewitt Díaz was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico. In 1964 he represented Puerto Rico in the Encampment for Citizenship a summer youth program that encouraged volunteerism and sought to educate its participants about civic responsibility, and participation in government. Upon his return to Cayey, he joined Rev. Peter L. Pond, a theologist and community organizer and Dr. Samuel Silva Gotay, a liberation theologist in the development of VESPRA "Voluntarios en Servicio a Puerto Rico".
Go to Profile#3264
Gregory R. Hancock
#114697
Overall Influence
1963 - Present (63 years)
Gregory Robert Hancock is a Professor of Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation. He is the current University of Maryland head of the Educational Department of Measurement and Statistics program. Hancock also co-hosts the podcast Quantitude with Patrick Curran. He is internationally known for the voice of Jiffy from the podcast.
Go to Profile#3265
Jon L. Pierce
#148997
Overall Influence
#3266
Monica Webb Hooper
#71602
Overall Influence
Monica S. Webb Hooper is an American behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist serving as deputy director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She was a professor at Case Western Reserve University and associate director for cancer disparities research and director of the Office of Cancer Disparities Research in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Go to Profile#3267
Arndt Büssing
#149018
Overall Influence
#3268
Barbara Jean Knowlton
#149082
Overall Influence
#3269
Jan Smedslund
#149089
Overall Influence
1929 - Present (97 years)
#3270
Viktor Sheinov
#99232
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (86 years)
Victor Pavlovich Sheinov is Professor of Psychology and Pedagogical Proficiency at the Institute of Higher Education under the auspices of the Belarusian State University . He is a member of the International Academy of Information Technologies and an author of more than 250 scientific works and over 40 books.
Go to Profile#3271
Jaana Pentti
#149129
Overall Influence
#3272
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair
#145934
Overall Influence
1970 - Present (56 years)
Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair is a Norwegian psychologist and Professor of Personality Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He is married to Tonje Westgaard Kennair, and they have three children together. He was director of the Department of Psychology from 2009 to 2013. His research interests include clinical psychology and evolutionary psychology, and he is widely known for participating in public debate, including the NRK TV series Hjernevask in 2010. He has conducted research on treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression, and on jealousy,...
Go to Profile#3273
David Shinar
#149136
Overall Influence
#3274
William Michael Lynn
#130705
Overall Influence
1958 - Present (68 years)
William Michael "Mike" Lynn is the Burton M. Sack Professor in Food & Beverage Management in Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. He has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Ohio State University. Much of his research deals with the study of tipping at restaurants. Lynn is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is the editor-in-chief of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.
Go to Profile#3275
Liliana Dell’osso
#149266
Overall Influence
#3276
Ernest S. Barratt
#149311
Overall Influence
#3277
David B. Herzog
#149387
Overall Influence
#3278
Jonas Obleser
#132088
Overall Influence
1975 - Present (51 years)
Jonas Obleser is a German psychologist and neuroscientist. Academic career Jonas Obleser studied psychology at the University of Konstanz and received his diploma in psychology in 2001. In 2004 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Konstanz.
Go to Profile#3279
György Csepeli
#126293
Overall Influence
1946 - Present (80 years)
György Csepeli is a Hungarian social psychologist, sociologist, politician, professor emeritus at the Eötvös Loránd University , former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Information of Hungary. His research, books, papers and talks focus on antiziganism, antisemitism and foundational problems of information society and social psychology.
Go to Profile#3280
Kirk Warren Brown
#149445
Overall Influence
#3281
Derek Besner
#149462
Overall Influence
#3282
Joseph C. Stevens
#149525
Overall Influence
#3283
Howards S. Adelman
#149561
Overall Influence
#3284
Kevin Archer Pelphrey
#149582
Overall Influence
#3285
D. Yves Von Cramon
#149732
Overall Influence
#3286
Marisa Salanova
#149780
Overall Influence
#3287
George R. Mangun
#149789
Overall Influence
#3288
Carl Martin Allwood
#132542
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Carl Martin Allwood, born March 23, 1952, is a Swedish professor of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg and author. Biography Allwood studied psychology obtained his doctorate at the University of Gothenburg in 1982 with a thesis on the cognitive aspects of statistical problem solving. He has since largely been active in Gothenburg, including as an associate professor of psychology in 1987 and as professor since 2008. In the years 1998–2008 he was professor of psychology at Lund University.
Go to Profile#3289
Paul J. Eslinger
#149833
Overall Influence
#3290
Robert G. Maunder
#149845
Overall Influence
#3291
Brett Laursen
#149850
Overall Influence
#3292
Nancy A. Sampson
#149865
Overall Influence
#3293
Manfred Schedlowski
#149901
Overall Influence
#3294
Jean‐pierre Lépine
#149976
Overall Influence
#3295
Roland Littlewood
#150068
Overall Influence
#3296
Barbara Anne Dosher
#150090
Overall Influence
#3297
Roger A. Dixon
#150092
Overall Influence
#3298
Neal Roese
#115943
Overall Influence
1965 - Present (61 years)
Neal Roese holds the SC Johnson Chair in Global Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Trained as a social psychologist, he is most well known for his work on judgment and decision making, counterfactual thinking, and regret.
Go to Profile#3299
Olivia Hooker
#93934
Overall Influence
1915 - 2018 (103 years)
Olivia Juliette Hooker was an American psychologist and professor. She was a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, and the first African-American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard. During World War II, she became a member of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, earning the rank of Yeoman Second Class during her service. She served in the Coast Guard until her unit was disbanded in mid-1946. Hooker then used her G.I. Bill to obtain her master's degree in psychological services and went on earn her PhD in clinical psychology. In 1973, she helped form the American Psychologica...
Go to Profile#3300
Heino Meyer-Bahlburg
#128065
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (86 years)
Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg is a German-born psychologist best known for his work on biology of sexual orientation, gender identity, intersexuality, and HIV. Education and career Meyer-Bahlburg earned his Diplom from University of Hamburg in 1966 and his Dr. rer. nat. in Psychology from University of Düsseldorf in 1970. He took a position at State University of New York, Buffalo and at Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, New York in 1970. Since 1977 he has held appointments at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University where he has been Professor of Clinical Psychology since 1990.
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