An original cast member of “Saturday Night Live” from 1975 to 1979, Dan Aykroyd returned to host the show in 2003. Aykroyd says he was diagnosed with Asperger’s in the early 1980s. He attributes the condition to his “obsession with ghosts and law enforcement,” which led to the idea for “Ghostbusters” (1984), one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time. Aykroyd also has discussed being diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at age 12, which caused physical and verbal tics that he was able to overcome through therapy. Source: Healthgrades 

Susan Boyle became a star overnight when her 2009 audition on “Britain’s Got Talent” went viral due to her stunning performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables.” She revealed in a 2013 interview with the Observer that she had been diagnosed with Asperger’s the previous year. As a child, Boyle had been misdiagnosed as having brain damage, and the singer said she felt “relief” at having an accurate diagnosis of Asperger’s. “Now I have a clearer understanding of what's wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself,” Boyle said. Source: Healthgrades 

Portrayed by Claire Danes in an Emmy Award-winning HBO movie, Temple Grandin is one of the world’s best-known autism advocates. When she was diagnosed with autism as a young child, doctors wanted to place her in an institution, but her parents insisted on sending her to private schools to nurture her high IQ. Grandin’s life work has been studying the similar ways autistic people and animals experience fear and anxiety, and developing therapies for both groups to relieve those emotions. Grandin has been on the faculty of the Animal Sciences department at Colorado State University for more than 25 years. Source: Healthgrades 

With her roles in “Blade Runner” (1982), “Splash” (1984), and “Steel Magnolias” (1989), Daryl Hannah was one of the biggest film stars of the 1980s before backing away from the spotlight. In 2013, Hannah told People magazine she has lived with autism since childhood. While she found acting to be an escape, she avoided movie premiere events and interviews due to her social anxiety. Hannah, who says she still uses rocking to calm herself, is now a prominent environmental activist. Source: Healthgrades 

Dan Harmon is the creator of hit television comedies “Rick and Morty” and “Community,” which featured a character, Abed, who was never defined as having autism, but exhibited many of the traits of Asperger’s. Harmon told Wired magazine that as he researched Asperger’s to write the character, he noticed many of the symptoms felt familiar in himself. He met with a doctor, leading to an Asperger’s diagnosis. Harmon said both he and Abed illustrate that people with autism can have complex experiences—feeling both “inappropriate emotional reactions and deep empathy”—and live as well-rounded, unique individuals. Source: Healthgrades 

When South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk hosted "Saturday Night Live" in May 2021, he announced himself as "the first person with Asperger's" to host the show. As founder of some of history's most groundbreaking companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, Musk ranks among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of more than $150 billion. Source: Healthgrades 

Margaret Bancroft was a pioneer in special education. At the age of 29, she opened the first private boarding school in New Jersey for children with disabilities. She believed that children with special needs should have specialized programs that could be adapted to their unique physical and mental needs. At her school, lessons were designed for their individual mental ages, teachers were trained how to individually tailor instruction and students were able to enjoy recreational activities and trips. A female leader in education, Bancroft’s ideas laid the foundation for what would become the field of special education.

When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Patsy Mink knew she wanted to run for a position in government. Little did she know, she would become the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Asian-American woman to serve in Congress. As a congresswoman, Mink fought for gender and racial equality, affordable childcare and bilingual education and became a supporter of Title IX. She was one of the authors and sponsors of the Title IX law that stated that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In addition to this enormous feat, she additionally wrote the Early Childhood Education Act and the Women's Educational Equity Act. Mink was also the first Asian-American to run for the office of U.S. President.

Malala Yousafzai’s story of resilience and fighting for what is right is nothing short of incredible. Growing up in Pakistan, Yousafzai became an advocate for women’s rights and education at a young age. However, due to the Taliban rule of Pakistan, freedoms for women were severely limited, with access to education virtually nonexistent. She has become one of the most prominent advocates of human’s rights and educational access for women. In 2014, at the age of 17, Yousafzai became the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her amazing work in bringing attention to these issues.

Septima Poinsette Clark was a teacher and civil rights activist whose citizenship schools helped enfranchise and empower African Americans. She was instrumental in founding nearly 900 citizenship schools, which ultimately helped African Americans register to vote.

Born a decade after the Civil War ended, Mary McLeod Bethune is widely considered to be one of the most influential Black educators, civil rights leaders and government officials of the 20th century. A dedicated teacher, Bethune founded a boarding school which eventually became Bethune-Cookman College, setting the educational standards for many Black colleges to follow. As a political activist dedicated to civil and women’s rights, Bethune was pivotal in driving voter turnout, especially after women gained the right to vote. She went on to become the highest-ranking Black woman in the government as director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration—a position she was appointed to by President Franklin Roosevelt. From 1940 until her death in 1955, Bethune served as vice president of the NAACP.

