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

#1

John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin

#3552

Overall Influence

1915 - 2009 (94 years)

John Hope Franklin was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. Franklin is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

#2

Ruth Simmons

#4059

Overall Influence

1945 - Present (79 years)

Ruth Simmons is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, a HBCU, from 2017 until 2023. From 2001 to 2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University, where she was the first African American president of an Ivy League institution. Before Brown University, she headed Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters and the largest women's college in the United States, beginning in 1995.

#3

Herman Branson

#10799

Overall Influence

1914 - 1995 (81 years)

Herman Russell Branson was an American physicist, chemist, best known for his research on the alpha helix protein structure, and was also the president of two colleges. He received a fellowship from the Rosenwald Foundation.

#4

Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett

#11286

Overall Influence

1915 - 2012 (97 years)

Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora was an African American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C., to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of formerly enslaved people. It was difficult for a black woman at this time to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to t...

#5

Andrew Young

#12377

Overall Influence

1932 - Present (92 years)

Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. Young later became active in politics, serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Carter Administration, and 55th Mayor of Atlanta. He was the first African American elected to Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, as well as one of the first tw...

#6

Michelle Miller

#16527

Overall Influence

1967 - Present (57 years)

Michelle Miller is a national correspondent for CBS News and currently serves as a co-host on CBS Saturday Morning. She has also served as a substitute anchor on CBS Mornings and 48 Hours on ID. Early life Miller was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Howard University and holds a Master of Science degree in urban studies from the University of New Orleans.

#7

Carl E. Stewart

Carl E. Stewart

#17868

Overall Influence

1950 - Present (74 years)

Carl E. Stewart is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, and previously sat as a judge of the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal from 1985 to 1994.

#8

Benjamin Arthur Quarles

#28694

Overall Influence

1904 - 1996 (92 years)

Benjamin Arthur Quarles was an American historian, administrator, educator, and writer, whose scholarship centered on black American social and political history. Major books by Quarles include The Negro in the Civil War , The Negro in the American Revolution , Lincoln and the Negro , and Black Abolitionists . He demonstrated that blacks were active participants in major conflicts and issues of American history. His books were narrative accounts of critical wartime periods that focused on how blacks interacted with their white allies and emphasized blacks' acting as vital agents of change rat...

#9

Brenda Marie Osbey

#43072

Overall Influence

1957 - Present (67 years)

Brenda Marie Osbey is an American poet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Louisiana from 2005 to 2007. Life She graduated from Dillard University, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III, and from the University of Kentucky, with an M.A. She has taught at the University of California at Los Angeles, Loyola University New Orleans, and at Dillard University. She was Visiting Writer-in-residence at Tulane University and Scholar-in-residence at Southern University. She teaches at Louisiana State University.

#10

Lawrence D. Reddick

#45068

Overall Influence

1910 - 1995 (85 years)

Lawrence Dunbar Reddick was an African-American historian and professor who wrote the first biography of Martin Luther King Jr., strengthened major archives of African-American history resources at Atlanta University Center and the New York Public Library, and was fired by Alabama's state board of education for his support for student sit-ins at Alabama State College—an event that earned him honor for his courage and brought Alabama State College censure by the American Association of University Professors.

#11

Robert Frederick Collins

#46451

Overall Influence

1931 - Present (93 years)

Robert Frederick Collins is a civil rights attorney and former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Education and career Collins was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and graduated from Gilbert Academy. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dillard University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Laws from Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University where he was one of the first three African American students admitted in 1954. He was in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956, thereafter entering private practice in New Orleans from 1956 to 1972.

#12

Jericho Brown

#49208

Overall Influence

1976 - Present (48 years)

Jericho Brown is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as University of Houston, University of San Diego, and Emory University. His poems have been published in The Nation, New England Review, The New Republic, Oxford American, and The New Yorker, among others. He released his first book of prose and poetry, Please, in 2008. His second book, The New Testament, was released in 2014. His 2019 collection of poems, The Tradition, garnered widespread critical acclaim.

#13

Garrett Morris

#52674

Overall Influence

1937 - Present (87 years)

Garrett Isaac Morris is an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on The Jeffersons . Morris had one of the starring roles as Junior "Uncle Junior" King on the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show, which aired from 1996 to 2001. Morris also had a starring role as Earl Washington on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, from 2011 to 2017. He is also known for his role in the sitcom Martin as Stan Winters, from 1992 to 1995 until he suffered an injury. Also, he made two guest appearances on The Wayans Bros.

#14

Samella Lewis

#59184

Overall Influence

1924 - 2022 (98 years)

Samella Sanders Lewis was an American visual artist and art historian. She worked primarily as a printmaker and painter. She has been called the "Godmother of African American Art". She received Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association in 2021.

#15

Beverly Anderson

#62074

Overall Influence

1943 - Present (81 years)

Beverly Jacques Anderson is an American mathematician and emeritus professor at the University of the District of Columbia. In the 1990s she worked at the National Academy of Sciences as Director of Minority Programs for the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, and led the Making Mathematics Work for Minorities program.

