List of Famous people born in January

Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian-American scholar of Islam. In 1992 she published her book Women and Gender in Islam, which is regarded as a seminal historical analysis of the position of women in Arab Muslim societies. She became the first professor of women's studies in religion at Harvard Divinity School in 1999, and has held the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity chair since 2003. In 2013, Ahmed received the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion for her analysis of the "veiling" of Muslim women in the United States, in which she described her rejection of her own previous critiques of the veil as sexist in favor of the view that the veil, when voluntarily chosen, is a progressive and feminist act. As such, she now supports Muslim women who advocate for the veil as a symbol of progressivism and feminism, although Ahmed herself does not practice veiling.

Margaret Mary Murnane is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, having moved there in 1999, with past positions at the University of Michigan and Washington State University. She is currently Director of the STROBE NSF Science and Technology Center, and is among the foremost active researchers in laser science and technology. Her interests and research contributions span topics including atomic, molecular, and optical physics, nanoscience, laser technology, materials and chemical dynamics, plasma physics, and imaging science. Her work has earned her multiple awards including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship award in 2000, the Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Prize in 2017, the highest award of The Optical Society, and the 2021 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics.

Matteo Tagliariol is a male Italian fencer. He won the gold medal in the men's épée event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

William Drayton is a social entrepreneur. Drayton was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's 25 Best Leaders in 2005. He is responsible for the rise of the phrase "social entrepreneur", a concept first found in print in 1972.

David Hunt is an English actor, producer, and director who has worked in both Britain and the United States. His best known U.S. film role is Harlan Rook, in the 1988 action film The Dead Pool, the fifth installment in the Dirty Harry series. He has also had guest roles on the television sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond as Ray's nemesis neighbor, Bill Parker. He also appeared in the recurring role of Darren McCarthy during Season 6 of 24. Back in the UK, Hunt was in the 1991 award-winning period drama, The Black Velvet Gown, as well as being a regular cast member of the series Beck for the BBC.