Dr. Jeanne L. Noble, an educator and writer, is a holder of a lot of firsts to her name. She was the first African-American to study and write about the experiences of female African-Americans in college, to become a board member of the Girls Scout of the USA, to serve the U.S. government's Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services and to receive tenure as a professor at New York University. Noble was an active participant in trying to desegregate her hometown of Augusta, Ga., in the early 1960s and she was also appointed by three U.S. Presidents - Johnson, Nixon and Ford - to serve on educational commissions.

A dean of Howard University Law School in the 1930s, Charles Hamilton Houston argued cases in the U.S. Supreme Court that created a legal foundation for the historic Brown v. Board decision, which outlawed racial segregation in public schools. He’s also credited with shaping the institution that trained about 25 percent of the nation’s Black lawyers during that era.

Charlotte Forten Grimké was an African-American educator, poet and anti-slavery activist. She taught freed Black slaves during the Civil War and later became the first Black teacher to teach at South Carolina’s Penn School. She worked with the U.S. Treasury Department to help recruit Black educators. Forten was an anti-slavery activist and was influential in the Civil Rights Movement. Her poetry got published in The Liberator and Anglo African magazines.

Ellen Ochoa made her mark by becoming the first Hispanic American woman to go to space with a nine-day mission in 1993. Through her impressive research work, NASA selected Ochoa in 1991 and she became an astronaut in July of that year. Two years later, Ochoa made history on board the Space Shuttle Discovery on a mission to study the Earth’s ozone layer. She later completed three more missions.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. She is known for painting about her experience of chronic pain.

Jennifer Lopez, also known by her nickname, J.Lo, is an American singer, actress, producer and dancer. In 1991, Lopez began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on "In Living Color," where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. For her first leading role in the 1997 Selena biopic of the same name, Lopez became the first Latin actress to earn over $1 million for a film and established herself as the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood. Lopez ventured into the music industry with her debut studio album "On the 6" (1999), which helped propel the Latin pop movement in American music. Jennifer Lopez is considered a pop culture icon, and is often described as a triple threat entertainer. She is regarded as the most influential Latin entertainer in North America.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning composer, lyricist and actor. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony Winning musicals, "Hamilton" and In the "Heights." "Hamilton" - with book, music and lyrics by Miranda, in addition to him originating the title role - was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and earned a record-breaking 16 Tony Nominations, winning 11 Tony Awards. This included two personally for Miranda for Book and Score of a Musical. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of "Hamilton" won the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Both Miranda and "Hamilton" won the 2016 Drama League Awards for Distinguished Performance and Outstanding Production of a Musical, respectively.

Rita Moreno has been a household name for decades, ever since she captivated audiences with her fierce portrayal of Anita in 1961’s "West Side Story." Moreno would go on to cement her name in history by winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role, becoming the first-ever Hispanic American woman to win an Academy Award. Born Rosa Alverio on December 11, 1931, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, the actress later changed her last name to match her stepfather’s after she immigrated to New York City with her mom in 1936. Moreno made her Broadway debut in "Skydrift" at age 13, with her career taking off after that. The pioneering actress went on to star in dozens of film, TV and stage shows through her decades-long career. She became only the third person ever to achieve the coveted EGOT, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award by 1977. In 2019, she added a P to the achievement with a Peabody Award, one of only three performers to accomplish this feat.

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez is one of the most iconic Hispanic figures of our generation. Selena was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, businesswoman, model, actress and fashion designer. Referred to as the "Queen of Tejano Music,” her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. Billboard magazine named her the greatest female Latin artist of all time. From her very early days singing with the Quintanilla family, young Selena was destined to become a superstar. But more than that, she wanted to connect people with music, and took immense pride in her Mexican-American roots. Her musical journey was filled with many challenges, from teaching herself Spanish, to designing her own clothes, to touring across the country in the family bus (Big Bertha) in order to break into the male-dominated world of Tejano music. Selena did everything with gusto, and her exuberant music, triumphant spirit and devotion to her fans continues to touch the lives of many.

Sonia Sotomayor was born in Bronx, New York, on June 25, 1954. She earned a B.A. in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the university’s highest academic honor. In 1979, she earned a J.D. from Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office from 1979–1984. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992–1998. She served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998–2009. President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role August 8, 2009.