A–Z index
All 973 people, filed by surname.
68 people
Kara Walker b. 1969Arts & LettersContemporary artist whose silhouette installations confront the brutal history of American slavery and racism.
David Foster Wallace 1962–2008Arts & LettersNovelist and essayist whose Infinite Jest became a defining postmodern American novel.
George Wallace 1919–1998Crime & NotorietySegregationist governor whose campaigns helped shape racial backlash and modern populist politics.
Barbara Walters 1929–2022Ideas & MediaPioneering broadcast journalist who became the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program.
Alice Walton b. 1949Business & LaborDaughter of Sam Walton and art patron who founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Jim Walton b. 1948Business & LaborYoungest son of Sam Walton and major shareholder in Walmart, one of the world's largest retailers.
Rob Walton b. 1944Business & LaborEldest son of Sam Walton who served as chairman of Walmart for over two decades.
Sam Walton 1918–1992Business & LaborFounder of Walmart and Sam's Club who built the world's largest retail empire.
Vera Wang b. 1949Business & LaborFashion designer who revolutionized the bridal industry and built a global luxury brand.
Ferdinand Ward 1851–1925Crime & NotorietyFinancier whose Ponzi scheme destroyed the firm bearing Ulysses S. Grant's name and bankrupted him.
Andy Warhol 1928–1987Arts & LettersPop art pioneer whose Campbell's soup cans and celebrity portraits defined contemporary American art.
Earl Warren 1891–1974Government & PoliticsChief justice whose Court transformed civil rights, voting, representation, and criminal procedure.
Booker T. Washington 1856–1915Ideas & MediaEducator and founder of Tuskegee Institute who advocated for vocational training for African Americans.
Denzel Washington b. 1954Arts & LettersAcademy Award-winning actor and director regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
George Washington 1732–1799Government & PoliticsFirst President of the United States and commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Martha Washington 1731–1802Government & PoliticsFirst First Lady who defined the role and spent every wartime winter in the Continental Army's camps.
Alice Waters b. 1944Reform & RightsChef and activist who popularized farm-to-table dining, seasonal ingredients, and food education in the United States.
James Watson 1928–2025Science & MedicineCo-discoverer of the DNA double helix structure, earning a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Thomas J. Watson Sr. 1874–1956Business & LaborExecutive who built IBM into the dominant punched-card and business-machine company before the computer age.
Amy Wax b. 1953Ideas & MediaUniversity of Pennsylvania law professor whose controversial writings on culture and immigration sparked national debate.
John Wayne 1907–1979Arts & LettersWestern star whose screen persona became a durable symbol of American masculinity.
Daniel Webster 1782–1852Government & PoliticsSenator and orator whose speeches on the Union and Constitution are among the greatest in history.
Noah Webster 1758–1843Ideas & MediaLexicographer whose spellers and American dictionary standardized United States spelling and schoolroom instruction.
Steven Weinberg 1933–2021Science & MedicineTheoretical physicist who unified electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force, earning a Nobel Prize.
Drew Weissman b. 1959Science & MedicineImmunologist whose collaboration with Katalin Karikó made mRNA vaccines practical and safe.
Jack Welch 1935–2020Business & LaborFormer CEO of General Electric who reshaped corporate management and became a business icon.
Orson Welles 1915–1985Arts & LettersDirector, actor, and broadcaster whose innovations in film, radio, and theater reshaped American visual and dramatic storytelling.
Ida B. Wells 1862–1931Reform & RightsJournalist and anti-lynching crusader whose investigative reporting exposed racial terror in the South.
Cornel West b. 1953Ideas & MediaPhilosopher and public intellectual whose work bridges race, democracy, and American pragmatism.
George Westinghouse 1846–1914Technology & BuildingEngineer and industrialist who championed alternating current and founded the Westinghouse Electric Company.
William Westmoreland 1914–2005Government & PoliticsCommander in Vietnam whose attrition strategy and optimistic troop estimates collided with the Tet Offensive.
Edith Wharton 1862–1937Arts & LettersFirst woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, known for The Age of Innocence and Gilded Age novels.
James Whistler 1834–1903Arts & LettersPainter and etcher best known for Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, commonly called Whistler's Mother.
Ed White 1930–1967Frontier & SportGemini 4 astronaut who performed the first American spacewalk, dying in the Apollo 1 fire.
Ryan White 1971–1990Reform & RightsTeenager with HIV/AIDS whose fight against discrimination changed public perception of the epidemic.
