Search People Result | Academic Influence

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).

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List of the most influential people in Psychology,

#3951

Kathryn McPherson

#160465

Overall Influence

1950 - Present (76 years)

Kathryn Margaret McPherson is a New Zealand medical researcher and administrator. As of 2018 she is a full professor at the Auckland University of Technology and chief executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

#3952

Pierre Legendre

#59538

Overall Influence

1930 - 2023 (93 years)

Pierre Legendre was a French historian of law and psychoanalyst. Legendre held a position of research director at the École pratique des hautes études. His work is primarily devoted to the history of juristic institutions and concepts and to the anthropology of Western civilization.

#3953

Naomi Meara

#146617

Overall Influence

1937 - 2007 (70 years)

Naomi Meara was an American psychologist, researcher and academic. She is best known for her scholarship in virtue ethics and ethical decision making for psychologists, her work with Harold Pepinsky in describing and analyzing the language of therapy, and her contributions to the advancement of women within the field of psychology. She served as professor and chair in the Psychology Department at Notre Dame University, where she was the first Nancy Reeves Dreux Professor of Psychology. She was a fellow of the American Psychological Association , where she served as president of the Counseling Psychology Division, Division 17 .

#3954

Victoria Bellotti

#129237

Overall Influence

Victoria Bellotti is a Senior CI researcher in the Member Experience Team at Netflix. Previously, she was a user experience manager for growth at Lyft and a research fellow at the Palo Alto Research Center. She is known for her work in the area of personal information management and task management, but from 2010 to 2018 she began researching context-aware peer-to-peer transaction partner matching and motivations for using peer-to-peer marketplaces which led to her joining Lyft. Victoria also serves as an adjunct professor in the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at University of California Sa...

#3955

Carey Ryan

#60278

Overall Influence

Carey S. Ryan is an American psychologist and professor emerita of psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She was also editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Issues from 2017 to 2020. Topics that she has researched include differences between Americans and the Japanese with respect to perceptions of autonomy.

#3956

Heather Ashton

#21349

Overall Influence

1929 - 2019 (90 years)

Heather Ashton was a British psychopharmacologist and physician. She is best known for her clinical and research work on benzodiazepine dependence. Biography Chrystal Heather Champion was born in Dehradun, northern India, to Harry Champion, a British silviculturist, and Chrystal Champion, a secretary. From the age of six, she attended a boarding school in Swanage, Dorset, England. When WWII began, she was evacuated to West Chester, Pennsylvania; during the crossing, her ship was attacked by a U-boat.

#3957

Rachel Keen

#163371

Overall Influence

1937 - Present (89 years)

Rachel Keen is a developmental psychologist known for her research on infant cognitive development, auditory development, and motor control. She is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Virginia.

#3958

Roni Reiter-Palmon

#172662

Overall Influence

1964 - Present (62 years)

Roni Reiter-Palmon is an Israeli-American psychologist. She is a Professor and Director of the Industrial/Organizational Graduate Program at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Early life and education Reiter-Palmo was born in 1964. She was born in Austin, Texas to psychologist parents but grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel. Reiter-Palmo completed her Bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology at Tel Aviv University before returning to the United States for her Master's degree and Ph.D. at George Mason University.

#3959

Melvin N. Johnson

#63402

Overall Influence

Melvin N. Johnson is an American academic administrator. He served as the seventh president of Tennessee State University, a historically black public university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 2005 to 2011.

#3960

Ellen Covey

#148949

Overall Influence

1947 - Present (79 years)

Ellen Covey is an American neurobiologist, researcher, perfumer and professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. Member Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Society for Neurosci., European Neurosci. Association, Sigma Xi.

#3961

Thomas Oakland

#173070

Overall Influence

1939 - 2015 (76 years)

Thomas David Oakland was an American school and educational psychologist who taught at the University of Florida from 1995 until retiring in 2010. He previously taught at the University of Texas at Austin for 27 years. He was a fellow of the American Psychological Society and of four divisions of the American Psychological Association.