#16

J. Max Bond Sr.

#64104

Overall Influence

1902 - 1991 (89 years)

J. Max Bond Sr. was an American educator who was President of the University of Liberia during the 1950s. Bond was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of a Congregational minister named James Bond and Jane Alice Bond . He attended Roosevelt College in Chicago, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Southern California.

#17

Rhetaugh Graves Dumas

#64542

Overall Influence

1928 - 2007 (79 years)

Rhetaugh Etheldra Graves Dumas was an American nurse, professor, and health administrator. Dumas was the first Black woman to serve as a dean at the University of Michigan. She served as the dean of the University of Michigan Nursing School. She also served as deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health, becoming the first nurse, female, or African-American to hold that position. She is said to have been the first nurse to use the scientific method to conduct experiments that evaluated nursing practices.

#18

Samuel DuBois Cook

Samuel DuBois Cook

#69784

Overall Influence

1928 - 2017 (89 years)

Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook was a political scientist, professor, author, administrator, human rights activist, and civil servant. Dr. Cook is best known for serving as the first African-American faculty member at Duke University, in 1966, as well as serving as the President of Dillard University from 1975 to 1997. In addition to these accomplishments, Dr. Cook was also appointed to the National Council on the Humanities by President Jimmy Carter and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by President Bill Clinton. Furthermore, he also served as the first black president of the Southern P...

#19

Henrietta Bell Wells

Henrietta Bell Wells

#72512

Overall Influence

1912 - 2008 (96 years)

Henrietta Bell Wells was the first female member of the debate team at historically black Wiley College in Texas. She was born Henrietta Pauline Bell on the banks of Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas to a West Indian single mother.

#20

Mona Lisa Saloy

#102629

Overall Influence

Mona Lisa Saloy is an American poet and folklorist. She is the Poet Laureate of Louisiana since 2021. Biography Mona Lisa Saloy was born in New Orleans and got her education in the University of Washington, where she graduated in 1979 with a BA in English. She then went to San Francisco State University and left with her MA in creative writing and English in 1982. She then went to Louisiana State University, which she left with a PhD in English and MFA in creative writing in 2005 and 1988. Saloy is the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Professor of English at Dillard University.

#21

Gladys W. Royal

Gladys W. Royal

#104499

Overall Influence

1926 - 2002 (76 years)

Gladys W. Royal is one of a small number of early African-American biochemists. Part of one of the few African-American husband-and-wife teams in science, Gladys worked with George C. Royal on research supported by the United States Atomic Energy Commission. She later worked for many years as principal biochemist at the Cooperative State Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Royal was also active in the civil rights movement in Greensboro, North Carolina.

#22

Joseph Henry Reason

#106235

Overall Influence

1905 - 1997 (92 years)

Joseph Henry Reason was an American librarian. He was director of the Howard University library system for 25 years. He was the first African-American to serve as president of the Association of College and Research Libraries and to be nominated for president of the American Library Association . In 1999, American Libraries named him one of the "100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century". His son, J. Paul Reason, was the first African-American four star Admiral in the United States Navy.

#23

Beverly Wright

#107306

Overall Influence

Beverly Wright is an American environmental justice scholar and the founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University. Her research considers the environmental and health inequalities along the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor. Her awards and honours include the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Achievement Award.

#24

Marvalene Hughes

#109959

Overall Influence

Dr. Marvalene Hughes served as the president of Dillard University from 2005 to 2011. From 1994 to 2005, she was the president of California State University, Stanislaus. Ms. Hughes received a PhD in Counseling and Administration from Florida State University. Her MS, in Counseling, and her BS in English and History, are both from Tuskegee University. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from Brown University.

#25

Irvin Mayfield

#123481

Overall Influence

1977 - Present (47 years)

Irvin Mayfield Jr. is an American trumpeter, composer, bandleader and educator. On November 3, 2021, Mayfield was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defrauding the New Orleans public library system for over one million dollars.

#26

Shelby F. Lewis

#131813

Overall Influence

Shelby Faye Lewis is an American political scientist and African studies scholar. She was a professor at a series of academic institutions and also worked as an international development consultant, ultimately becoming professor emerita at Clark Atlanta University, where she has also served multiple times as the Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed her to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

#27

Noel Cazenave

#136958

Overall Influence

1948 - Present (76 years)

Noel Anthony Cazenave is a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut. He generated controversy when he began teaching a "White Racism" course at the University of Connecticut in the 1990s. His initial proposal for the class in fall 1995 led to some of his critics comparing him to Leonard Jeffries and Louis Farrakhan. After heated debate among University of Connecticut faculty members, the class was offered for the first time in 1996. Shirlee Taylor Haizlip found out about the class because of the controversy it had generated, and subsequently spoke to its students as a guest lecturer.

#28

Katheryn Emanuel Lawson

#146178

Overall Influence

1926 - 2008 (82 years)

Kathryn Lee Emanuel Lawson was one of the first few female African American chemists who worked in Sandia National Laboratories. She studied properties of irradiated materials in Crystal Physics research division. She earned her PhD from the University of New Mexico in radiochemistry in 1957.

