This is a partial list of notable secular humanists.

A

right|thumb|100 px|[[Isaac Asimov|Asimov]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Michael Atiyah|Atiyah]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Niels Bohr|Bohr]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Noam Chomsky|Chomsky]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[John Dewey|Dewey]]

thumb|right|100px|[[Paul Dirac|Dirac]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Richard Feynman|Feynman]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Murray Gell-Mann|Gell-Mann]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Sheldon Glashow|Glashow]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[A.C. Grayling|Grayling]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Julian Huxley]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Bill Nye|Nye]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[J. Robert Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Linus Pauling|Pauling]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[James Randi|Randi]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[A. Philip Randolph|Randolph]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Joseph Rotblat|Rotblat]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Salman Rushdie|Rushdie]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Bertrand Russell|Russell]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Carl Sagan|Sagan]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Andrei Sakharov|Sakharov]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Charles M. Schulz|Schulz]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Peter Singer|Singer]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[B.F. Skinner|Skinner]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Leó Szilárd|Szilárd]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Nikola Tesla|Tesla]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Mark Twain|Twain]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Gore Vidal|Vidal]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Alice Walker|Walker]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Frank Zappa|Zappa]]

right|thumb|100 px|[[Howard Zinn|Zinn]]

  • Clark Adams (1969–2007): Former president of the Humanist Association of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, and a life member of the American Humanist Association.
  • Steve Allen: Humanist Laureate in The International Academy of Humanism, and Chairman of the Council for Secular Humanism, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Humanist Association.
  • Ralph Alpher: American cosmologist. He is famous for the seminal paper on Big Bang nucleosynthesis called the Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper.
  • Philip Warren Anderson: American physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • James J. Andrews: American mathematician, a professor of mathematics at Florida State University who specialized in knot theory, topology, and group theory. He was a member for the organization, "African Americans For Humanism" (AAH) Advisory Board.
  • John Ankwyll: Considered the first English humanist schoolmaster.
  • Isaac Asimov: American Humanist Association's "Humanist of the Year" for 1984, Asimov also served as the organization's president from 1985 until his death in 1992, and was further a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism. he became a strong public advocate for the movement.
  • Michael Atiyah: British mathematician.
  • Margaret Atwood: Canadian author. Named Humanist of the Year in 1987 by the American Humanist Association, and is a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Ryan J. Bell (born 1971): Humanist Chaplain at the University of Southern California.
  • Jeremy Bentham: English author, jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism. He is best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism and animal rights, and the idea of the panopticon.
  • John Bercow: British politician.
  • Maria Berenice Dias: Progressive Brazilian judge and the first woman to take the bench in her home Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
  • Marshall Berman: American political scientist and Marxist humanist.
  • Leonard Bernstein: American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim.
  • Nye Bevan: Welsh MP and Labour Minister of Health who created the National Health Service in the UK.
  • Niels Bohr: Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.
  • Hermann Bondi: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Jacob Bronowski: Polish-British polymath and author of The Ascent of Man.
  • Lester R. Brown: American environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. Named Humanist of the Year in 1991 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Roy W. Brown: British-born engineer, humanist and human rights activist; president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union 2003–2006 and its main representative at the United Nations.
  • Mario Bunge: Argentine philosopher, philosopher of science and physicist mainly active in Canada.

C

  • Mary Calderone: American physician and a public health advocate for sexual education. She served as president and co-founder of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) from 1954 to 1982. Selected as one of the Humanists of the Year in 1974 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Arthur C. Clarke: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism. American composer
  • Andrew Copson: Chief Executive of Humanists UK and President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
  • Brian Cox: British particle physicist, Royal Society University Research Fellow and television personality.
  • Francis Crick: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism,
  • Paul J. Crutzen: Dutch Nobel Prize–winning atmospheric chemist; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto. In 1954, the American Humanist Association named Dewey a Humanist Pioneer.
  • John H. Dietrich: Signer of the original Humanist Manifesto,
  • Matt Dillahunty: Regularly engages in debates with theists, former president of the Atheist Community of Austin, and former host of The Atheist Experience. He is currently a frequent host of The Line.
  • Paul Dirac: English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1933, with Erwin Schrödinger, "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."
  • Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs: Czech-born British peer and former MP, awarded Humanist of the Year by the British Humanist Association in 2016.
  • Ann Dunham (1942–1995): Mother of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.