Meg Whitman b. 1956Technology & BuildingFormer CEO of eBay and HP who helped build e-commerce and enterprise technology giants.
Walt Whitman 1819–1892Arts & LettersPoet whose Leaves of Grass celebrated democracy, nature, and the human body in free verse.
Eli Whitney 1765–1825Technology & BuildingInventor of the cotton gin, which revolutionized Southern agriculture and had profound economic impacts.
Peggy Whitson b. 1960Frontier & SportNASA astronaut who holds the American record for most cumulative days in space.
Norbert Wiener 1894–1964Science & MedicineMathematician who founded cybernetics, influencing computing, automation, neuroscience, and theories of communication and control.
Billy Wilder 1906–2002Arts & LettersHollywood writer-director of Sunset Boulevard — Some Like It Hot and Double Indemnity.
Harvey Washington Wiley 1844–1930Reform & RightsChemist whose adulteration studies produced the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the agency that became the FDA.
Charles Wilkes 1798–1877Frontier & SportNaval officer who led the United States Exploring Expedition, mapping the Pacific and Antarctica.
Emma Willard 1787–1870Ideas & MediaWomen's education reformer who founded the Troy Female Seminary, a model for women's higher education.
Hank Williams 1923–1953Arts & LettersCountry songwriter whose brief career set the template for the genre's later stars.
Roger Williams 1603–1683Ideas & MediaFounder of Rhode Island and early advocate of religious liberty and separation of church and state.
Serena Williams b. 1981Frontier & SportTennis champion with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, widely considered one of the greatest athletes ever.
Tennessee Williams 1911–1983Arts & LettersPlaywright whose A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof defined American theater.August Wilson 1945–2005Arts & LettersPlaywright whose ten-play cycle chronicled African American life across the twentieth century.
E. O. Wilson 1929–2021Science & MedicineBiologist whose studies of ants, biodiversity, and sociobiology reshaped ecology, evolution, and conservation debate.
Woodrow Wilson 1856–1924Government & Politics28th President who led the nation through World War I and championed the League of Nations.
Oprah Winfrey b. 1954Ideas & MediaMedia executive and talk show host who built a multimedia empire and became one of the most influential women in the world.
Sarah Winnemucca 1844–1891Reform & RightsNorthern Paiute author and lecturer who petitioned Washington over reservation abuses.
John Winthrop 1588–1649Government & PoliticsLong-serving Massachusetts Bay governor whose vision of a covenant community influenced New England political culture.
Susan Wojcicki 1968–2024Technology & BuildingFormer CEO of YouTube who helped build Google and oversaw the video platform's explosive growth.
Tom Wolfe 1930–2018Ideas & MediaNew Journalism pioneer whose The Right Stuff and Bonfire of the Vanities chronicled American culture.
Stevie Wonder b. 1950Arts & LettersSinger-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose innovative recordings expanded soul and popular music.
Grant Wood 1891–1942Arts & LettersRegionalist painter best known for American Gothic, one of the most parodied images in American art.
John Wooden 1910–2010Frontier & SportUCLA basketball coach whose ten NCAA titles in twelve seasons remain the sport's benchmark dynasty.
Granville Woods 1856–1910Technology & BuildingPatented induction telegraph and electrical systems that improved railway communication and safety.
Tiger Woods b. 1975Frontier & SportGolf icon who revolutionized the sport and became one of the most famous athletes in the world.
Bob Woodward b. 1943Ideas & MediaInvestigative reporter whose coverage of Watergate with Carl Bernstein led to President Nixon's resignation.
Steve Wozniak b. 1950Technology & BuildingCo-founder of Apple who designed the Apple I and Apple II computers, sparking the personal computer revolution.
Frank Lloyd Wright 1867–1959Technology & BuildingArchitect and engineer whose organic architecture, including Fallingwater, reshaped the built environment.
Orville Wright 1871–1948Technology & BuildingCo-inventor of the first successful powered airplane, achieving human flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
Richard Wright 1908–1960Arts & LettersNovelist whose works exposed the psychological and structural violence of racism and urban poverty in America.
Wilbur Wright 1867–1912Technology & BuildingCo-inventor of the first successful powered airplane and pioneer of aeronautical engineering.
Chien-Shiung Wu 1912–1997Science & MedicineExperimental physicist whose decisive work on parity violation transformed particle physics and challenged assumptions about natural symmetry.