by Tom O’Connor, UNMC
OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 22, 2013)—The University of Nebraska Medical Center is ranked among the top 75 universities in the world in clinical medicine and pharmacy according to rankings released this month by a leading Chinese university that has been ranking universities worldwide since 2003.
“The rankings validate that UNMC is well on its way to becoming a world-class institution,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “This has always been our goal, so it is reassuring to know that our presence worldwide is growing.”
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is published by the Center for World-Class Universities, Graduate School of Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
“As the teaching hospital for UNMC, we’ve always known what a high-quality institution we’re partnering with,” said Glenn A. Fosdick, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center. “We take pride in that partnership and look forward to continuing our cooperative relationship in the future.”
UNMC is ranked with 25 other universities as No. 51-75 by ARWU. Only 31 U.S. universities are rated higher. Some of the other U.S. universities rated at the same No. 51-75 level are the University of Arizona, University of Florida, University of Iowa, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington University in St. Louis.
UNMC’s ranking is higher than several notable universities, including Case Western Reserve University (76-100), University of Cincinnati (76-100), New York University (76-100), University of Miami (76-100), and The Ohio State University (101-150).
“Obviously, we are in very good company,” said Brad Britigan, M.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine. “It speaks volumes for the quality work being done by our faculty and staff.”
Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy, said: “To be ranked this highly in clinical medicine and pharmacy is very significant, as these are two of the areas that are most impactful on the health and well-being of the public.”
ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities. These include:
- the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals;
- the number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific;
- the number of articles published in Nature and Science, two leading scientific journals;
- the number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index;
- percentage of articles published in the top 20 percent of journals in a specific field; and
- per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.
More than 1,200 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published on the Internet. The ARWU rankings are widely cited by the educational community and carry significant influence as experts consider the methodology used to be scientifically sound, stable and transparent.
Harvard University was ranked No. 1 by the ARWU in clinical medicine and pharmacy. Universities rounding out the Top 10 include: University of California, San Francisco; University of Washington; Johns Hopkins University; Columbia University; University of Cambridge; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas; Stanford University; and University of Pittsburgh.
In addition to clinical medicine and pharmacy, the ARWU ranks universities in four other categories – natural sciences and mathematics; engineering/technology and computer sciences; life and agriculture sciences; and social sciences.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.