#29

Howard H. Bell

#153426

Overall Influence

1913 - 2012 (99 years)

Howard Holman Bell was a scholar of African American history. His book Minutes of the Proceedings of the National Negro Conventions, 1830-1864 was published in 1969. He wrote an introduction to the 1970 edition of Black Separatism in the Caribbean, 1860. Several of his articles were published in the Journal of Negro Education. He worked at the Library of Congress, Texas Southern University, Dillard University, Morgan State University, and Howard University.

#30

Lawrence Arthur Jones

#177496

Overall Influence

1910 - 1996 (86 years)

Lawrence Arthur Jones was an American artist and printmaker. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Jones spent most of his career as an art teacher in Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi. He was a contemporary of the prominent black artists Charles White and Eldzier Cortor. Jones's most notable accomplishment is his establishment of a fine arts program at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

#31

Betty Jackson King

#183539

Overall Influence

1928 - 1994 (66 years)

Betty Jackson King was an American pianist, singer, teacher, choral conductor, and composer. She was best known for her vocal works. Biography King was born in 1928 in Chicago. She first started learning music from her mother, Gertrude Jackson Taylor. King's father, Reverend Frederick D. Jackson a pastor at the Community Church of Woodlawn, helped expose her to church hymns and spirituals. Along with her mother and sister Catherine, she sang in the Jacksonian Trio. In 1969 when King began teaching at Wildwood High School in New Jersey, she integrated the high school's public school teaching s...

#32

Michael Lomax

#185763

Overall Influence

1947 - Present (77 years)

Michael Lucius Lomax has, since 2004, served as the president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund of the United States. Biography Lomax taught literature at Morehouse College and Spelman College, Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. For seven years he served as president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lomax also served for 12 years as chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County. In 1989 and 1993, he was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Atlanta. He is on the board of Teach for America, Emory University, The Carter Center, and a member of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.

#33

Edward H. Spicer

1906 - 1983 (77 years)

Edward Holland Spicer was an American anthropologist who combined the four-field approach outlined by Franz Boas and trained in the structural-function approach of Radcliffe-Brown and the University of Chicago. He joined the anthropology faculty at the University of Arizona in 1946 and retired from teaching in 1976. Spicer contributed to all four fields of anthropology through his study of the American Indians, the Southwest, and the clash of cultures defined in his award-winning book, Cycles of Conquest. Spicer combined the elements of historical, structural, and functional analysis to address the question of socio-cultural change.

#34

Horace Mann Bond

Horace Mann Bond

1904 - 1972 (68 years)

Horace Mann Bond was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned graduate and doctoral degrees from University of Chicago at a time when only a small percentage of any young adults attended any college. He was an influential leader at several historically black colleges and was appointed the first president of Fort Valley State University in Georgia in 1939, where he managed its growth in programs and revenue. In 1945, he became the first African-American president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

#35

Lester Granger

1896 - 1976 (80 years)

Lester Blackwell Granger was an African American civic leader who organized the Los Angeles chapter of the National Urban League and headed the league from 1941 to 1961. Early life Granger was born in Newport News, Virginia and was one of six sons. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a doctor from Barbados. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1918. He was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

#36

Albert W. Dent

1904 - 1984 (80 years)

Albert Walter Dent was an academic administrator who served initially as business administrator of Flint-Goodridge Hospital and later as president of Dillard University , a predominantly black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. In these roles, he was a community leader who improved education and health care for African-Americans and impoverished people in the American South.

#37

Benjamin Mays

1894 - 1984 (90 years)

Benjamin Elijah Mays was an American Baptist minister and American rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. Mays taught and mentored many influential activists, including Martin Luther King Jr, Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson, and Donn Clendenon, among others. His rhetoric and intellectual pursuits focused on Black self-determination. Mays' commitment to social justice through nonviolence and civil resistance were cultivated from his youth through the lessons imbibed from his parents and eldest sister. The peak of his public i...

#38

St. Clair Drake

St. Clair Drake

1911 - 1990 (79 years)

John Gibbs St. Clair Drake was an African-American sociologist and anthropologist whose scholarship and activism led him to document much of the social turmoil of the 1960s, establish some of the first Black Studies programs in American universities, and contribute to the independence movement in Ghana. Drake often wrote about challenges and achievements in race relations as a result of his extensive research.

#39

Peter Marshall Murray

1888 - 1969 (81 years)

Peter Marshall Murray, M.D. was president of the National Medical Association from 1932 to 1933. Biography He was born on June 9, 1888, in Houma, Louisiana to John L. Murray and Louvinia Smith. He attended Dillard University and graduated in 1910. In 1914 he was awarded his M.D. from Howard University. He interned at Freedmen's Hospital and then taught at Howard University. He served on the Howard University Board of Trustees.

#40

Will W. Alexander

1884 - 1956 (72 years)

Will Winton Alexander was chief executive officer of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation as well as the first president of Dillard University. Early life and education Alexander was born in Marrisville, Missouri in 1884. He attended Vanderbilt University.

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