The 100 People Who Are Changing America

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Ronen's company, Boxee, makes Internet video look good on your TV — which means that plugging your computer into your television and tossing your cable subscription becomes a lot more appealing.

PROOF THAT HE'S FOR REAL: The big cable companies are scared to death, and ostensibly muscled the video site Hulu into not working with Boxee last month.

NEXT FIGHT: A set-top box. Ronen says he's looking to "grow beyond the computer."

KEY QUOTE: "We're going to make the big screen in your living room do things it hasn't done before."

SEE THE CHANGE: Boxee

Photo: Sacha Lecca

WHAT HE'S CHANGING:Twelve years after he revolutionized the possibilities of CGI to make Titanic, Cameron is finally returning with a new feature film — and this time, he's pushing the boundaries of what's possible with 3-D, making it truly immersive rather than just having characters throw pingpong balls at the audience. Avatar, a humans vs. aliens epic, is due by the end of 2009.

FRIENDS SAY: "He's trying to present it as a game changer," said Iron Man director Jon Favreau. "It's the future."

KEY QUOTE: "One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed."

Photo: Strzelecki/WireImage

WHAT SHE'S CHANGING: The National Cancer Institute's Barker is leading the Cancer Genome Atlas, an ambitious research effort to pinpoint the genes and genetic changes involved in cancer. Co-directed by Mark Guyer, the project has already reported new mutations for a common form of brain cancer. Next up: ovarian cancer.

FRIENDS SAY: "The Cancer Genome Atlas will profoundly alter the way we diagnose, prevent and treat cancer," says Francis Collins, former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which is also driving the project.

SEE THE CHANGE: The Cancer Genome Atlas

Photo: Courtesy of the National Cancer Institute

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Since his 1993 book Race Matters, the Princeton professor has been one of the most eloquent — and entertaining — public intellectuals, and he remains our wisest voice on race in the Age of Obama.

FRIENDS SAY: "I have learned to never be with Cornel without a pen," says Tavis Smiley, "because he is always saying something brilliant."

ENEMIES SAY: They just play a track from his hip-hop album.

KEY QUOTE: "I hope Obama is a progressive Lincoln. I aspire to be the Frederick Douglass to put pressure on him."

SEE THE CHANGE: Cornel West's Official Site

Photo: Ali/WireImage

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Lovins' Rocky Mountain Institute was tapped by Walmart to explore ways the company might cut costs and reduce waste using what Lovins calls negawatts. With its legendary strong-arm tactics, Walmart's decisions have the potential to transform entire industries.

SIGNATURE MOVE: Experimental green stores in Texas and Colorado feature wind-driven turbines and solar panels to provide necessary power.

NEXT MOVE: RMI will help get cities ready to meet Obama's goal of 1 million plug-in cars by 2015.

SEE THE CHANGE: Rocky Mountain Institute

Photo: Courtesy of Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: He's allowing Internet radio to direct fans to bands they may actually like. More than Last.fm or Rhapsody, Pandora has made a science out of introducing people to new music.

FIRST BATTLE: "Nobody would fund this idea in the beginning. When I showed [investors] a picture of people with headphones on, analyzing songs, 400 attributes per song, I usually got kicked out."

NEXT FIGHT: Fighting off efforts by music publishers to put Pandora out of business. The company scored a victory last year with its superpopular iPhone app.

SEE THE CHANGE: Pandora Radio

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Photo: Shearer/WireImage

WHAT THEY'RE CHANGING: These concert mavens turned a hot Tennessee field into the best festival in the country. Farman and Mayers — along with partners Kerry Black, Richard Goodstone and Ashley Capps — have pioneered the greening of large rock concerts, serving food with biodegradable forks and running generators on biodiesel fuel from local sources.

FRIENDS SAY: "Things like Bonnaroo give you the hope that you can do it the other way," said Thom Yorke of Radiohead.

SEE THE CHANGE: Bonnaroo's Official Site

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Photo: Danny Clinch

WHAT HE'S CHANGING:Most new viruses jump from animals to humans, so Wolfe, the director of Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, spends a lot of time with Cameroon bushmeat hunters, Malaysian bat hunters, and others who kill (and eat) wild primates. By studying the blood of hunters and prey, Wolfe hopes to build a global surveillance network to track new viruses.

CAVEAT: Wolfe will certainly find new viruses. The question is, will he find them in time?

FRIENDS SAY: "Nathan's work is paramount to preventing the next HIV from jumping species," says Mark Smolinski of Google.org, which has given Wolfe $5.5 million in funds.

KEY QUOTE: "Today, global disease control is in the Stone Age."

SEE THE CHANGE: The Global Viral Forecasting Initiative

Photo: Bill Holsinger-Robinson

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: Since joining the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers at 18, James has electrified the league with not just his all-around talent — he leads the Cavs in points, rebounds and assists, and can defend against scorers like Kobe Bryant — but an exuberant personality that's made him a global brand. He's unselfish and unapologetic all at once.

FOUL: Cleveland's on edge that James will depart to New York in 2010, when he can opt out of his pact; he's irked fans by wearing a Yankees cap — to Indians games.

KEY QUOTE: "I love being the best. I just want to get better."

SEE THE CHANGE: LeBron James' NBA Stats Page

Photo: Martinez/Getty Images Sport

WHAT SHE'S CHANGING: She's the rare star actress who forgoes formula hits for challenging roles in projects without a lot of commercial appeal — The Reader and Revolutionary Road both flopped, but Winslet has no regrets. Not coincidentally, she's also changing stereotypical expectations about female movie stars — that they're nothing but wispy bodies, surgically enhanced faces and gossipy tabloid relationships.

FRIENDS SAY: "God bless your real breasts," Oprah Winfrey said to Winslet recently.

KEY QUOTE: "I like exposing myself. There's not an awful lot that embarrasses me."

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Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic