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

#2051

Keith Schwab

#97171
Overall Influence
1968 - Present (57 years)
Keith Schwab is an American physicist and a professor of applied physics at the California Institute of Technology . His contributions are in the areas of nanoscience, ultra-low temperature physics, and quantum effects.
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#2052

Bert Poolman

#97228
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (66 years)
Berend Poolman is a Dutch biochemist, as specialist in bioenergetics of microorganisms and membrane transport. He is a professor of Biochemistry at the University of Groningen and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2009. Poolman is a pioneer in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology, that is, the construction from molecular building blocks of functional metabolic networks and autonomously operating functional systems, which are typical of living cells. Poolman is a lecturer in membrane biology and synthetic biology.
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#2053

Norman Sutin

#97332
Overall Influence
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#2054

Rustem F. Ismagilov

#97335
Overall Influence
1973 - Present (52 years)
Rustem F. Ismagilov is a Russian-American chemist. He is the John W. and Herberta M. Miles Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. Early life and education Ismagilov was born in 1973 in Ufa, Russia. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1994 from the Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences before moving to the United States. In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison while working with Stephen F. Nelson. Following his PhD, Ismagilov was a Postdoctoral Fellow with t...
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#2055

Sheldon K. Friedlander

#97367
Overall Influence
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#2056

Leona D. Samson

Leona D. Samson
#97382
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (73 years)
Leona D. Samson is the Uncas and Helen Whitaker Professor and American Cancer Society Research Professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she served as the Director of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences from 2001 to 2012. Before her professorship at MIT, she held a professorship at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is on the editorial board of the journal DNA Repair. Her research interests focus on "methods for measuring DNA repair capacity in human cells", research the National Institute of Health recognized as pioneering in her f...
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#2057

Yuk Ling Yung

#97419
Overall Influence
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#2058

Paul Saltman

#97606
Overall Influence
1928 - 1999 (71 years)
Paul Saltman was a Professor of Biology at the University of California, San Diego, for more than three decades, and an internationally renowned nutrition expert. He received a B.S. in chemistry and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He commenced employment at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, until 1967, when he accepted the position of provost of Revelle College at the University of California, San Diego, "to bring undergraduate education to the same high level of academic excellence that marks the graduate program at the heavily science-oriented college." In 1972 Saltman was appointed Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
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#2059

Christopher Sorensen

#97651
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (78 years)
Christopher Sorensen is the Cortelyou-Rust University Distinguished Professor and a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar in the Kansas State University Physics Department. He also is an adjunct professor in the department of chemistry at Kansas State University. He was named the Carnegie Foundation and Council for Advancement and Support of Education United States Professor of the Year for doctoral and research universities in 2007. His research interests include materials synthesis including graphene materials, light scattering, particulate systems, and soft matter physics.
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#2060

Lyle Benjamin Borst

#97654
Overall Influence
1912 - 2002 (90 years)
Lyle Benjamin Borst was an American nuclear physicist and inventor. He worked with Enrico Fermi in Chicago, was involved with the Manhattan District Project, and worked with Ernest O. Wollan to conduct neutron scattering and neutron diffraction studies.
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#2061

Ariel Caticha

#97671
Overall Influence
Ariel Caticha is a professor of theoretical physics at State University of New York at Albany and chair of its department of physics. His research interests include Information Physics , Entropic and Bayesian Inference, and Information Geometry.
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#2062

Aradhna Tripati

#97686
Overall Influence
Aradhna Tripati is an American geoscientist, climate scientist, and advocate for diversity. She is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles where she is part of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and the California Nanosystems Institute. She is also the director of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. Her research includes advancing new chemical tracers for the study of environmental processes and studying the history of climate change and Earth systems.
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#2063

Jan D. Miller

#97690
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (83 years)
Jan Dean Miller is an American engineer, currently Distinguished Professor of metallurgical engineering and Ivor D. Thomas Endowed Chair at University of Utah. Biography Miller received his B.S. degree from the Pennsylvania State University in 1964, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Colorado School of Mines in 1966 and 1969 respectively. He joined the faculty at the University of Utah in 1968, became a full professor in 1978, a distinguished professor in 2008 and served as chair of the Department of Metallurgical Engineering from 2002–2013. In 1993, he was elected a member the National A...
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#2064

Joseph F. Hoffman

#97718
Overall Influence
1925 - 2022 (97 years)
Joseph Frederick Hoffman was an American scientist who primary researched the physiology of red blood cells. His research accomplishments were recognized in 1981 when he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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#2065

Eric Feigl-Ding

#97729
Overall Influence
1983 - Present (42 years)
Eric Liang Feigl-Ding is an American public health scientist who is currently an epidemiologist and Chief of COVID Task Force at the New England Complex Systems Institute. He was formerly a faculty member and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also the Chief Health Economist for Microclinic International, and co-founder of the World Health Network. His research and advocacy have primarily focused on obesity, nutrition, cancer prevention, and biosecurity.
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#2066

Carol Lynn Alpert

#97782
Overall Influence
Carol Lynn Alpert is an American science communication and public engagement expert and the Director of Strategic Projects at the Museum of Science . She is also an Associate in Applied Physics in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and Co-Director of the NSF Center for Integrated Quantum Materials.
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#2067

