A–Z index
All 973 people, filed by surname.
40 people
Hank Aaron 1934–2021Frontier & SportBaseball slugger who broke Babe Ruth's home run record amid racist threats and hostility.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar b. 1947Frontier & SportNBA's all-time leading scorer and six-time champion known for his skyhook and social activism.
Dean Acheson 1893–1971Government & PoliticsSecretary of State who helped build NATO and the postwar architecture of American foreign policy.
Abigail Adams 1744–1818Reform & RightsCorrespondent and presidential spouse whose letters urged legal consideration for women in the new republic.
Ansel Adams 1902–1984Arts & LettersLandscape photographer whose Western images and zone system shaped American photographic practice.
John Adams 1735–1826Government & PoliticsSecond President and key Founding Father who helped secure independence and shaped early American diplomacy.
John Quincy Adams 1767–1848Government & PoliticsDiplomat, sixth president, and later congressman who opposed slavery’s expansion and shaped early American foreign policy.
Samuel Adams 1722–1803Government & PoliticsRevolutionary organizer who helped mobilize resistance to British rule and build support for independence.
Jane Addams 1860–1935Reform & RightsSocial worker and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who founded Hull House and the settlement house movement.
Sheldon Adelson 1933–2021Business & LaborCasino magnate and political donor who built Las Vegas Sands into a global resort empire.
Andre Agassi b. 1970Frontier & SportTennis star whose comeback from personal struggles and eight Grand Slam titles inspired millions.
Howard Aiken 1900–1973Technology & BuildingPhysicist and engineer who designed the Harvard Mark I, an early electromechanical computer.
Roger Ailes 1940–2017Ideas & MediaTelevision executive who created Fox News and transformed partisan cable news and conservative politics.
Madeleine Albright 1937–2022Government & PoliticsFirst woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State and shaped 1990s policy in the Balkans.
Louisa May Alcott 1832–1888Arts & LettersAuthor of Little Women and a founding figure of American domestic fiction.
Buzz Aldrin b. 1930Frontier & SportApollo 11 lunar module pilot and second person to walk on the Moon.
Muhammad Ali 1942–2016Frontier & SportBoxing legend and cultural icon known for his athletic brilliance and principled stance against the Vietnam War draft.
Frances Allen 1932–2020Technology & BuildingPioneered compiler optimization at IBM and was the first woman to receive the Turing Award.
Paul Allen 1953–2018Technology & BuildingCo-founder of Microsoft who later invested in space, sports, and scientific research through the Allen Institute.
Sam Altman b. 1985Technology & BuildingTechnology executive and investor whose leadership in generative artificial intelligence has had major but still-unsettled historical consequences.
Christiane Amanpour b. 1958Ideas & MediaCNN chief international correspondent who has covered wars and crises from the Balkans to the Middle East.
Othmar Ammann 1879–1965Technology & BuildingSwiss-American structural engineer who designed the George Washington Bridge and other major spans.
William Anders 1933–2024Frontier & SportApollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic Earthrise photograph, changing humanity's view of our planet.
Marc Andreessen b. 1971Technology & BuildingCo-author of the first web browser and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, a leading venture capital firm.Benny Andrews 1930–2006Arts & LettersAfrican American painter and sculptor whose collage works addressed civil rights and social justice.
Maya Angelou 1928–2014Arts & LettersPoet and memoirist whose I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings broke new ground in autobiographical writing.
Susan B. Anthony 1820–1906Reform & RightsSuffragist and civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.
Virginia Apgar 1909–1974Science & MedicinePhysician who created the Apgar score, transforming rapid assessment and survival of newborns.
Edwin Howard Armstrong 1890–1954Technology & BuildingInvented the regenerative and superheterodyne circuits and frequency modulation radio.
Louis Armstrong 1901–1971Arts & LettersTrumpeter and singer whose innovations and worldwide fame made jazz a central American art form.
Neil Armstrong 1930–2012Frontier & SportAstronaut who commanded Apollo 11 and became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface.
Benedict Arnold 1741–1801Crime & NotorietyContinental Army general whose plot to surrender West Point made his name the American synonym for treason.
Frances Arnold b. 1956Science & MedicineChemical engineer who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for directed evolution of enzymes.
Henry H. "Hap" Arnold 1886–1950Government & PoliticsCommanding general of the Army Air Forces who built American air power during World War II and helped lay the foundation for the Air Force.
Kenneth Arrow 1921–2017Ideas & MediaEconomist whose impossibility theorem and work on general equilibrium, risk, and information reshaped modern economic theory.
Chester A. Arthur 1829–1886Government & PoliticsTwenty-first president who signed the Pendleton Act establishing merit-based federal hiring.
Arthur Ashe 1943–1993Frontier & SportTennis champion and activist who broke racial barriers and advocated for education, civil rights, and AIDS awareness.
Isaac Asimov 1920–1992Arts & LettersWriter whose science fiction and popular science helped shape public imagination about robots, technology, and the future.
John Atanasoff 1903–1995Technology & BuildingPhysicist who built the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer.
John James Audubon 1785–1851Reform & RightsNaturalist and illustrator whose Birds of America shaped American ornithology and the society bearing his name.