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American Philosophical Society

ORGANIZATION

Founded by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, 1743.

Official Website:
http://www.amphilsoc.org/

Location:
Philadelphia, PA

Founding Date:
1743

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Charles Greeley Abbot
Astronomer
31-May-1872 17-Dec-1973 Solar energy
Shirley S. Abrahamson
Judge
17-Dec-1933   Wisconsin Chief Justice
John Adams
Head of State
30-Oct-1735 4-Jul-1826 2nd President of the U.S.
John Quincy Adams
Head of State
11-Jul-1767 23-Feb-1848 6th US President, 1825-29
Roger Adams
Chemist
2-Jan-1889 6-Jul-1971 Organic chemist at Illinois
Walter S. Adams
Astronomer
20-Dec-1876 11-May-1956 Long-time director of Mt. Wilson Observatory
Felix Adler
Educator
13-Aug-1851 24-Apr-1933 Ethical Culture
Louis Agassiz
Paleontologist
28-May-1807 14-Dec-1873 Ichthyologist at Harvard
Peter Agre
Biologist
30-Jan-1949   Water channels of cell membranes
William Foxwell Albright
Archaeologist
24-May-1891 19-Sep-1971 Biblical archaeologist at Johns Hopkins
Sidney Altman
Chemist
7-May-1939   Proved enzyme role of RNA
Luis W. Alvarez
Physicist
13-Jun-1911 1-Sep-1988 Particle accelerator, extinction of dinosaurs
Carl David Anderson
Physicist
3-Sep-1905 11-Jan-1991 Discovered the positron, mu-meson
Charles McLean Andrews
Historian
22-Feb-1863 9-Sep-1943 The Colonial Period of American History
Leonore Annenberg
Socialite
20-Feb-1918 12-Mar-2009 Wife of Walter Annenberg
Walter Annenberg
Business
13-Mar-1908 1-Oct-2002 Media mogul, created TV Guide
Kenneth J. Arrow
Economist
23-Aug-1921   Social Choice and Individual Values
Norman Augustine
Business
27-Jul-1935   CEO of Martin Marietta, 1987-97
Richard Axel
Scientist
2-Jul-1946   Odorant receptors and olfactory organization
Walter Baade
Astronomer
24-Mar-1893 25-Jun-1960 German-American observational astronomer
Horace W. Babcock
Astronomer
13-Sep-1912 29-Aug-2003 Adaptive optics and the Babcock Model
Alexander Dallas Bache
Physicist
19-Jul-1806 17-Feb-1867 First President, National Academy of Sciences
Leo Baekeland
Scientist
14-Nov-1863 23-Feb-1944 Father of plastics
Bernard Bailyn
Historian
9-Sep-1922   The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Simeon E. Baldwin
Politician
5-Feb-1840 30-Jan-1927 Governor of Connecticut, 1911-15
Jacqueline K. Barton
Chemist
7-May-1952   Professor of Chemistry at CalTech
John Bartram
Naturalist
23-Mar-1699 22-Sep-1777 Colonial botanist to King George III
Walter Jackson Bate
Critic
23-May-1918 26-Jul-1999 Samuel Johnson
Gary S. Becker
Economist
2-Dec-1930 3-May-2014 Human Capital
Daniel Bell
Sociologist
10-May-1919 25-Jan-2011 The End of Ideology
Paul Berg
Chemist
30-Jun-1926   Pioneer in recombinant DNA
Lipman Bers
Mathematician
22-May-1914 29-Oct-1993 Riemann surfaces
Hans Bethe
Physicist
2-Jul-1906 6-Mar-2005 Atomic scientist
Nicholas Biddle
Business
8-Jan-1786 27-Feb-1844 Second Bank of the United States
James Billington
Historian
1-Jun-1929   13th Librarian of Congress
Robert J. Birgeneau
Educator
1942   Chancellor, UC Berkeley
George David Birkhoff
Mathematician
21-Mar-1884 12-Nov-1944 Modern theory of dynamical systems
David H. Blackwell
Mathematician
24-Apr-1919 8-Jul-2010 Bayesian statistics
Alfred Blalock
Doctor
5-Apr-1899 15-Sep-1964 "Blue baby" operation
Alan S. Blinder
Economist
14-Oct-1945   Vice Chairman, Federal Reserve
Konrad Bloch
Scientist
21-Jan-1912 15-Oct-2000 Cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism
Harold Bloom
Critic
11-Jul-1930   Literary critic, Yale professor
Jack Bogle
Business
8-May-1929   Founder, The Vanguard Group
Niels Bohr
Physicist
7-Oct-1885 18-Nov-1962 Father of Quantum Theory
Sissela Bok
Scholar
2-Dec-1934   Ethicist
Lee C. Bollinger
Educator
