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April 27, 2009
Emory’s schools rank high

By elaine justice

A number of Emory’s graduate schools and programs are ranked among the best in the nation, according to analysis and surveys reported in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guide.

Emory’s schools of law, business and medicine were the top-ranked schools in Georgia in their respective categories, while Emory’s joint Department of Biomedical Engineering with Georgia Tech was ranked 2nd in the nation. Emory Law School ranked 20th; Goizueta Business School was 22nd and the School of Medicine ranked 22nd nationally among research-oriented medical schools.

“We’re pleased that the strength of our curriculum and our programs has been recognized,” said David Partlett, dean of Emory Law. “We believe our movement in the rankings is reflective of the dedication of our faculty and staff as well as the caliber of our talented students.” Emory Law also was cited among the nation’s most diverse law schools. Nearly one-third of the student body comes from underrepresented groups.

“We are pleased that our program continues to move forward,” said Goizueta Business School Dean Larry Benveniste. “It is innovation that is moving us forward, having introduced an innovative new curriculum and expanded our reach into the alternative investments and real estate areas. Most importantly, it is the quality of our graduates that defines our success.”

Ph.D. programs in several humanities and social science fields were newly ranked this year. Among those programs, Emory improved on its previous rankings. English rose two steps to 26th, history and political science both one step to 28th, and psychology 11 steps to 36th. Two Emory specialty fields ranked in the top 10: African history ranked 8th, and the sociology program’s specialty in social psychology ranked 9th. Unlike rankings in other areas, these were based solely on reputational surveys.

“Emory programs have substantial recognition among peers, and it’s great to see that it is growing,” said Lisa Tedesco, vice provost for academic affairs-graduate studies and dean of the Graduate School. “It is a pleasure to congratulate history and sociology for the strong recognition of some specialty areas, and our joint program with Georgia Tech for its continued outstanding recognition.”

Benjamin Reiss, director of graduate studies in English, attributes the rise in the English Ph.D. ranking to growing faculty strength and “dazzling literary resources at Emory,” including world-class collections of 20th-century poetry, African American culture and history, and now the papers of major figures like Alice Walker and Salman Rushdie. “The presence of Sir Salman himself as a colleague who teaches a yearly graduate seminar doesn’t hurt either.”

Reiss also cited students who have been active in editing the internationally acclaimed edition of Samuel Beckett’s letters, publishing articles in top journals and receiving thorough training from faculty in becoming outstanding teachers. “We’ve seen a big surge in applications over the last five years,” added Reiss, “and our yield is now consistently over 70 percent.”

In sociology, where the department's overall ranking rose two steps to 36th, director of graduate studies Cathryn Johnson said "the program provides a strong foundation in the core areas of social psychology (now ranked in the top 10), while also allowing students to apply social psychology to topics such as crime, race and health, and to bridge to other sociological areas, such as culture and stratification."

Several health-related programs were not surveyed this year, so that Rollins School of Public Health remains in 7th place nationally and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing remains 26th, with its nursing midwifery program ranked 8th. Emory’s physician assistant program remains 3rd in the nation and physical therapy is 11th.