Carl Sagan
As I hope can be surmised from my philosophy, I believe passion leads to greatness, and I believe that Carl Sagan had a deep passion for science and humanity. I love all of his works, from his "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" television series in 1980, to his inspirational book "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space". Sagan has touched my life, and inspired me to pursue not only science, but humanism as well. Carl Sagan had a way of putting things into such beautiful and inspiring terms. One poetic description of his that stands out in my mind was in "The Persistence of Memory" from Cosmos. Standing in a room of the New York Library (of which I'm a card carrier), he said (in his warm voice) "What an astonishing thing, a book is, ... but one glance at it, and you're inside the mind of another person. Maybe somebody dead for thousands of years, across the millennia ... a book is proof that humans are capable of working magic, and this room, is filled with magic." He was not only an intelligent and passionate person, but also a "good" person, whom I would be honored just to be said to emulate.

Christopher Hitchens
Brilliant Journalist, former socialist turned neo-conservative, certainly a free-thinker, and self proclaimed "antitheist", Hitchens changed my life in many ways. Firstly, his writing style; his command of the English language is something I aspire to. I've read countless articles he has written for Slate and Vanity Fair, as well as his books. I keep a copy of his book "Letters to a Young Contrarian" on my desk. He is an excellent model of a free-thinker, someone who wasn't afraid of what backlash his thoughts might have, and he certainly wasn't shy about his enjoyment of Johnny Walker Black and a cigarette. He was born in England, but was sworn in as an American citizen at the Jefferson Memorial in 2007, because he believed in the power of the First Amendment so much. I could go on about how he inspired me to believe in Journalism again, and to read literature, and showed me firsthand the power of language. Needless to say, he's one of my biggest influences.

Penn Jillette
Hilarious, serious, aware of what he knows and doesn't know; Penn introduced me to a lot of interesting concepts, not the least of which is Libertarianism. His parents were teetotalers, and he makes a point of saying he's never smoked or consumed alcohol in his life. He has a love for freedom that I believe few rival. And while I don't agree with his prescriptions for securing freedom, I wouldn't think for a second that his views were anything other than sincere. One particular belief of mine where he has influenced me, is my view on capital punishment. Arguing that the number of death row inmates was low (though absurdly high in a global context), and that the risk of murdering an innocent person by our own collective hands was too great a risk compared to the price of keeping a person in prison. Penn's non-confrontational demeanor, honesty, and bordering on extreme respect for people as human beings, is something I wish to adopt myself.

George Carlin
I like to say that comedy provides the best social commentary, and George Carlin was a master. He loved to poke at the little things that people felt uncomfortable about, he was incredible at questioning things in a comedic fashion. Whether he was just doing it for fun, or if he cared that his comedy was deep, I won't assume. I felt he was brilliant, witty, and a person who wouldn't stand for absurd double standards and ridiculous social norms, he questioned authority, and that's something the contrarian in me admires. Many people may know of his "Seven Dirty Words" routine, but few know about his inspiration Lenny Bruce, and his arrest for profanity (yes, that was illegal) in 1966 that inspired his routine. While I admit there are many comedians today who have tried to follow in his footsteps, he will always be the master of stand-up in my opinion.

Stephen Hawking
Theoretical Physicist and former coxswain of the Cambridge rowing team, Stephen Hawking is obviously an intelligent man. I had no idea of his book's notoriety at the time, but "A Brief History of Time" was the second book I ever read on physics and the universe. I recall reading it, quite vividly, in Mississippi visiting my grandparents, around the week of my fourteenth birthday. I found the realities of the universe he explained so well, to be extremely fascinating, it is still today, my favorite non-fiction book. I believe he has a passion for physics, he said that he chose physics because it is the most basic of all the sciences, and that thought process informed my decisions on my major in college. His passion for expanding human understanding of the universe, to learn about the universe, has been, and always will be an inspiration.