c. 1946   President of Columbia University
Edwin G. Boring
Psychologist
23-Oct-1886 1-Jul-1968 A History of Experimental Psychology
Kenneth E. Boulding
Economist
18-Jan-1910 18-Mar-1993 The Image: Knowledge of Life in Society
Kenneth Bourne
Historian
17-Mar-1930 13-Dec-1992 Britain and the Balance of Power
William G. Bowen
Educator
6-Oct-1933   President, Princeton University, 1972-88
Julian P. Boyd
Historian
3-Nov-1903 21-May-1980 Princeton University Librarian, 1940-52
Percy Williams Bridgman
Physicist
21-Apr-1882 20-Aug-1961 High-pressure physics
Cleanth Brooks
Critic
16-Oct-1906 10-May-1994 The Well Wrought Urn
Van Wyck Brooks
Critic
16-Feb-1886 2-May-1963 Finders & Makers
Ernest W. Brown
Astronomer
29-Nov-1866 22-Jul-1938 Tables of the Motion of the Moon
Peter Brown
Historian
26-Jul-1935   The Rise of Western Christendom
Charles F. Brush
Inventor
17-Mar-1849 15-Jun-1929 Street lights
Mac Bundy
Government
30-Mar-1919 16-Sep-1996 National Security Advisor, 1961-66
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Scientist
3-Sep-1899 31-Aug-1985 Acquired immunological tolerance
Vannevar Bush
Scientist
11-Mar-1890 30-Jun-1974 Pre-internet visionary
Nicholas Murray Butler
Educator
2-Apr-1862 7-Dec-1947 President of Columbia University, 1901-45
Caroline Bynum
Historian
1941   Medieval historian
Melvin Calvin
Chemist
8-Apr-1911 8-Jan-1997 Deciphered photosynthesis
William W. Campbell
Astronomer
11-Apr-1862 14-Jun-1938 Stellar Motions
Annie Jump Cannon
Astronomer
11-Dec-1863 13-Apr-1941 Census-taker of the sky
Anton J. Carlson
Biologist
29-Jan-1875 2-Sep-1956 The Machinery of the Body
Leonard Carmichael
Educator
9-Nov-1898 16-Sep-1973 Smithsonian Chief, 1953-64
Andrew Carnegie
Business
25-Nov-1835 11-Aug-1919 Robber baron turned philanthropist
Gerhard Casper
Educator
25-Dec-1937   President of Stanford University, 1992-2000
James Chadwick
Physicist
20-Oct-1891 24-Jul-1974 Discovered the neutron
Erwin Chargaff
Biologist
11-Aug-1905 20-Jun-2002 Biochemist at Columbia University
Noam Chomsky
Linguist
7-Dec-1928   Linguist, dissident intellectual
Warren Christopher
Government
27-Oct-1925 18-Mar-2011 US Secretary of State, 1993-97
Steven Chu
Physicist
28-Feb-1948   US Secretary of Energy, 2009-13
Joseph Sill Clark
Politician
21-Oct-1901 21-Jan-1990 US Senator from Pennsylvania, 1956-69
Stanley N. Cohen
Biologist
17-Feb-1935   Recombinant DNA
Cadwallader Colden
Physicist
7-Feb-1689 20-Sep-1776 Colonial scientist and statesman
James S. Coleman
Sociologist
12-May-1926 25-Mar-1995 Foundations of Social Theory
Arthur H. Compton
Physicist
10-Sep-1892 15-Mar-1962 Discovered the Compton Effect
Karl T. Compton
Physicist
15-Sep-1887 22-Jun-1954 Bikini Island atomic tests
Edward Condon
Physicist
2-Mar-1902 26-Mar-1974 Quantum Mechanics
William D. Coolidge
Physicist
23-Oct-1873 4-Feb-1975 Tungsten filaments and Coolidge tubes
Leon N. Cooper
Physicist
28-Feb-1930   BCS Theory of Superconductivity
Carl Cori
Scientist
5-Dec-1896 20-Oct-1984 Catalytic conversion of glycogen
Gerty Cori
Scientist
15-Aug-1896 26-Oct-1957 Catalytic conversion of glycogen
F. Albert Cotton
Chemist
9-Apr-1930 20-Feb-2007 Metal-metal bonds
Walter Cronkite
Journalist
4-Nov-1916 17-Jul-2009 America's most trusted newscaster
Alfred W. Crosby
Historian
15-Jan-1931   The Columbian Exchange
Paul J. Crutzen
Physicist
3-Dec-1933   Ozone depletion
Harvey Cushing
Doctor
8-Apr-1869 7-Oct-1939 Cushing's Syndrome
Alexander J. Dallas
Government
21-Jun-1759 16-Jan-1817 US Secretary of the Treasury, 1814-16
Gerard Debreu
Economist
4-Jul-1921 31-Dec-2004 Supply and demand theorist
Peter B. Dervan
Chemist
28-Jun-1945   DNA Researcher
Persi Diaconis
Mathematician
31-Jan-1945   Science of random numbers
Jared Diamond
Scientist
10-Sep-1937   Guns, Germs and Steel