E

  • Roger Ebert: American journalist, film critic, and screenwriter.
  • Umberto Eco: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Barbara Ehrenreich: American feminist, democratic socialist, and political activist; named Humanist of the Year in 1998 by the American Humanist Association.

F

  • Richard Feynman: American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.
  • Joseph Fletcher: American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s, and was a pioneer in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic involved in the topics of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics, and cloning; named Humanist of the Year in 1974 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Joseph Fourier: French mathematician and physicist best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series and their applications to problems of heat transfer and vibrations. The Fourier transform and Fourier's law are also named in his honour. Fourier is also generally credited with the discovery of the greenhouse effect.
  • Levi Fragell: Norwegian humanist, chairman and secretary of the Norwegian Humanist Association, President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) between 1987 and 1990 (as one member of a troika) and, in his own right, between 1998 and 2003.
  • Sigmund Freud: Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis.
  • Betty Friedan: American writer, activist, and feminist. A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the 20th century. Named Humanist of the Year in 1975 by the American Humanist Association.
  • R. Buckminster Fuller: American systems theorist, architect, engineer, author, designer, inventor, and futurist; named Humanist of the Year in 1969 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Sheldon Glashow: Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist. He is the Metcalf Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Boston University and Higgins Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Harvard University. Notable Signer of the Humanist Manifesto III.
  • David Gross: American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • Goparaju Ramachandra Rao: Proposed positive atheism; atheist thinker and social reformer from India.

H

  • Daniel Handler (born 1970): American author better known under the pen name of Lemony Snicket. Handler calls himself an atheist and a secular humanist.
  • Sam Harris (born 1967): American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist.
  • Hubert Harrison: West Indian-American writer, orator, educator, critic, and radical socialist political activist based in Harlem, New York. He was described by activist A. Philip Randolph as “the father of Harlem radicalism” and by the historian Joel Augustus Rogers as “the foremost Afro-American intellect of his time.” John G. Jackson of American Atheists described him as "The Black Socrates".
  • Herbert A. Hauptman: American mathematician and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • Stephen Hawking: Theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge 1979–2009, and director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
  • Bill Hayden (born 1933): Governor-General of Australia (1989–1996).
  • Sam Heads: British entomologist, palaeontologist and secular humanist.
  • Katharine Hepburn: Presented the Humanist Arts Award in 1985 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Dudley R. Herschbach: American chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011): English American author and journalist.
  • Pervez Hoodbhoy: Pakistani nuclear physicist, essayist and defence analyst. Notable Signer of the Humanist Manifesto III.
  • Julian Huxley: Self-described "scientific humanist," and presided over the founding congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He was named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association in 1962.
  • Martin Hägglund: Swedish philosopher and scholar of modernist literature. Articulates his theory of existential, secular humanism based on his readings of Jacques Derrida, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Martin Heidegger and more in his book This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom.

<!--* Martin Heidegger Adding this as a comment because his main association with humanism is for criticizing Sartre, rather than contributing to it. His name was added in a poorly-sourced introduction to the Humanism article, so I'm putting it here in case it warrants keeping. Uncomment if you think it fits.-->

J

  • Albert Jacquard: French geneticist and essayist.
  • Penn Jillette: American illusionist, comedian, musician, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free market capitalism.
  • Jerry Coyne: American evolutionary biologist and author.

