Choose Your Prominent Figure

Select someone whose life story resonates with you or mirrors aspects of the life of someone you know.

You may choose to write about whichever prominent current or historical figure interests you. The list below is meant to give you ideas—you are not limited to it. This person can be someone who is still alive. Your choice should reflect an interest in exploring diverse perspectives and contributions.

Important: Confirm Your Source First

Before committing to a figure, make sure there is a book or publication at least 100 pages long written about them. This will serve as one of your required sources. If you cannot find such a source, choose someone else. Use the Research Toolkit in the Prep Guide: Research Essay on Prominent Figures to help you confirm this.

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Prominent Figure Finder

Browse, filter, and explore over 50 prominent figures from diverse backgrounds, fields, and eras. You are not limited to this list—if someone else’s story speaks to you, go for it.

How to use: 1. Use the filters below to narrow by gender, era, field, origin, or heritage. Select multiple options within any category to broaden your search. 2. Hover over (or tap) any card to reveal a short bio and research links. 3. Click Britannica Bio for a quick overview, or Biography in Context to search the NVC Library database (NVC login required).

Gender

Era

Field

Origin

Heritage

Luis Walter Alvarez

Nobel Prize-winning physicist

physicsNobel PrizeHispanic AmericanWWII veteranimmigrationscientific discovery

Maya Angelou

Author & civil rights activist

literatureAfrican Americancivil rightsmemoirresiliencepoverty to prominence

Ibn Battuta

14th-century Moroccan explorer

MoroccanIslamicexploration75,000 miles traveled14th centurypilgrimage to adventure

Julián Castro

Former Mayor of San Antonio

politicsMexican Americanpublic servicefirst-generation collegehousing policy

Franklin Chang-Díaz

First Hispanic astronaut

space explorationCosta Rican AmericanHispanicphysicsimmigrationSTEM

Sandra Cisneros

Author of The House on Mango Street

Mexican AmericanChicanaworking-class rootsonly daughter among sevengrew up in poverty

Roberto Clemente

Baseball legend & humanitarian

sportsAfro-LatinoPuerto Ricanhumanitarianracial justicecommunity service

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

17th-century poet & scholar

poetryMexicanwomen’s intellectual rightsself-taughtcolonial erareligion

Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist & orator

African Americanabolitionismself-taughtwritingoratoryescaped slavery

Tammy Duckworth

U.S. Senator & combat veteran

veteranThai AmericandisabilitypoliticsPurple Heartcombat pilot

Selena Gomez

Singer, actress & mental health advocate

Mexican AmericanTexas-bornnamed after Selenasingle mom raised herlupusmental health advocacy

John Herrington

First Native American astronaut

Native AmericanChickasawspace explorationU.S. Navycarried eagle feather to spaceveteran

Dolores Huerta

Labor leader & farmworker advocate

labor rightsMexican Americanfarmworkersnonviolent activismworking-class roots

Daniel Inouye

U.S. Senator & Medal of Honor recipient

Japanese AmericanWWII veteranMedal of Honorpoliticsinternment erapublic service

Mae Jemison

First African American woman in space

African Americanspace explorationmedicinePeace Corpsdancer turned doctor

Katherine Johnson

NASA mathematician

African AmericanmathematicsNASAgender barriers in STEMracial segregationpersistence

Barbara Jordan

First Black woman in the Texas Senate

African AmericanTexasHouston Fifth WardWatergate speechlawthat voice

Frida Kahlo

Mexican painter

Mexicanpaintingdisabilitychronic painturned suffering into artfolk art

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader

African Americancivil rightsnonviolent activismoratoryfaithsocial justice

Bruce Lee

Martial artist, filmmaker & philosopher

Hong Kong-bornmartial artsfilmphilosophyfought Hollywood racismcreated Jeet Kune Do

Suni Lee

Olympic gold medalist gymnast

Hmong AmericangymnasticsOlympic goldfather paralyzed before Olympicsfirst Hmong American Olympian

Yo-Yo Ma

Cellist & cultural ambassador

Chinese AmericanFrench-bornchild prodigycelloSilk Road Projectmusic as bridge-building

Wangari Maathai

Nobel Peace Prize environmentalist

KenyanenvironmentalismNobel Prizewomen’s rightscommunity organizingrural roots

Naguib Mahfouz

Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning novelist

EgyptianArabic literatureNobel PrizeCairo street lifestabbed for his writingspoke for the ordinary