Robert H. Dicke
Physicist
6-May-1916 4-Mar-1997 Dicke radiometer
Jeremiah Dixon
Astronomer
7-Aug-1733 22-Jan-1777 Mason-Dixon Line
T. G. Dobzhansky
Scientist
25-Jan-1900 18-Dec-1975 Genetics and the Origin of Species
Lewis W. Douglas
Politician
2-Jul-1894 7-Mar-1974 US Ambassador to the UK, 1947-50
John W. Dower
Historian
21-Jun-1938   Embracing Defeat
Henry Draper
Astronomer
7-Mar-1837 20-Nov-1882 Early astrophotographer
John William Draper
Chemist
5-May-1811 4-Jan-1882 Radiant energy and portrait photography
Sidney D. Drell
Physicist
13-Sep-1926   In the Shadow of the Bomb
John T. Dunlop
Government
5-Jul-1914 2-Oct-2003 US Secretary of Labor, 1975-76
Freeman Dyson
Physicist
15-Dec-1923   Theoretical physicist at Institute for Advanced Study
Roger Easton
Inventor
30-Apr-1921 8-May-2014 Global Positioning System
Gerald M. Edelman
Scientist
1-Jul-1929 17-May-2014 Chemical structure of antibodies
Paul R. Ehrlich
Scientist
29-May-1932   The Population Bomb
Albert Einstein
Physicist
14-Mar-1879 18-Apr-1955 Theory of relativity
Joseph Erlanger
Scientist
5-Jan-1874 5-Dec-1965 Nerve conduction
Leo Esaki
Physicist
12-Mar-1925   Electron tunneling
James Pollard Espy
Scientist
9-May-1785 24-Jan-1860 The Philosophy of Storms
Ulf von Euler
Scientist
7-Feb-1905 9-Mar-1983 Neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and prostaglandins
Robert Fagles
Translator
11-Sep-1933 26-Mar-2008 Translator of Greek literature
Michael Faraday
Physicist
22-Sep-1791 25-Aug-1867 Discovered electrical induction
Drew Gilpin Faust
Educator
18-Sep-1947   President of Harvard University
Martin Feldstein
Economist
25-Nov-1939   Reagan economist
Enrico Fermi
Physicist
29-Sep-1901 29-Nov-1954 First controlled nuclear chain reaction
Ronald Fisher
Mathematician
17-Feb-1890 29-Jul-1962 Analysis of variance and covariance
Marye Anne Fox
Educator
9-Dec-1947   Chancellor, UC San Diego
James Franck
Physicist
26-Aug-1882 21-May-1964 Franck-Hertz experiment
Felix Frankfurter
Judge
15-Nov-1882 22-Feb-1965 US Supreme Court Justice, 1939-62
Benjamin Franklin
Diplomat
17-Jan-1706 17-Apr-1790 American founding father
Milton Friedman
Economist
31-Jul-1912 16-Nov-2006 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics
Thomas Friedman
Journalist
20-Jul-1953   New York Times
Edward A. Frieman
Physicist
19-Jan-1926 11-Apr-2013 Director of Scripps, 1986-96
J. William Fulbright
Politician
9-Apr-1905 9-Feb-1995 Conceived the Fulbright Scholarships
John Kenneth Galbraith
Economist
15-Oct-1908 29-Apr-2006 Modern economics renegade
Albert Gallatin
Politician
29-Jan-1761 12-Aug-1849 US Secretary of the Treasury, 1801-14
Richard N. Gardner
Diplomat
9-Jul-1927   US Ambassador to Spain, 1993-97
Herbert S. Gasser
Scientist
5-Jul-1888 11-May-1963 Nerve conduction
Ignace J. Gelb
Scholar
14-Oct-1907 22-Dec-1985 A Study of Writing
Murray Gell-Mann
Physicist
15-Sep-1929   Quarks and strangeness
Riccardo Giacconi
Astronomer
6-Oct-1931   Discovered cosmic X-ray sources
William F. Giauque
Chemist
12-May-1895 28-Mar-1982 Adiabatic demagnetization
Walter S. Gifford
Business
10-Jan-1885 7-May-1966 President of AT&T, 1925-48
Sheldon Glashow
Physicist
5-Dec-1932   Electroweak Theory
Maria Goeppert-Mayer
Physicist
28-Jun-1906 20-Feb-1972 Shell nuclear model
Thomas Gold
Scientist
22-May-1920 22-Jun-2004 Certain that oil is not a fossil fuel
Maurice Goldhaber
Physicist
18-Apr-1911 11-May-2011 Neutrons
Joseph L. Goldstein
Scientist
18-Apr-1940   Hypercholesterolemia and cell metabolism
Ralph E. Gomory
Business
c. 1938   Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Jane Goodall
Naturalist
3-Apr-1934   Primate researcher
Ragnar Granit
Scientist
30-Oct-1900 31-Mar-1990 Physiology of the retina
Stephen Greenblatt
Critic
7-Nov-1943   The Swerve
Alan Greenspan