K

  • Jack Kevorkian: Presented with the Humanist Hero Award in 1994 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Harry Kroto: English chemist who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. Kroto is the Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at the Florida State University, which he joined in 2004. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto. Named a Humanist Fellow in 1974 and given the Humanist Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, both by the American Humanist Association.

L

  • Corliss Lamont: Named a Humanist Fellow by the American Humanist Association in 1970.
  • Stieg Larsson: Swedish leftist journalist, feminist, novelist and atheist, author of Millenium series of novels.
  • Norman Lear: Presented the Humanist Arts Award 1977 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Simon Le Bon (born 1958): English rock singer/songwriter and lead singer of Duran Duran. Patron of Humanists UK.
  • Dave Leduc (born 1991): Canadian professional fighter and philanthropist. Calls himself an atheist and skeptic, also doesn't believe in an afterlife.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-rHjEYLzc]
  • Geddy Lee (born 1953): Canadian progressive rock musician and lead singer/bassist of Rush.
  • Stewart Lee (born 1968): British stand-up comedian, writer and director. Supporter of Humanists UK.
  • Yuan T. Lee: American chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed Humanist Manifesto III.
  • Robert Lees: Hollywood screenwriter, blacklisted in the 1950s.
  • John Lennon: British singer-songwriter, producer, and peace activist
  • André Michel Lwoff: French microbiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1965 along with François Jacob and Jacques Monod.
  • Lovato Lovati: Italian scholar, poet, notary, judge. His works include: Latin verse epistles, and his short commentary of Seneca's tragedies.

M

  • Kirsty MacColl: English singer-songwriter.
  • Paul MacCready: American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the Kremer prize.
  • Seth MacFarlane: Creator of Family Guy and American Dad! and actor, comedian and singer. Harvard Humanist of the Year for 2011.
  • Milan Machovec: Czech humanist philosopher, famous for Christian-Marxist dialogue in 1960s Communist Czechoslovakia.
  • Bill Maher: American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor.
  • Eddie Marsan: English actor.
  • Ewan McGregor: British actor.
  • Ashley Montagu: British-American anthropologist and humanist, of Jewish ancestry, who popularized topics such as race and gender and their relation to politics and development. Named Humanist of the Year in 1995 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Tim Minchin: Comedian, pianist, composer, actor whose work often focuses around the subjects of religion, naturalism and reason.
  • Mario J. Molina: Mexican chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • Erwin Neher: German biophysicist and Nobel Laureate in Medicine. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto. Born in the British Raj period into a Bengali Muslim Kazi family, he composed over 500 Hindu devotional songs; his cross-religious works led to him being declared a Kafir (Infidel) by a section of Muslims, while also facing scrutiny from segments of the Hindu community. Nazrul was a staunch proponent of humanism. In a 1920 editorial in Joog Bani, he advocated for religious pluralism, writing: "Come brother Hindu! Come Musalman! Come Buddhist! Come Christian! Let us transcend all barriers, let us forsake forever all smallness, all lies, all selfishness and let us call brothers as brothers. We shall quarrel no more."

O

  • Joyce Carol Oates: American author. Named Humanist of the Year in 2007 by the American Humanist Association.

P

  • Elliot Page: Canadian actor.
  • Linus Pauling: American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator; named Humanist of the Year in 1961 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Ilya Prigogine: Belgian physical chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.

<!--* Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Adding this as a comment because his idea of "humanism" was very different from most on this list. His name was added in a poorly-sourced introduction to the Humanism article, so I'm putting it here in case it warrants keeping. Uncomment if you think it fits.-->

R

  • James Randi: Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience.
  • A. Philip Randolph: Leader in the civil rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. Named Humanist of the Year in 1970 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Richard J. Roberts: British biochemist, molecular biologist and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Was one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto. Presented the Humanist Arts Award in 1991 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Carl Rogers: American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. Towards the end of his life, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with national intergroup conflict in South Africa and Northern Ireland. Named Humanist of the Year in 1964 by the American Humanist Association.
  • M. N. Roy: Indian political philosopher and activist, author of Reason, Romanticism and Revolution (1952, 1955) and other works, espoused a "New Humanism" as an alternative to individualism and Marxism.
  • Arnold Ruge<!--Copied and pasted from a recent, poorly-sourced edit to the Humanism article. If no one steps up to cite a source, feel free to delete.-->
  • Salman Rushdie: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism,
  • Bertrand Russell: British philosopher, mathematician and academic. While refusing to label himself as a humanist (preferring to be called a rationalist or skeptic), he was a member and director of the British Humanist Association.