#3962

Wiebke Bleidorn

#173129

Overall Influence

Wiebke Bleidorn is a personality psychologist. She is a professor at the University of Zurich. in the department of psychology. She is president of Association for Research in Personality until 2023. She received the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology in 2019.

#3963

Jill James

#121898

Overall Influence

2000 - Present (26 years)

Sandra Jill James is an American biochemist and autism researcher who studies metabolic autism biomarkers. She works at Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, where she is the director of the Metabolic Genomics Laboratory, as well as the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences's department of pediatrics, where she has worked since 2002. She is also a member of the Autism Speaks Treatment Advisory Board, and is also a scientific advisor to the autism foundation N of One. Her current research focuses on the role of epigenetics in causing autism, as well as the effectiveness of supp...

#3964

Heather Whalley

#161562

Overall Influence

2000 - Present (26 years)

Heather Clare Whalley is a Scottish scientist. She is a senior research fellow in Neuroimaging at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh., and is an affiliate member of the Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Her main focus of research is on the mechanisms underlying the development of major psychiatric disorders using the latest genomic and neuroimaging approaches .

#3965

Elizabeth R. Douvan

#131678

Overall Influence

1926 - 2002 (76 years)

Elizabeth R. Douvan was an American psychologist, being the Catherine Neaffie Kellogg Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at University of Michigan. Education PhD, University of Michigan, BA, Vassar College,

#3966

Cynthia Gómez

#116977

Overall Influence

2000 - Present (26 years)

Cynthia Ann Gómez is an American psychologist who works in public health. She is known for her work in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, health care access and health equity for minority individuals and committees. Likewise, one of her most major accomplishments was being the founding director of the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University. She has been a teacher and researcher, as well as a leader in both teaching and governmental positions.

#3967

Becky Wai-Ling Packard

#87221

Overall Influence

1973 - Present (53 years)

Becky Wai-Ling Packard is Professor of Psychology and Education, and former Director of the Weissman Center for Leadership, Associate Dean of Faculty, and Founding Director of Teaching and Learning at Mount Holyoke College.

#3968

Ole Paulsen

#58754

Overall Influence

Ole Paulsen is the current Chair of Physiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Paulsen holds a medical degree and a doctorate from the University of Oslo. He was appointed Departmental Lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology, Oxford, in 1994. He was appointed University Lecturer in the University Laboratory of Physiology in 2000, along with a Fellowship at Keble College. He was also head of the Neuronal Oscillations Group.

#3969

Miriam David

#72248

Overall Influence

1945 - Present (81 years)

Miriam E. David FRSA FAcSS is a British educator. She is Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and Associate Director of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme.

#3970

June Reinisch

#147701

Overall Influence

1943 - Present (83 years)

June Machover Reinisch is an American psychologist who has helped advance the public's general knowledge of human sexual activity. From 1982 to 1993, she was director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Her research at the Institute focused on sexual and psychosexual development. She has published more than 100 scientific papers in such journals as Science, Nature, JAMA, American Psychologist, Hormones and Behavior, MMWR, JPSP, Archives of Internal Medicine, and the British and American Journals or Psychiatry.

#3971

Beverly Whipple

#68201

Overall Influence

1934 - Present (92 years)

Beverly Whipple is Professor Emerita at Rutgers University and a professional author and sexologist. She is a co-author of the publication The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality.

#3972

Joan Frances Gormley

#55504

Overall Influence

1937 - 2007 (70 years)

Joan Frances Gormley , a consecrated virgin in the Catholic Church, was an American scholar in the fields of classical literature and of biblical studies. She was a professor in the Department of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary's Seminary. She translated and produced a number of works by leading Catholic mystics, such as Edith Stein and John of Avila.

#3973

Cynthia D. Belar

#104843

Overall Influence

Cynthia D. Belar is a scientist known for her contributions to clinical psychology with specific focus on health psychology, clinical service, and education. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of Florida Health Science Center.