Y. Lawrence Yao

#97800
Overall Influence
Y. Lawrence Yao is a mechanical engineer, who has done groundbreaking research in the field of laser assisted manufacturing. He is well known for developing process synthesis methodology for laser forming process, for developing micro-scale laser shock peening process, and for innovative applications in renewable energy, biomedical, and art restoration areas.
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#2068

Hugh P. Jr. Taylor

#97834
Overall Influence
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#2069

Katie Mack

Katie Mack
#97843
Overall Influence
1981 - Present (44 years)
Katherine J. Mack is a theoretical cosmologist who holds the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at Perimeter Institute. Her academic research investigates dark matter, vacuum decay and the epoch of reionisation. Mack is also a popular science communicator who participates in social media and regularly writes for Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time, and Cosmos.
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#2070

Narender K. Sehgal

#97846
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (85 years)
Narender K. Sehgal was an Indian physicist, scientific administrator, and science populariser. He was born in Lahore . He worked as Scientific Officer in the Theoretical Reactor Physics Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. In 1963 he went to US for his MSc and PhD in particle physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He became professor of physics at the Somali National University in Magadiscio, East Africa. He returned to India in 1978 as visiting scientist at the Space Applications Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation . In 1982 he joined the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India.
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#2071

Jennie Patrick

#97850
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (76 years)
Jennie Patrick is an American chemical engineer and educator. As a high school student, she participated in the integration of Alabama's public schools. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979, she became one of the first African American women in the United States to earn a doctorate in traditional chemical engineering. She went on to pioneer work on supercritical fluid extraction. Her educational work has focused on the mentoring of African American and female students.
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#2072

Christopher Rose

#97924
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (68 years)
Christopher Rose is a professor of engineering, former associate provost at Brown University in Rhode Island and a founding member of WINLAB at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; SB'79, SM'81, Ph.D'85 all in Course VI . On September 2, 2004, an article by Christopher Rose and Gregory Wright, titled Inscribed matter as an energy-efficient means of communication with an extraterrestrial civilization, appeared on the cover of Nature with the headline "Dear ET...".
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#2073

Sivaguru S. Sritharan

#97941
Overall Influence
Sivaguru S. Sritharan is an American aerodynamicist and mathematician. Sritharan served in civilian universities such as University of Southern California and University of Wyoming as faculty member and head of the department and also in the Department of Defense in various capacities ranging from scientist to leadership roles, and also held visiting positions at several international institutions.
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#2074

Karen Oegema

#97959
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (58 years)
Karen Oegema is a molecular cell biologist at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. She is best known for her research with Caenorhabditis elegans , which her lab uses as a model system in their mission to dissect the molecular mechanics of cytokinesis. She was given the Women in Cell Biology Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Research in 2017, as well as the Women in Cell Biology Junior Award for Excellence in Research in 2006.
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#2075

David Wixon Pratt

#98010
Overall Influence
David Wixon Pratt is an American physicist, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. He was awarded an A.B. in Chemistry by Princeton University in 1959 and, after serving as a fleet officer in the U.S. Navy from 1959 to 1962, gained a Ph.D. in 1967 from the University of California at Berkeley on magnetic resonance. He then did postdoc research at the University of California at Santa Barbara on optical spectroscopy before moving in 1968 to become Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.
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#2076

François Robert

#98025
Overall Influence
1951 - Present (74 years)
François Robert, born in Paris, France the 26th of January, 1951, is a French researcher specializing in isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry. His work on the isotopes of hydrogen has enhanced the understanding of the origin of water and of organic matter in the solar system. He is famous for his work on lithium, beryllium and boron, light elements formed by the irradiation of interstellar matter. He received a Leonard Medal from the Meteoritical Society in 2011 for his work on the isotopic composition of stable nuclei.
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#2077

Pamela J. Green

#98081
Overall Influence
Pamela J. Green is Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair, Professor of Plant and Soil Sciences and Professor of Marine Studies at the University of Delaware. She has researched the uses for RNA, one of the three major biological macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life.
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#2078

Donald R. Hamann

#98149
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (86 years)
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#2079

Nolan B. Aughenbaugh

Nolan B. Aughenbaugh
#98192
Overall Influence
1928 - 2017 (89 years)
Nolan B. Aughenbaugh is an American Professor Emeritus of Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi. Biography Aughenbaugh was born in Akron, Ohio and was an Antarctic explorer during the International Geophysical Year. He also holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Purdue University.
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#2080

Qingfu Zhang

#98244
Overall Influence
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#2081

Jessica Winter

#98322
Overall Influence
Jessica O. Winter is an American bioengineer. She is a Professor of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Biomedical Engineering and an Associate Director of the MRSEC Center for Emergent Materials at the Ohio State University. Her research interests include nanoparticles for cancer imaging, diagnostics, and drug delivery; and cell migration in the brain tumor microenvironment. In 2021, she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, and Royal Society of Chemistry.
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#2082

