groundbreaker

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

groundbreaker
    n 1: someone who helps to open up a new line of research or
         technology or art [syn: {pioneer}, {innovator},
         {trailblazer}, {groundbreaker}]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

34 Moby Thesaurus words for "groundbreaker":
      ancestor, announcer, antecedent, avant-garde, bellwether,
      buccinator, bushwhacker, explorer, forebear, foregoer, forerunner,
      front runner, frontiersman, fugleman, guide, harbinger, herald,
      innovator, lead runner, leader, messenger, pathfinder, pioneer,
      point, precedent, precursor, predecessor, scout, stormy petrel,
      trailblazer, trailbreaker, vanguard, vaunt-courier, voortrekker