# Who's the top dog in your field? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240 "2008-10-23T18:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/21 "2008-10-25T00:41:57Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > In my field of property and casualty actuarial practice, the pretty-much undisputed Big Kahuna is [Sholom Feldblum](http://www.neas-seminars.com/Faculty/Feldblum/). I’d be shocked if anyone else has heard of him. Well, I’ve heard of him. In Australia, one of the best known GI actuaries, and considered a leader academically in the field, would be Dr Greg Taylor. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/22 "2008-10-25T01:22:51Z")
I guess that it would be [Chris Mack](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Mack), maybe someone else. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/23 "2008-10-25T03:06:26Z")
In terms of skill? **House** ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/24 "2008-10-25T03:14:46Z")
Florence Nightingale? Not living… There aren’t a whole lot of famous living nurses. Maybe later in may career I’ll have an answer for this. I’m not specialized enough to pick out one person. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/25 "2008-10-25T03:18:41Z")
[Clyde Baker](Clyde Baker) (pdf!) probably. I’d have to think a bit more about geotechnical engineering in general, but he’s the top foundation engineer I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/26 "2008-10-25T03:36:47Z")
[http://content.asce.org/handa/2008\_OPAL\_Design\_Winner.html](http://content.asce.org/handa/2008_OPAL_Design_Winner.html) Whoops. Here’s an actual link. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/27 "2008-10-25T03:38:44Z")
Jason Bourne ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/28 "2008-10-25T04:54:14Z")
Stephen King, overall. Though JK Rowling if we’re going by nothing but money. But since it’s so subjective, it’s not really possible to judge. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/29 "2008-10-25T04:56:28Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > By that logic I should have written either Gabrielle of Potadeaia or Victor von Doom. Bah…I totally missed the “living person” qualifier. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/30 "2008-10-25T15:13:10Z")
For my current career in retail, the top dog is undoubtedly Lee Scott, current CEO of Wal-Mart, though I highly doubt he’ll go down in the annals of American retail fame the way Sam Walton, James Cash Penney, Sebastian Kresge, Richard Sears, Jeff Bezos and Charles Lazarus have. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/31 "2008-10-25T15:14:15Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Social Worker. > > Nelson Mandela. The level of professionalism and perseverance he demonstrated in the interest of social change is staggering. We should all be so knowledgeable, so dignified and so successful. I hate to use this expression, but… I think you win the thread. Your answer is not only not obvious (the way a physicist might answer Einstein or Newton) but upon consideration of the terms of the OP and your field, the best answer one might ask for. In recognition of your answer, I am directly the flying monkeys to spare you from the worst of the flaming-poo bombardment when the time comes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/32 "2008-10-25T15:15:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Bah…I totally missed the “living person” qualifier. I can never tell when you’re kidding, Oak. Anyway, I concede that I didn’t include “non-fictional” person in the OP; I suppose I thought placing the thread in IMHO implied it. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/33 "2008-10-25T19:45:40Z")
[Bruce Campbell](http://www.bruce-campbell.com/), hands down. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/34 "2008-10-25T21:51:11Z")
As a lowly techie in the marine and aircraft transportation industry with considerable experience in high tech composites I’d say Burt Rutan is on the top of the heirarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/35 "2008-10-25T22:19:17Z")
Abraham Maslow Ken Wilber Bill Plotkin ---
**Author:** ![vintageloveletter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@vintageloveletter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vintageloveletter)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/36 "2008-10-25T23:03:11Z")
William Labov ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/37 "2008-10-26T02:17:53Z")
For Oracle database programming, either [Steven Feuerstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Feuerstein) or [Tom Kyte.](http://asktom.oracle.com/pls/asktom/f?p=100:1:3273377730567607) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/38 "2008-10-26T10:56:12Z")
Unfortunately, David Ogilvy and Leo Burnett are both dead. After them, I can’t really think of anyone in advertising that I’d aspire to become, although there are plenty who consider themselves the ideal that everyone else should aspire to. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/39 "2008-10-26T14:44:09Z")
I teach Taekwondo. There are many notable individuals in the martial arts, but the one that has influenced me the most was the late [Grand Master H. U. Lee](http://www.ataonline.com/about/history.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240/40 "2008-11-06T03:19:27Z")
Mathematical Logic. [Saharon Shelah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saharon_Shelah) has published over 900 (original research) papers and several books. Much of his work is foundational (He invented both proper forcing and PCF theory.) [Here is an archive of his first 912 papers.](http://shelah.logic.at/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-top-dog-in-your-field/469240.md?page=3)