The magazine's fifth annual list features 100 names, from Jay Adelson to Jacob Zuma. Ethan Hawke, who starred in Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia trilogy, penned a brief note about the playwright for the weekly magazine. Hawke writes, "I remember when I was younger being intimidated by the intellect, scope and verbiage of his plays; they were impressive but written for some elite group to which I had not been given membership. But I came to find that more often than not, the audience left the theater impressed with themselves. He'd challenged them, and they'd answered."

Hawke continues, "In 2007 Tom gave America two of his finest plays [Utopia and Rock 'n' Roll]. At 70, he's still listening to the world with a curious, limber, compassionate mind and is pushing himself into the most thrilling period of what has already been a stunning life in the theater."

Tom Stoppard won Best Play Tony Awards for The Coast of Utopia (2007), The Real Thing (1984), Travesties (1976) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968). Among his other major works are Jumpers, Night and Day, Hapgood, Arcadia, Indian Ink and The Invention of Love.