Release date: April 1, 2004
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

U.S. News Ranks Emory's Graduate and Professional Schools

Emory University's medical, law and business schools are among the top 25 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2005 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" guide. These rankings will be reported in the newsstand book and the issue of U.S. News & World report due on newsstands April 5.

Emory's School of Medicine is ranked 19th among research-oriented medical schools. Goizueta Business School ranked 19th (up from 21st last year). Emory Law School ranked 23rd (up from 27th last year).

Emory's joint program in biomedical engineering, which was launched in cooperation with Georgia Tech in 1997, moved up four spots to rank 2nd in the nation. "I don't know of any precedent for a program that has gone from non-existence to the top of its field in less than seven years," says Michael M.E. Johns, executive vice president for health affairs and CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. "This is a tribute to the academic leadership at both Emory and Georgia Tech, and to the high quality of faculty and graduate students who have been recruited to Atlanta."

Emory's doctoral program in clinical psychology ranked 20th (up from 25th in 2001, the last time it was surveyed). "This speaks to our diverse and growing strengths in developmental psychopathology, biological approaches to psychiatric disorders, personality and personality disorders, and clinical training from multiple theoretical standpoints," says Drew Westen, program director.

In other surveys new this year, Goizueta's W. Cliff Oxford Executive MBA program was 10th in the nation, joining its other top 10 rankings in Financial Times and BusinessWeek; the evening MBA program ranked 14th. Emory Law School's trial advocacy program ranked 7th and tax law 22nd.

Also ranked was Emory's program in physical therapy, which was 8th. Emory's medical specialty programs in AIDS ranked 15th, and internal medicine 21st. Emory ranked 42nd among primary care-oriented medical schools.

Several health-related programs were not surveyed this year, so that Emory's Rollins School of Public Health remains in 9th place nationally and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing remains 26th, with its nursing midwifery program ranked 7th. Emory's physician assistant program remains 3rd in the nation.

"It is gratifying to be included in the top 20," says Thomas J. Lawley, dean of the medical school. "We also were pleased at the recognition for our medical specialty programs in AIDS and in internal medicine."

Referring to the highly ranked master's program for physician assistants and physical therapy, Lawley noted that while Emory continues to be noted "for the strength of our research enterprise, we also are very proud of our nationally ranked programs in the allied health professions. Therapists and physician assistants in many cases are the actual hands of healing experienced by patients."

Emory Law School Dean Thomas Arthur attributed the rise in the school's ranking to "more selective admissions" and the hiring of six new faculty, including two Woodruff professors, the university's most distinguished chair. "We are building the law school that will produce the lawyers and leaders for the 21st century, and we are pleased that our progress is beginning to be recognized," he says.

Tom Robertson, dean of Goizueta Business School, says the rankings "continue Goizueta's trajectory as the business school of the future. We have a results-driven mentality, a cooperative culture, and innovative new programs and curricula." The school has been in the top 25 since 1994.

U.S. News first published a reputation-only graduate school ranking in 1987. The annual America's Best Graduate Schools report began in 1990.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system.

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