Nelson Mandela

Anti-apartheid leader & President of South Africa

South Africananti-apartheidpolitical prisonerreconciliation27 years in prisonchose forgiveness

Wilma Mankiller

First female Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Native AmericanCherokeetribal leadershipcommunity developmentrural rootssurvived forced relocation

Thurgood Marshall

First African American Supreme Court justice

African AmericanlawSupreme Courtdesegregationcivil rightsworking-class roots

Patsy T. Mink

First Asian American woman in Congress

Japanese AmericanpoliticsTitle IXwomen’s rightsrejected by 12 law schoolswrote Title IX

Hayao Miyazaki

Japanese animator & filmmaker

JapaneseanimationStudio Ghiblienvironmentalismpacifismhand-drawn art

Audie Murphy

Most decorated WWII soldier

TexanWWII veteransharecropper’s sonmost decorated soldierPTSDpoverty to heroism

Rafael Nadal

Spanish tennis champion

Spanishtennisplayed through chronic paintrained by his uncle22 Grand SlamsMallorca

Willie Nelson

Outlaw country legend

country musicTexasraised by grandparentspicked cotton as a childIRS troublesFarm Aid

Ellen Ochoa

First Hispanic woman in space

HispanicMexican Americanspace explorationNASA leadershipSTEMengineering

Rosa Parks

Civil rights icon

African Americancivil rightsMontgomery Bus Boycottquiet resistanceworking-class roots

Dolly Parton

Singer, songwriter & philanthropist

country musicAppalachian povertyfourth of twelve childrenImagination Libraryphilanthropyone-room cabin

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez

Queen of Tejano music

Mexican AmericanTejanamusiccultural prideworking-class rootstrailblazer

Satyajit Ray

Indian filmmaker

IndianBengalifilmself-taught filmmakerpawned wife’s jewelry to finish first filmscored his own movies

Sylvia Rivera

Transgender rights pioneer

transgender rightsPuerto RicanVenezuelanLGBTQ+ activismhomelessnessStonewall

José Rizal

Filipino national hero & novelist

Filipinoliteraturemedicineanti-colonialismnational heroexecuted at 35

Frank Rubio

Astronaut & U.S. Army veteran

Salvadoran Americanspace explorationU.S. Army veteranmedicineHispanic371 days in space

Rumi

13th-century Persian poet & Sufi mystic

PersianIslamicSufi mysticismpoetry13th centurybest-selling poet in America

Bayard Rustin

Organizer of the March on Washington

African AmericanLGBTQ+civil rightsMarch on Washingtonnonviolent activismorganizing

Dalip Singh Saund

First Asian American in Congress

Indian AmericanSikhpoliticsimmigrationfarmingovercoming discrimination

Shakira

Colombian singer & global icon

ColombianLebanese heritagemusicrejected from school choirbelly-danced as a childcrossed language barriers

Sonia Sotomayor

First Hispanic Supreme Court justice

Puerto RicanSupreme Courtfirst-generation collegelawBronx upbringingworking-class roots

Rabindranath Tagore

Indian poet & Nobel laureate

IndianBengalipoetryNobel Prizewrote two national anthemsfounded a university

Alan Turing

Father of computer science

Britishcomputer scienceLGBTQ+WWII codebreakingmathematicspersecuted genius

Chien-Shiung Wu

Nuclear physicist

Chinese Americannuclear physicsgender barriers in STEMimmigrationscientific discovery

Serena Williams

Tennis champion & entrepreneur

African Americantennis23 Grand Slamstrained on Compton public courtscoached by her father

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Comedy musician & parodist

comedymusicaccordion kid turned iconbullied outcastparody40-year career

Malala Yousafzai

Youngest Nobel Prize laureate

Pakistanishot by the Taliban at 15Nobel Prizeyouth activismgirls’ educationwomen’s rights

Bassem Youssef

Egyptian comedian & heart surgeon

EgyptianArabcomedyheart surgeon turned satiristArab Springforced into exile

Portrait of Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)

Zitkala-Ša (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)

Yankton Dakota writer & activist

Native Americancultural preservationfought for Native citizenshipboarding school survivor

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