Economist
6-Mar-1926   Federal Reserve Chairman, 1987-2006
Vartan Gregorian
Educator
8-Apr-1934   President of Carnegie Corporation
Erich S. Gruen
Historian
7-May-1935   The Last Generation of the Roman Republic
Amy Gutmann
Educator
19-Nov-1949   President, University of Pennsylvania
Ernst Haeckel
Zoologist
16-Feb-1834 9-Aug-1919 Proponent of evolution
Robert Hare
Chemist
17-Jan-1781 15-May-1858 Hydrostatic blow-pipe and spiritoscope
George Russell Harrison
Physicist
14-Jul-1898 27-Jul-1979 Echelle spectrograph
Haldan K. Hartline
Scientist
22-Dec-1903 17-Mar-1983 Physiology of the retina
E. Newton Harvey
Zoologist
25-Nov-1887 21-Jul-1959 Light-emitting organisms
Ethel Browne Harvey
Zoologist
14-Dec-1885 2-Sep-1965 Embryology of sea urchins
John Herschel
Astronomer
7-Mar-1792 11-May-1871 Discovered many moons of Saturn
William Hewlett
Business
20-May-1913 12-Jan-2001 Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard
James Hillier
Physicist
22-Aug-1915 15-Jan-2007 Electron microscope
Gertrude Himmelfarb
Historian
8-Aug-1922   Victorian Minds
Alan L. Hodgkin
Scientist
5-Feb-1914 20-Dec-1998 Electrical impulses in nerves
Roald Hoffmann
Chemist
18-Jul-1937   Woodward-Hoffmann reaction
Richard Hofstadter
Historian
6-Aug-1916 24-Oct-1970 Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
Bert Hölldobler
Zoologist
25-Jun-1936   Social organizations in insects
Johannes Holtfreter
Zoologist
9-Jan-1901 13-Nov-1992 Chemotaxis
Edwin J. Houston
Inventor
9-Jul-1847 1-Mar-1914 Thomson-Houston Electric Company
Fred Hoyle
Astronomer
24-Jun-1915 20-Aug-2001 Opposed the Big Bang but named it
Freeman A. Hrabowski
Educator
13-Aug-1950   President, University of Maryland Baltimore
Edwin Hubble
Astronomer
20-Nov-1889 28-Sep-1953 Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble's Law
Charles B. Huggins
Scientist
22-Sep-1901 12-Jan-1997 Hormonal treatment of prostate and breast cancers
John Hunter
Doctor
13-Feb-1728 16-Oct-1793 English pathologist
Herbert E. Ives
Physicist
21-Jul-1882 13-Nov-1953 Facsimile machine
Shirley A. Jackson
Physicist
5-Aug-1946   NRC Chairman, 1995-99
François Jacob
Scientist
17-Jun-1920 19-Apr-2013 Operon theory of genetic control
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Scholar
24-Nov-1946   Annenberg Public Policy Center
Thomas Jefferson
Head of State
13-Apr-1743 4-Jul-1826 3rd US President, 1801-09
Niels K. Jerne
Scientist
23-Dec-1911 7-Oct-1994 Immune theory (anti-antibody)
Dale W. Jorgenson
Economist
7-May-1933   Economist at Harvard
Leo P. Kadanoff
Physicist
14-Jan-1937 26-Oct-2015 Second-order phase transitions
Eric R. Kandel
Scientist
7-Nov-1929   Signal transduction in the nervous system
Helene L. Kaplan
Attorney
19-Jun-1933   Of Counsel, Skadden Arps
Jerome Karle
Chemist
18-Jun-1918 6-Jun-2013 X-Ray diffraction studies
Nancy Kassebaum
Politician
29-Jul-1932   US Senator from Kansas, 1979-97
Judith S. Kaye
Judge
4-Aug-1938 7-Jan-2016 Chief Judge, State of New York, 1993-2008
David T. Kearns
Business
11-Aug-1930 25-Feb-2011 CEO of Xerox, 1985-91
William N. Kelley
Doctor
23-Jun-1939   Kelley-Seegmiller Syndrome
Donald Kennedy
Educator
18-Aug-1931   Editor-in-Chief of Science
Paul Kennedy
Historian
17-Jun-1945   The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Nan Keohane
Scholar
18-Sep-1940   Political scientist
Linda K. Kerber
Historian
23-Jan-1940   Federalists in Dissent
Charles P. Kindleberger
Economist
12-Oct-1910 7-Jul-2003 The World in Depression
Lawrence R. Klein
Economist
14-Sep-1920 20-Oct-2013 Macroeconometric modeling
F. W. de Klerk
Head of State
18-Mar-1936   President of South Africa, 1989-94
Jeremy R. Knowles
Business
1935   Chemistry Professor, Harvard University
Walter Kohn
Chemist
9-Mar-1923   Density-functional theory
Arthur Kornberg
