Alumni shape minds at top U.S. schools

Jacobs

hat do the deans of Harvard's and Stanford's medical schools and of Yale's and the University of California at Berkeley's graduate schools have in common? Along with the deans of the University of Michigan's business school and Johns Hopkins University's school of engineering? And the chairs of Princeton's English department and the University of Chicago's music department?

A new study shows they all have academic degrees from the University. They are among more than 1,000 Rochester graduates on the faculties of schools and programs ranked nationally in the top 25 by the National Research Council or by U.S. News and World Report.

"There is no better external validation of the quality of a university than to have prestigious schools hire its former students as faculty members," said Bruce Jacobs, Dean of Graduate Studies, who conducted the research. "This group of academic leaders provides a collective portrait of individual excellence that reflects very well on what has been achieved at Rochester."

When Jacobs began the research his goal was to identify holders of Rochester Ph.D. degrees who teach at America's best universities and colleges. Using information from academic departments, University records, and Internet searches, he eventually realized "there was a much bigger story to tell." He broadened the study to include holders of other Rochester degrees (e.g., bachelor's or M.D. degrees) and pieced together a portrait of the University's widespread presence at all of the nation's top schools.

The largest contingent of Rochester alumni is teaching at Harvard (64), followed by the University of Michigan (44) and Johns Hop-kins (38). Other universities with 20 or more Rochester alumni on their faculty are Yale, Stanford, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, Duke, Wisconsin, and Washington University, among several others. Somewhat smaller numbers teach at Princeton, MIT, Brown, Cal Tech, and the like, but all of the best U.S. universities have faculty members with Rochester degrees.

"One extraordinary finding concerns the placement of Simon School Ph.D. recipients on the faculties of the best business schools in the country," says Jacobs. "They have a record of placement second to none at the University."

The results of Jacobs' study, "A Thousand Faculty Members: University of Rochester Graduates at America's Best Schools," show all of the University's schools --the College, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Eastman School of Music, the Simon School, the School of Nursing, and the Warner School--have helped educate these alumni. Over 80 individual degree programs are represented by their graduates. "Our colleges and academic programs have an impact on higher education through the influence of the graduates they produce, "says Jacobs. "The top universities in the country respect the integrity of a Rochester education and they show it by hiring our students."

How do Rochester's results compare with other peer institutions? Jacobs says it is difficult to judge because the study would be very hard to replicate for other schools. However, the response he has received from faculty and University officials leads him to believe the report demonstrates Rochester's impact in ways previously not well documented. "Most people who have reviewed the results find them very eye opening," says Jacobs. "While many of us have assumed our graduates would become faculty at prestigious schools, no one had an appreciation of the magnitude of this success."

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