S

  • Carl Sagan: Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association in 1981, Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Jonas Salk: American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. Named Humanist of the Year in 1976 by the American Humanist Association.
  • William F. Schulz: Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, the U.S. division of Amnesty International, from March 1994 to 2006. He is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, and served as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1985 to 1993. Named Humanist of the Year in 2000 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Rod Serling: Creator and narrator of The Twilight Zone.
  • Michael Shermer: American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic.
  • Marc Sinden: English theatre producer and actor. Supporter of Humanists UK and the National Secular Society.
  • Peter Singer: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Paul Sinha: Professional quizzer and stand-up comedian, Patron of Humanists UK.
  • Stellan Skarsgård: Swedish actor.
  • B.F. Skinner: American behaviorist, author, inventor, social philosopher and poet; named Humanist of the Year in 1972 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Benjamin Spock: American pediatrician, writer of the 1946 book Baby and Child Care. In addition to his pediatric work, Spock was an activist in the New Left and anti Vietnam War movements during the 1960s and early 1970s; named Humanist of the Year in 1968 by the American Humanist Association.

<!--* Rudolf Steiner Adding this as a comment because his association with humanism is not cited and rarely asserted. His name was added in a poorly-sourced introduction to the Humanism article, so I'm putting it here in case it warrants keeping. Uncomment if you think it fits.-->

  • Patrick Stewart: British actor. Patron of Humanists UK.
  • Henry Taube: Canadian-born American chemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry; one of 21 Nobel Laureates who signed the Humanist Manifesto.
  • Valentin Turchin: Soviet and American cybernetician and computer scientist. He developed the Refal programming language, the theory of metasystem transitions and the notion of supercompilation. As such he can be seen as a pioneer in Artificial Intelligence and one of the visionaries at the basis of the Global brain idea. One of the signers of "A Secular Humanist Declaration".
  • Ted Turner: American entrepreneur. Named Humanist of the Year in 1990 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Mark Twain: American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
  • Neil DeGrasse Tyson: American astrophysicist and science communicator. Presented with the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2009 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Nikola Tesla: Serbian-American electrical and mechanical engineer / inventor best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system.

U

  • Björn Ulvaeus: Member of the band ABBA
  • Peter Ustinov: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism. Presented with the Humanist Media Award in 2012 by the American Humanist Association.

V

  • Gore Vidal: American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. Vidal was Honorary President of the American Humanist Association from April 2009 until his death in 2012, and was presented with the organization's Humanist Arts Award in 1984.
  • Kurt Vonnegut: American author and satirist. Vonnegut was Honorary President of the American Humanist Association from 1992 until his death in 2007, and was named Humanist of the Year in 1992. He was a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • James D. Watson: Co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, is a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Walt Whitman: American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.
  • E. O. Wilson: Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.
  • Sherwin T. Wine: Rabbi and founder of Society for Humanistic Judaism. Named Humanist of the Year in 2003 by the American Humanist Association.
  • Steve Wozniak: American inventor. Received the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2011 from the American Humanist Association.

Y

  • Thom Yorke: English musician and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band Radiohead.

Z

  • Frank Zappa: American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30&nbsp;years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works.

See also

  • American Humanist Association
  • Humanists UK
  • Lists of secularists: Agnostics, Atheists, Nontheists
  • List of secularist organizations

Notes and references