TIME Releases Annual List of 100 Most Influential People

April 20, 2017 10:25 am
Time Most Influential
(Time)
(Time)

 

TIME has released its annual 100 Most Influential People list, and this year’s list is definitely one for the ladies.

Spanning categories of pioneers, artists, leaders, titans and icons, five women have landed the coveted number one spot in each vertical. Here are the top in each category:

Pioneers: Samantha Bee

Samantha Bee
Host/Executive Producer Samantha Bee of ‘Full Frontal With Samantha Bee’ poses in the green room during the TCA Turner Winter Press Tour 2017 Presentation at The Langham Resort on January 14, 2017 in Pasadena, California. 26574_002 (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Turner)

 

Actress and comedian Jane Curtin said of Samantha Bee: “She is a tiny package of fire and kittens. She purrs and she burns…And as the host of TBS’s Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, she has given voice to all the women who have wanted to take on the political establishment—women like me.”

Curtin continued: “She is as smart as a whip and, as far as I’m concerned, always on the side of right and funny. Did I say she was smart? Because she really is.”

Read Curtin’s tribute in its entirety here.

Artists: Emma Stone

Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) in La La Land. (Dale Robinette)
Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) in La La Land. (Dale Robinette)

Here’s what Brie Larson wrote in part about fellow Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone: “…What I really admire about Emma the person—as well as Emma the actor—is that she is never afraid to show us the most difficult thing you can show the world: yourself. What that entails is not always pretty. But with Emma, it is real, and it is beautiful.”

Read Larson’s full tribute here.

Leaders: Theresa May

Theresa May
Prime Minister Theresa May leaves no.10 Downing Street in London. (Philip Toscano/PA Images via Getty Images)
PA Images via Getty Images

 

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Bill English had this to say about the U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May: “I learned quickly why she emerged from the Brexit after­math as leader: she has will and she has clarity. In charting the U.K.’s renewed relationship with Europe and the rest of the world, she has met the deepest demand of leadership: to provide direction and reassurance in a time of upheaval and confusion.

“She is the right person to guide the democratic will of Britain through the complexity of separating the U.K. from the European Union.”

Read his tribute in its entirety here.

Titans: Janet Yellen

 Janet Yellen
Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen holds a news conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee March 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Getty Images

 

Nobel-prize winning professor Joseph Stiglitz writes that Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, has “brought a sensitivity to the key issue of our day, inequality, grasping that Fed macro and regulatory policies can have profound effects on both the poor and the rich.”

He continued, writing: “In a highly politicized environment marked by extreme uncertainty, the nation needs the calm hand, expertise and wisdom of a devoted public servant like Janet Yellen.”

Read his full tribute here.

Icons: Simone Biles

Simone Biles
Simone Biles competes on the Beam during day 10 of The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on November 1, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Ian MacNicol/Getty images)

Saturday Night Live comedian Leslie Jones, who also served as an Olympics correspondent in Rio, wrote this about the 20-year-old athlete who won a record-breaking four gold medals in Rio: “She is the best at it. Not the best black gymnast, not the best black-girl gymnast. The best gymnast. It really is inspiring. It’s like she’s sending a message to everyone who’s watching: No matter what you’re going through in life or what your circumstances are, you still can be No. 1. You’ve just got to work hard.”

Read Jones’ full tribute to Biles here.

Take a look at Time’s full 100 list here.

—RealClearLife

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