Scientist
3-Mar-1918 26-Oct-2007 Synthesized DNA
Alfred Kroeber
Anthropologist
11-Jun-1876 5-Oct-1960 Pioneer in American Anthropology
Polykarp Kusch
Physicist
26-Jan-1911 20-Mar-1993 Magnetic moment of the electron
Simon Kuznets
Economist
30-Apr-1901 8-Jul-1985 National Income and Its Composition
Edwin H. Land
Inventor
7-May-1909 1-Mar-1991 Polaroid Land Camera
Samuel P. Langley
Astronomer
22-Aug-1834 2-Feb-1906 Heavier-than-air flying machine
Richmond Lattimore
Poet
6-May-1906 26-Feb-1984 Translator of Iliad and Odyssey
Henry Laurens
Politician
24-Feb-1724 8-Dec-1792 Captured negotiating treaty with Holland
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier
Chemist
26-Aug-1743 8-May-1794 Father of modern chemistry
Joshua Lederberg
Biologist
23-May-1925 2-Feb-2008 Genetic properties of bacteria
Morris E. Leeds
Business
6-Mar-1869 8-Feb-1952 Leeds & Northrup Co.
Anthony J. Leggett
Physicist
26-Mar-1938   Particle physicist, explored superfluidity
Jean-Marie Lehn
Chemist
30-Sep-1939   Synthesis of molecules
Joseph Leidy
Biologist
9-Sep-1823 30-Apr-1891 Trichinosis and dinosaurs
Luis Leloir
Chemist
6-Sep-1906 2-Dec-1987 Conversion of carbohydrates
Wassily Leontief
Economist
5-Aug-1906 5-Feb-1999 Structure of the American Economy
Jill Lepore
Historian
27-Aug-1966   The Name of War
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Anthropologist
28-Nov-1908 1-Nov-2009 French anthropologist
Bernard Lewis
Scholar
31-May-1916   Middle East scholar
Edward B. Lewis
Scientist
20-May-1918 21-Jul-2004 Drosophila researcher, Nobel laureate
Susan L. Lindquist
Biologist
5-Jun-1949   Protein folding
Carolus Linnaeus
Botanist
23-May-1707 10-Jan-1778 Created a taxonomy of the species
Walter Lippmann
Journalist
23-Sep-1889 14-Dec-1974 Today and Tomorrow
Alfred Lee Loomis
Physicist
4-Nov-1887 1-Aug-1975 Millionaire scientist
Robert Lucas
Economist
15-Sep-1937   Theory of rational expectations
Salvador Luria
Biologist
13-Aug-1912 6-Feb-1991 Natural selection in bacteria
Robert Morrison MacIver
Sociologist
17-Apr-1882 15-Jun-1970 The Web of Government
Roderick MacKinnon
Biologist
19-Feb-1956   Ion channels of cell membranes
Burton Malkiel
Economist
28-Aug-1932   A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Rudolph A. Marcus
Chemist
21-Jul-1923   Electron-transfer reactions
Tomas Masaryk
Head of State
7-Mar-1850 14-Sep-1937 Czech President, 1920-35
Charles Mason
Astronomer
Apr-1728 25-Oct-1786 Mason-Dixon Line
Walter E. Massey
Business
5-Apr-1938   Morehouse College president, physicist
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Government
1946   Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Ernst Mayr
Biologist
5-Jul-1904 3-Feb-2005 Evolutionary biologist
Barbara McClintock
Scientist
16-Jun-1902 2-Sep-1992 Discovered transposable genes
William D. McElroy
Biologist
22-Jan-1917 17-Feb-1999 Bioluminescence
Victor A. McKusick
Scientist
21-Oct-1921 22-Jul-2008 Father of medical genetics
Edwin M. McMillan
Physicist
18-Sep-1907 7-Sep-1991 Discovered neptunium and plutonium
Robert McNamara
Government
9-Jun-1916 6-Jul-2009 US Secretary of Defense, 1961-68
Peter Medawar
Biologist
28-Feb-1915 2-Oct-1987 Acquired immunological tolerance
Dmitri Mendeleev
Chemist
8-Feb-1834 2-Feb-1907 Periodic Table of the Elements
Robert K. Merton
Sociologist
4-Jul-1910 23-Feb-2003 On the Shoulders of Giants
Richard A. Meserve
Attorney
20-Nov-1944   President of the Carnegie Institution
Albert A. Michelson
Physicist
19-Dec-1852 9-May-1931 Measured the speed of light
Maria Mitchell
Astronomer
1-Aug-1818 28-Jun-1889 First American female astronomer
Samuel Eliot Morison
Historian
9-Jul-1887 15-May-1976 Rear Admiral and naval historian
Robert S. Mulliken
Chemist
7-Jun-1896 31-Oct-1986 Molecular orbital theory
Gerry Neugebauer
