I am sure we all have chemical engineers who inspired us, who may have shaped our careers or who we hold up as role models. For we all, as Newton modestly said, “stand on the shoulders of giants”. As part of our ChemEng Evolution centenary, with its ‘celebrate, communicate, inspire’ strapline, as part of our ‘inspire’ thread we wanted to capture some of that personal inspiration from the past. So we asked IChemE Past Presidents to identify the chemical engineer who inspired them most and to explain why in a short summary that may pass that inspiration on to others. They responded enthusiastically and their stories have been fascinating in their variety and diversity; some of the chemical engineers chosen are household names, some did key work in the background recognised by peers but not further afield and some remain anonymous. Yet they all made a difference, through their engineering and through changing the direction of at least one person’s life. So read on to learn about the different ways chemical engineers can be an inspiration – and perhaps ask yourself, “who inspired me?”