#3974

David I. Perrett

#173656

Overall Influence

#3975

Carla Rice

#107261

Overall Influence

Carla Rice is a Canadian educator, project director, consultant, speaker and author on women's body image issues. She is a Tier II Canadian Research Chair in care, gender and relationships in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. This role includes the challenging of stereotypes through the investigation of ways that perceptions of women's bodies can be changed through images and stories.

#3976

Sarah Sharples

#159865

Overall Influence

1972 - Present (54 years)

Sarah Catherine Sharples is a British academic specialising in human factors and ergonomics. She has been Professor of Human Factors at the University of Nottingham since 2012 and chief scientific adviser for the Department for Transport since 2021. She has spent all her academic career at the University of Nottingham, and was also its pro-vice-chancellor for equality, diversity and inclusion from 2018 to 2021.

#3977

Sandra Witelson

#155679

Overall Influence

1950 - Present (76 years)

Sandra Freedman Witelson is a Canadian neuroscientist best known for her analysis of specimens from Albert Einstein's brain, as well as exploring anatomic and functional differences regarding male and female brains, handedness, and sexual orientation. She and her colleagues maintain the world's largest collection of "cognitively normal" brains at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

#3978

Annesa Flentje

#146312

Overall Influence

Annesa M. Flentje is an American clinical psychologist specializing in reducing health disparities in LGBT community. She is an assistant professor at the UCSF School of Nursing. Education Flentje completed a B.A. at University of Montana in 2000. She earned a M.S. at Capella University in 2003.

#3979

Keith Whitfield

#171432

Overall Influence

Keith Eric Whitfield is an American psychologist, educator and gerontologist that currently serves as the President of University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He became the 11th and first black president of the university when he was appointed on August 24, 2020. Prior to the position, he was the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and a professor of psychology at Wayne State University. Whitfield has also served various leadership positions at Pennsylvania State University and Harvard University, as well as positions within the American Council on Education, Association of Governing...

#3980

Nichola Raihani

#103682

Overall Influence

1980 - Present (46 years)

Nichola Jayne Raihani is a British psychologist who is a Professor of Evolution and Behaviour at University College London. Her research considers the evolution of cooperation in nature. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2019. Her first book, The Social Instinct, was released in 2021.

#3981

Frank Rusch

#98109

Overall Influence

1949 - Present (77 years)

Frank R. Rusch is an American educational psychologist. He researches self-instructional strategies, coworker and natural supports, benefit-cost analysis, and model program evaluation as well as his contributions to the conceptualization and implementation of supported employment and secondary transition services. His contributions to supported employment include the establishment of the first "supported work" model in the fall of 1975 at the University of Washington while a doctoral student.

#3982

Robert L. Selman

#114153

Overall Influence

1942 - Present (84 years)

Robert L. Selman is an American-born educational psychologist and perspective-taking theorist who specializes in adolescent social development. He is currently a professor of Education and Human Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a professor of psychology in Medicine at Harvard University. He is also known as the author of the 1980s G.I. Joe public service announcements.

#3983

Lisa Spanierman

#57545

Overall Influence

Lisa Beth Spanierman is an American psychologist who is professor of Counseling and Counseling Psychology in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on racial attitudes, microaggressions, and related topics. A fellow of the American Psychological Association, she received the Fritz and Lynn Kuder Early Career Award from the Association's Society of Counseling Psychology in 2012. She is the co-author of the book Microaggressions in Everyday Life.

#3984

Janet Carter

#115012

Overall Influence

Janet Deborah Carter is a New Zealand clinical psychology academic who became a full professor and dean of science at the University of Canterbury in 2016. She was appointed acting Pro Vice Chancellor of Science for 2019–2020, and acting Executive Dean of Science from mid 2021.

#3985

Nicole Anderson

#87096

Overall Influence

Nicole Dianne Anderson is a Canadian psychologist who is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is known for her works on ageing, memory and neuropsychology. Anderson is an associate editor of the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and a fellow of the American Psychological Association.

#3986

Hermine Maes

#127210

Overall Influence

Hermine H. M. Maes is a Belgian behavioral geneticist and Associate Professor in both the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. She received her Ph.D. from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1992. Maes' research focuses on the methodology of genetic epidemiology and the relationships between physical and mental health. Her husband and sometime research partner is Michael Neale.