Astronomer
3-Sep-1932   Infrared astronomy
Ernest Fox Nichols
Physicist
1-Jun-1869 29-Apr-1924 Infrared radiation
Roy Franklin Nichols
Historian
3-Mar-1896 12-Jan-1973 The Disruption of American Democracy
Marshall W. Nirenberg
Scientist
10-Apr-1927 15-Jan-2010 RNA's role in protein synthesis
Martha Nussbaum
Philosopher
6-May-1947   The Fragility of Goodness
Sandra Day O'Connor
Judge
26-Mar-1930   US Supreme Court Justice, 1981-2006
Onora O'Neill
Philosopher
23-Aug-1941   President of the British Academy, 2005-09
George A. Olah
Chemist
22-May-1927   Isolated carbonium ions
Lars Onsager
Chemist
27-Nov-1903 5-Oct-1976 Fourth Law of Thermodynamics
Robert Oppenheimer
Physicist
22-Apr-1904 18-Feb-1967 Physicist, headed the Manhattan Project
Donald E. Osterbrock
Astronomer
13-Jul-1924 11-Jan-2007 Director of Lick Observatory, 1973-81
Elinor Ostrom
Sociologist
7-Aug-1933 12-Jun-2012 Common-pool resources
David Packard
Business
7-Sep-1912 26-Mar-1996 Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard
Thomas Paine
Activist
29-Jan-1737 8-Jun-1809 Common Sense
Pief Panofsky
Physicist
24-Apr-1919 24-Sep-2007 Stanford Linear Accelerator
Louis Pasteur
Chemist
27-Dec-1822 28-Sep-1895 Discovered process of pasteurization
Linus Pauling
Chemist
28-Feb-1901 19-Aug-1994 Scientist and peacenik
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Astronomer
10-May-1900 7-Dec-1979 Hydrogen in the Sun
Raymond Pearl
Biologist
3-Jun-1879 17-Nov-1940 Biogerontology
Benjamin Peirce
Mathematician
4-Apr-1809 10-Jun-1880 Idempotent and nilpotent
Jaroslav Pelikan
Historian
17-Dec-1923 13-May-2006 The Christian Tradition
Itzhak Perlman
Violinist
31-Aug-1945   Israeli violinist
Philip Syng Physick
Doctor
7-Jul-1768 15-Dec-1837 Father of American surgery
Kenneth S. Pitzer
Chemist
6-Jan-1914 26-Dec-1997 President of Rice University, 1961-68
Max Planck
Physicist
23-Apr-1858 4-Oct-1947 Originator of quantum theory
J. G. A. Pocock
Historian
7-Mar-1924   The Machiavellian Moment
Henri Poincaré
Mathematician
29-Apr-1854 17-Jul-1912 Poincaré Conjecture
George Porter
Chemist
6-Dec-1920 31-Aug-2002 Rapid chemical and biological processes
David M. Potter
Historian
6-Dec-1910 18-Feb-1971 The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861
Colin Powell
Government
5-Apr-1937   US Secretary of State, 2001-05
Joseph Priestley
Chemist
13-Mar-1733 6-Feb-1804 Investigated gases, discovered Oxygen
Stanley B. Prusiner
Scientist
28-May-1942   Prions
E. M. Purcell
Physicist
30-Aug-1912 7-Mar-1997 Nuclear magnetic resonance
Isidor Isaac Rabi
Physicist
29-Jul-1898 11-Jan-1988 Magnetic beam resonances
Norman F. Ramsey
Physicist
27-Aug-1915 4-Nov-2011 Energy levels of atoms
Don Michael Randel
Educator
9-Dec-1940   President, University of Chicago, 2000-06
C. N. R. Rao
Chemist
30-Jun-1934   Chemistry of superconductivity
John S. Reed
Business
1939   CEO of Citibank, 1984-2000
Martin Rees
Astronomer
23-Jun-1942   President of the Royal Society
Owen Willans Richardson
Physicist
26-Apr-1879 15-Feb-1959 Electron emissions of metals
Oscar Riddle
Biologist
27-Sep-1877 29-Nov-1968 Prolactin
Rebecca Rimel
Administrator
c. 1951   CEO of Pew Charitable Trusts
David Rittenhouse
Astronomer
8-Apr-1732 26-Jun-1796 Early Pennsylvania scientist and statesman
Alice Rivlin
Economist
4-Mar-1931   Founding director, Congressional Budget Office
Owen J. Roberts
Judge
2-May-1875 17-May-1955 US Supreme Court Justice, 1930-45
Mary Robinson
Head of State
21-May-1944   President of Ireland, 1990-97
David Rockefeller
Business
12-Jun-1915   Founder of the Trilateral Commission
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Business
29-Jan-1874 11-May-1960 Built Rockefeller Center
William Barton Rogers
Educator
7-Dec-1804 30-May-1882 Founder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Theodore Roosevelt