Jerry M. Seitzman
"Dr. Seitzman", as I almost religiously referred to him, was my graduate advisor in the department of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. A brilliant man to say the least, he taught several of my classes, never ceased to make me feel like "I had some studying to do" when he recalled anything from brilliant explanations of what a partition function represents, to unit conversion factors instantaneously. He almost certainly doesn't recall the comment, but one time in lab, he said I reminded him of himself. I hope so, as he is a role-model for me. His Socratic teaching methods (he employed most often in his office) challenged me to think for myself and not appeal to this or that authority for the "textbook" answer. I don't know if he would say he is "passionate" in his own words, but I believe he is. His intelligence, methodical approach to problems, and his care, made him an excellent advisor. Dr. Seitzman has affected my life in more ways than he could imagine, and I'm grateful to him.

John McWhorter
In 2010 I became interested in languages beyond Korean, to more of an extent than before. I figured that my interest in languages such as Japanese, Russian, and Arabic, could benefit from some formal education in linguistics. So I watched a lecture series on linguistics, which happened to be taught by one Professor John McWhorter. Beyond enjoying his lectures, the next two years I would come to realize much more about him. For one thing, I recognized him on television shows that I had not before, he provides exceptional discussion. He is a Senior Fellow at the conservative think tank, the Manhattan Institute, he has written several books on linguistics, and his theory that "Black English" is "coherent speech" is fascinating. His books on race relations and what it means to be "Black", I have found very interesting, and agreeable. My view of race and what it means are not identical to his; but his views on race as well as personal responsibility, the civil rights movement, and welfare, have certainly informed mine.

Michio Kaku (加来 道雄)
Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics, and star of modern science enthusiasts' popular culture, Michio Kaku has academic success and fame. He has been a prominent figure on television programs discussing string theory, quantum mechanics, the origin of the universe, the list goes on. Kaku is the author of several books I've read in my life, most notably "Hyperspace", which was the first book I had ever read on physics and the universe. While he does have a cheering attitude about science on television that I find a little off putting, his passion is undeniable. In "Hyperspace" he recounts his parents (to whom the book is dedicated) taking him to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, he says "I would ask myself silly questions that only a child might ask, ... I thought, What a strange world theirs must be!". My thirteen year old self could identify with that visceral curiosity, and I continued to read. His excitement about the future, and his passion for raising consciousness about the power of science, inspire me.

Sir Isaac Newton
Sure, he has become little more than a historical figure to most, and that story of the apple is the most laymen know of him. He was much more, he is the absolute epitome of passion. Newton single handedly changed physics, and not simply with his Law of Universal Gravitation. Newton spent all of his time, working tirelessly on his physics and math, to find the reasons for the behavior of nature. Newton invented the entire branch of mathematics of differential and integral calculus (though Leibniz fans may protest), and applied this new math to describe the behavior of objects in a solid mathematics framework. His law of cooling, his work in optics that began the first discussions on the true nature of light as particle or wave, Newton was brilliant, and he was passionate to obsession. I find that passion beautiful, an ideal I cannot imagine comes along often. I haven't become his facsimile as I had hoped, but he continues to be an inspiration.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (أيان حرسي علي)
Writer, activist, atheist, fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, and former member of the Netherlands' House of Representatives. I came to know Ayaan Hirsi Ali by way of debates and discussions by Christopher Hitchens. During her childhood she was Muslim, supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, wearing the hijab, even agreeing with the Fatwa on Salman Rushdie. After attending college in Nairobi, and being exposed to the works of Nancy Drew among others, she began to see a world beyond what she had known. She sought political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, and 'committed apostasy' in 2002 by proclaiming to no longer be a Muslim. She wrote the screenplay for Theo van Gogh's movie "Submission", for which he was assassinated by a Muslim extremist in 2004. She has maintained resolve, despite death threats, for which her life continues to be in danger, she maintains her work advocating for freedom of speech, against circumcision (which she was subjected to at the age of five), and criticizing Islam. Her boldness in the face of opposition is an inspiration to me.