Oliver Bauchau

#98331
Overall Influence
Olivier Bauchau is an American aerospace engineer, the Igor Sikorsky Distinguished Professor in Rotorcraft at University of Maryland, College Park, and a published author. he is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Helicopter Society.
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#2083

Ka Yiu San

#98561
Overall Influence
Ka Yiu San is an American bioengineer currently on the faculty at Rice University and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Education In 1978, San earned a BS degree from Rice University. San earned a MS and PhD degrees from the California Institute of Technology.
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#2084

Donald F. Holcomb

#98594
Overall Influence
1925 - 2018 (93 years)
Donald Frank Holcomb was an American physicist. Born in Chesterton, Indiana, on November 8, 1925, Holcomb was raised in primarily in Wood River, Illinois, and graduated from East Alton-Wood River High School in 1943. His university studies were interrupted by military service in the United States Navy. After obtaining a bachelor's degree from DePauw University in 1949, Holcomb pursued graduate study at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, completing a Ph.D. in 1954. He began teaching at Cornell University that same year. In 1964, Holcomb became the third director of the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics.
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#2085

Emily Brodsky

Emily Brodsky
#98672
Overall Influence
Emily E. Brodsky is a Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She studies the fundamental physical properties of earthquakes, as well as the seismology of volcanoes and landslides. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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#2086

Aubert Y. Coran

#98684
Overall Influence
1932 - Present (93 years)
Aubert Y. Coran was an American scientist noted for his contributions to thermoplastic elastomers and vulcanization chemistry of rubber. In 1983, he won the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award, bestowed by the American Chemical Society to individuals "who have exhibited exceptional technical competency by making significant and repeated contributions to rubber science and technology". In 1995, the rubber division of the American Chemical Society bestowed on Coran the Charles Goodyear Medal in honor of his international contributions to polymer science and development.
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#2087

John A. Dillon

#98694
Overall Influence
1923 - 2005 (82 years)
John Andrew Dillon Jr. was an American physicist, administrator, professor at the University of Louisville, and founder and first director of the Systems Science Institute at the University of Louisville.
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#2088

Prabhakar Misra

Prabhakar Misra
#98734
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (70 years)
Prabhakar Misra is an American physicist, who researches and teaches at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and is currently a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Biography Born and raised in India, he came to the United States to pursue graduate studies in physics. He earned an M.S. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1981 , followed by a Ph D. in Physics in 1986 from The Ohio State University . After a post-doctoral fellowship at the Laser Spectroscopy Facility of the Ohio State University, he joined Howard University in 1988. He was a visiting scholar in 1990 ...
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#2089

Michael Dean

#98780
Overall Influence
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#2090

Steve Scott

#98794
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (25 years)
Steve Scott is a computer architect who currently serves as Corporate Vice President at Microsoft. Scott was previously a Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Cray Inc., Principal Engineer at Google and the chief technology officer for Nvidia's Tesla business unit. Scott was employed by Cray Research, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Inc., and Cray, Inc. from 1992 to 2011 .
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#2091

David H. Munro

#98896
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (70 years)
David Herbert Munro is a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who created the programming language Yorick as well as the scientific graphics library Gist. Munro earned his BS at Caltech and PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He joined LLNL in 1980 and has primarily focused his research on laser fusion.
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#2092

Danny Hilman Natawidjaja

#98942
Overall Influence
1961 - Present (64 years)
Danny Hilman Natawidjaja is an Indonesian geologist specializing in earthquake geology and geotectonics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences Research Center for Geotechnology. In Indonesia, Natawidjaja has contributed to research on local tectonic plates. Since 2000, he has made predictions regarding the earthquake on the west coast of Sumatra Island.
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#2093

F. Ann Walker

#98969
Overall Influence
Frances Ann Walker was an American chemist known for her work on heme protein chemistry. She was an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Chemical Society.
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#2094

Claus O. Wilke

Claus O. Wilke
#98983
Overall Influence
1972 - Present (53 years)
Claus O. Wilke is a computational and evolutionary biologist and chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Dwight W. and Blanche Faye Reeder Centennial Fellow in Systematic and Evolutionary Biology, and currently holds the Joseph J. & Jeanne M. Lagowski Regents Professorship in Molecular Bioscience.
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#2095

William H. Weinberg

#98987
Overall Influence
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#2096

Leon Cohen

#98996
Overall Influence
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#2097

Paul Schedl

#99007
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (78 years)
Paul Daniel Schedl is a Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Schedl has made significant contributions to the field of the control of gene expression in developmental systems using the model system Drosophila melanogaster. On the genomic level, his lab has uncovered the mechanisms of chromatin regulation by the Polycomb and trithorax group genes. At the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, he made discoveries in the regulation of alternative splicing of the sex determination gene, Sxl. At the level of translational control, he discovered the function of the orb ...
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#2099

Catherine Johnson

#99089
Overall Influence
Catherine L. Johnson is a planetary scientist known for her research on the magnetic fields of planets including Mercury, Venus, Earth and its moon, and Mars. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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#2100

Albert H. Owens Jr.

#99112
Overall Influence
1926 - 2017 (91 years)
Albert H. Owens, Jr. was the director of the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore, MD. Owens earned his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1949.
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