Head of State
27-Oct-1858 6-Jan-1919 26th US President, 1901-09
Elihu Root
Government
15-Feb-1845 7-Feb-1937 Senator, Secretary of War, State
Bruno Rossi
Astronomer
13-Apr-1905 21-Nov-1993 Rossi curve and magnetopause
Walt Rostow
Government
7-Oct-1916 13-Feb-2003 National Security Advisor, 1966-69
F. Sherwood Rowland
Chemist
28-Jun-1927 10-Mar-2012 Ozone depletion
Vera Rubin
Astronomer
23-Jul-1928   Structure of galaxies
Neil Rudenstine
Educator
21-Jan-1935   President of Harvard, 1991-2001
Henry Norris Russell
Astronomer
25-Oct-1877 18-Feb-1957 Giant stars and dwarfs
Ernest Rutherford
Physicist
30-Aug-1871 19-Oct-1937 Father of nuclear physics
Carl Sagan
Astronomer
9-Nov-1934 20-Dec-1996 Popular astronomer, host of Cosmos
Andrei Sakharov
Physicist
21-May-1921 14-Dec-1989 Developed the Soviet hydrogen bomb
Paul Samuelson
Economist
15-May-1915 13-Dec-2009 Theory of revealed preference
Frank Schlesinger
Astronomer
11-May-1871 10-Jul-1943 Stellar parallaxes
Robert Schrieffer
Physicist
31-May-1931   BCS Theory of Superconductivity
Theodore W. Schultz
Economist
30-Apr-1902 26-Feb-1998 Investment in Human Capital
Martin Schwarzschild
Astronomer
31-May-1912 10-Apr-1997 Structure and Evolution of the Stars
Glenn Seaborg
Physicist
19-Apr-1912 25-Feb-1999 Co-Discoverer of Plutonium
Frederick Hanley Seares
Astronomer
17-May-1873 20-Jul-1964 Astronomer at Mt. Wilson Observatory
Amartya Sen
Economist
3-Nov-1933   Poverty and Famines
Claude Shannon
Scientist
30-Apr-1916 24-Feb-2001 Pioneer in information theory
Harold T. Shapiro
Educator
8-Jun-1935   President of Princeton, 1988-2000
Judith Shapiro
Educator
24-Jan-1942   President, Barnard College
Phillip A. Sharp
Biologist
6-Jun-1944   Eukaryotic (split) genes
Ruth J. Simmons
Educator
3-Jul-1945   President, Brown University
Isadore Singer
Mathematician
3-May-1924   Atiyah-Singer index theorem
B. F. Skinner
Psychologist
20-Mar-1904 18-Aug-1990 Radical Behaviorism
Quentin Skinner
Historian
26-Nov-1940   The Foundations of Modern Political Thought
Theda Skocpol
Educator
4-May-1947   Harvard sociologist, political scientist
George D. Snell
Scientist
19-Dec-1903 6-Jun-1996 Recognition of HLA antigens
Robert M. Solow
Economist
23-Aug-1924   Theory of economic growth
Hugo F. Sonnenschein
Economist
1941   President, University of Chicago, 1993-2000
Sonia Sotomayor
Judge
25-Jun-1954   US Supreme Court Justice
Jonathan D. Spence
Historian
11-Aug-1936   The Search for Modern China
Jonathan Sperber
Historian
26-Dec-1952   The European Revolutions, 1848-1851
Joan Spero
Diplomat
2-Oct-1944   Under Secretary of State, 1993-97
Roger W. Sperry
Scientist
20-Aug-1913 17-Apr-1994 "Split brain" hemispheric neurophysiology
Lyman Spitzer, Jr.
Astronomer
26-Jun-1914 31-Mar-1997 Father of space telescopes
Wendell M. Stanley
Chemist
16-Aug-1904 15-Jun-1971 First to crystallize a virus
Harold Stassen
Politician
13-Apr-1907 4-Mar-2001 Perennial presidential candidate
Fritz Stern
Historian
2-Feb-1926   German historian
Otto Stern
Physicist
17-Feb-1888 17-Aug-1969 Molecular beam experiment
Joseph Stiglitz
Economist
9-Feb-1943   Ex-Chief Economist of the World Bank
Kathleen Sullivan
Scholar
20-Aug-1955   Scholar of constitutional law
The Svedberg
Chemist
30-Aug-1884 25-Feb-1971 Inventor of the ultracentrifuge
Ambrose Swasey
Business
19-Dec-1846 15-Jun-1937 Warner and Swasey Company and Observatory
William Howard Taft
Head of State
15-Sep-1857 8-Mar-1930 27th US President, 1909-13
David S. Tatel
Judge
16-Mar-1942   US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit
Edward Tatum
Scientist
14-Dec-1909 7-Nov-1975 One gene, one enzyme theory
Henry Taube
Chemist
30-Nov-1915 16-Nov-2005 Mechanisms of electron transfer
Joseph H. Taylor, Jr.
