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
#1
Alvin Plantinga
#116
Overall Influence
1932 - Present (92 years)
Alvin Plantinga currently holds the title of the William Harry Jellema Chair in Philosophy at Calvin University. Previously, Plantinga has taught at Wayne State University and the University of Notre Dame. Additionally, Plantinga was the president of the American Philosophical Association, Western Division from 1981 to 1982. As an undergraduate, Plantinga studied at Jamestown College, Calvin College, and Harvard University. Plantinga went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Michigan, before transferring to Yale University in 1955 and earning his PhD there in 1958. Plantinga is o...
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Dick Armey
#22551
Overall Influence
1940 - Present (84 years)
Richard Keith Armey is an American economist and politician. He was a U.S. Representative from Texas's and House Majority Leader . He was one of the engineers of the "Republican Revolution" of the 1990s, in which Republicans were elected to majorities of both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. Armey was one of the chief authors of the Contract with America. Armey is also an author and former economics professor. After his retirement from Congress, he has worked as a consultant, advisor, and lobbyist.
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Larry Woiwode
#23000
Overall Influence
1941 - 2022 (81 years)
Larry Alfred Woiwode was an American writer from North Dakota, where he was the state's Poet Laureate from 1995 until his death. His work appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, Gentleman's Quarterly, The Partisan Review and The Paris Review. He was the author of five novels; two collections of short stories; a commentary titled "Acts"; a biography of the Gold Seal founder and entrepreneur, Harold Schafer, Aristocrat of the West; a book of poetry, Even Tide; and reviews and essays and essay-reviews that appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post Book World.
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Ralph R. Erickson
#39781
Overall Influence
1959 - Present (65 years)
Ralph Robert Erickson is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Education and career Born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, Erickson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jamestown College in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1984. He was in private practice in West Fargo, North Dakota, from 1984 to 1994. He was a magistrate judge for the Cass County Court, North Dakota from 1993 to 1994. He was a county judge for the Traill, Steele, Nelson & Griggs Counties Court, North Dakota in 1994.
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George W. Johnson
#39940
Overall Influence
1928 - 2017 (89 years)
George William Johnson Jr. was an American academic and academic administrator who served as the President of George Mason University from 1978 to 1996. Johnson is credited with transforming George Mason University from largely a commuter college into a nationally recognized research university during his 18-year tenure as president. Under Johnson, total student enrollment doubled from 10,000 in 1979 to more than 24,000 students in 1996. Johnson also oversaw the addition of 34 new academic programs , the creation of GMU's first doctoral programs, and the establishment of the George Mason Uni...
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Barbara McClintock
#76667
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (69 years)
Barbara McClintock is an American illustrator and author of children's books. Background McClintock was born in Flemington, New Jersey, on May 6, 1955, and spent her early childhood in Clinton, New Jersey. She moved to North Dakota with her mother and sister when she was nine years old.
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John R. Milton
#89330
Overall Influence
1924 - 1995 (71 years)
John Ronald Milton was an American writer and editor of the South Dakota Review. Life Born on May 24, 1924, in Anoka, Minnesota, John Milton's early years were around Saint Paul. In the Second World War from 1943 to 1946, John served in the Army Signal Corps. On August 3, 1946, Milton married Lynn Hinderlie. Together they had one daughter.
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Vernon Robert Pearson
#117735
Overall Influence
1923 - 2013 (90 years)
Vernon Robert Pearson was an American jurist. Biography Born in Bantry, North Dakota, Pearson served four years in the U.S. Navy prior to graduating from Jamestown College in 1947. He received his law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1950.
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Jasper Schneider
#182900
Overall Influence
1979 - Present (45 years)
Jasper Schneider is a North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party politician. Schneider represented the 21st legislative district in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 2006 to 2009. In 2008, he ran for North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, losing narrowly with 49.7% of the vote. On September 30, 2009, Schneider was appointed USDA Rural Development state director for North Dakota.
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Jessica Haak
#186489
Overall Influence
Jessica Haak is a Democratic-NPL politician who served in the North Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 12th district from 2013 to 2017. While not serving in the legislature, Haak works for the North Dakota Farmers Union.
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David Nething
#186539
Overall Influence
1933 - Present (91 years)
David Earl Nething is a retired politician in the American state of North Dakota. Nething was born in Valley City, North Dakota. He attended Jamestown College, where he received his A.B. and the University of North Dakota School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor. After university, he served in the United States Army from 1951 to 1952.
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