#3987

Hiroshi Shimizu

#174024

Overall Influence

1952 - Present (74 years)

#3988

Sergio Della Sala

#174037

Overall Influence

#3989

Donald Dorfman

#130489

Overall Influence

1933 - 2001 (68 years)

Donald Daniel Dorfman was an American mathematical psychologist and radiologist known for his research on signal detection theory. Education and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dorfman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. He received his master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1957 and 1961, respectively. In 1962, he joined the faculty of San Diego State University, where he remained until 1968, when he joined the University of Iowa's faculty. He became a professor of psychology at the University of Iowa in 1974 and a professor ...

#3990

Galit Atlas

#120063

Overall Influence

1971 - Present (55 years)

Galit Atlas is an Israeli-American psychoanalyst best known for her rethinking of the place of sexuality and desire in contemporary theory and practice. Her new and innovative work on emotional inheritance explores the ways our ancestors' experiences shape our lives.

#3991

John C. Marshall

#129298

Overall Influence

1939 - 2007 (68 years)

John Charles Marshall was a British cognitive neuropsychologist, who played a pioneering role in the establishment of cognitive neuropsychology as a discipline, and in modeling of language disorders and dyslexia. He emphasized the role of representation in understanding the mind, stating, for instance that "the primary goal of neurolinguistics can be simply stated: the discipline seeks to understand the form of representation of language in the human brain" .

#3992

Laura Padilla-Walker

#161252

Overall Influence

Laura M Padilla-Walker is an American developmental psychologist and academic administrator. She is a professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. She was an associate dean for the BYU College of Family, Home and Social Sciences from 2017-2021 until she became the dean in July 2021.

#3993

David L. Wodrich

David L. Wodrich

#155895

Overall Influence

David L Wodrich is an American psychologist, professor, researcher, and author. He is currently professor emeritus in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona. He previously held the Mary Emily Warner Professorship of Psychology in Education at Arizona State University.

#3994

Joel W. Ager

#174159

Overall Influence

#3995

Ilina Singh

#119019

Overall Influence

Ilina Singh is a Professor of Neuroscience & Society at the University of Oxford, England, United Kingdom. She is also a co-director at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Ethics and the Humanities, and a research fellow at the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.

#3996

Vicki Anderson

#141965

Overall Influence

1958 - Present (68 years)

Vicki Anderson is an Australian clinical neuropsychologist and researcher. Since 2002 she has been the Theme Director of the Critical Care and Neurosciences group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and she established the Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies at the Royal Children's Hospital.

#3997

Phil A. Silva

#174279

Overall Influence

#3998

William E. Pelham

#171395

Overall Influence

William Ellerbe Pelham Jr. was an American clinical psychologist known for his research on ADHD. He was Distinguished University Professor and director of the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University. He was educated at Dartmouth College and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society, and he has served as president of the APA's Division 53 and the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.

#3999

Nadia Chaudhri

#124817

Overall Influence

1978 - 2021 (43 years)

Nadia Chaudhri was a Pakistani-Canadian psychologist. She was a professor of psychology at Concordia University where she researched drug and alcohol abuse. Early life and education Nadia Chaudhri was born on January 25, 1978, in Karachi, to Abdul Shakoor and Susan Mary Chaudhri. She was raised in Karachi. Since her mother was raised in England, she grew up around Western influence and her father who allowed her to pursue higher education overseas. She moved to the United States at the age of 17 and attended Franklin & Marshall College for her bachelor's degree in biological foundations of behavior with a concentration in neuroscience studies.

#4000

Karen Franklin

#85783

Overall Influence

Karen Franklin is an American forensic psychologist. For her doctoral dissertation, she conducted research on anti-gay violence. She has also published commentaries about sex crimes, primarily expressing her opposition to the use of the hebephilia and other diagnoses in sexually violent predator regulations. She received the 2012 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in Psychology and the Monette-Horwitz Trust Award in 2001.

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