Astronomer
24-Mar-1941   Co-Discovered first binary pulsar
Samuel O. Thier
Doctor
23-Jun-1937   CEO of Massachusetts General, 1996-2002
Lonnie Thompson
Scientist
1-Jul-1948   Paleoclimatologist, glaciologist
Charles Thomson
Politician
29-Nov-1729 16-Aug-1824 Designed Great Seal of the U.S.
Elihu Thomson
Inventor
29-Mar-1853 13-Mar-1937 Electric welding and A/C motors
William Thornton
Architect
20-May-1759 28-Mar-1828 First architect of the US Capitol
Shirley M. Tilghman
Educator
17-Sep-1946   President of Princeton University
Stephen Timoshenko
Engineer
23-Dec-1878 29-May-1972 Mechanical engineering professor at Stanford
Charles H. Townes
Physicist
28-Jul-1915 27-Jan-2015 Invention of the maser and laser
Harold C. Urey
Chemist
29-Apr-1893 5-Jan-1981 Discovered Deuterium
James Van Allen
Astronomer
7-Sep-1914 9-Aug-2006 Discovered the Van Allen Belt
John H. van Vleck
Physicist
13-Mar-1899 27-Oct-1980 Quantum theory of paramagnetism
Cyrus Vance
Government
27-Mar-1917 12-Jan-2002 US Secretary of State, 1977-80
Vincent du Vigneaud
Chemist
18-May-1901 11-Dec-1978 Synthesized vasopressin and oxytocin
Paul Volcker
Economist
5-Sep-1927   Chairman of the Federal Reserve, 1979-87
Hermann von Helmholtz
Physicist
31-Aug-1821 8-Sep-1894 Law of Conservation of Energy
John von Neumann
Mathematician
28-Dec-1903 8-Feb-1957 Computing pioneer, inventor of Game Theory
Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Physicist
23-Nov-1837 9-Mar-1923 Investigated states of matter
George Wald
Biologist
18-Nov-1906 12-Apr-1997 Physiology of the retina
Michael Walzer
Philosopher
3-Mar-1935   Just and Unjust Wars
Earl Warren
Judge
19-Mar-1891 9-Jul-1974 US Chief Justice, 1953-69
James Craig Watson
Astronomer
28-Jan-1838 23-Nov-1880 Claimed to discover the planet Vulcan
Thomas J. Watson
Business
17-Feb-1874 19-Jun-1956 Led IBM into the computer era
Eugen Weber
Historian
24-Apr-1925 17-May-2007 The Western Tradition
Alvin M. Weinberg
Physicist
20-Apr-1915 18-Oct-2006 Nuclear scientist
Steven Weinberg
Physicist
3-May-1933   Electroweak Theory
Jack Welch
Business
19-Nov-1935   CEO of GE, 1981-2001
Eric F. Wieschaus
Scientist
8-Jun-1947   Embryonic development of fruit flies
Eugene Wigner
Physicist
17-Nov-1902 1-Jan-1995 Law of conservation of parity
Frank Wilczek
Physicist
15-May-1951   Deep structure of matter
Edward O. Wilson
Biologist
10-Jun-1929   Father of Sociobiology
James Q. Wilson
Scholar
27-May-1931 2-Mar-2012 The Moral Sense
Kenneth G. Wilson
Physicist
8-Jun-1936 15-Jun-2013 Second-order phase transitions
William Julius Wilson
Sociologist
20-Dec-1935   Poverty in America's inner cities
Edward Witten
Physicist
26-Aug-1951   String theorist at Princeton
James Wolfensohn
Business
1-Dec-1933   World Bank president, 1995-2005
Gordon S. Wood
Historian
27-Nov-1933   The Creation of the American Republic
Robert B. Woodward
Chemist
10-Apr-1917 8-Jul-1979 Synthesized cholesterol, Vitamin B12, etc.
Sewall Wright
Biologist
21-Dec-1889 3-Mar-1988 Mathematics of evolution
Mark S. Wrighton
Educator
1949   Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis
E. A. Wrigley
Historian
17-Aug-1931   Continuity, Chance and Change
Charles W. Yost
Diplomat
6-Nov-1907 21-May-1981 US Ambassador to the UN, 1969-71
Ahmed H. Zewail
Chemist
26-Feb-1946   Femtochemistry
Hans Zinsser
Scientist
17-Nov-1878 4-Sep-1940 Typhus vaccine


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