Rochester Ph.D.s get top teaching posts

t the doctoral Commencement ceremony on May 13, the University reached a milestone when it marked 75 years of awarding Ph.D.s and conferred its 7,000th doctorate. A recent study reveals that these degrees are being put to good use at some of the nation's top institutions.

The study of alumni with Rochester doctoral degrees and their faculty appointments shows that more than 350 graduates now teach in the country's "top 25" universities, colleges, or doctoral programs. About 220 of them are full or associate professors, and 45 hold named chairs at prestigious institutions that include Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke Universities; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Chicago; and California Institute of Technology.

"Given the fact that half of our Ph.D.s were granted relatively recently (in the 1980s and 1990s), the presence of Rochester graduates in the higher echelons of academe is most impressive," said Bruce Jacobs, University dean of graduate studies and professor of political science, who conducted the survey. "There is no higher compliment to our doctoral programs than the appointment of their alumni to tenured positions at top schools."

Jacobs analyzed the impact of Rochester's doctoral degrees by documenting where alumni hold positions. He said the results "collectively paint a picture of impact that is visible and substantive."

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