By Rachel Carasso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 27, 1998

UA research ranking slips from top 10

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Michael Cusanovich

The UA has lost its status as one of the nation's Top 10 public research and development universities - slipping one spot with a $279.7 million research budget, according to The National Science Foundation's latest rankings.

The University of California-Berkeley, last year's No. 11 research institution, surpassed the University of Arizona this year for the No. 10 spot with its $316.3 million budget. The Foundation bases its rankings on the amount of money a college or university spends on research.

Former UA President Manuel Pacheco called the UA's catapult from its 1996 No. 25 ranking to the Top 10 last year a "historic moment" for the university.

Michael Cusanovich, UA's vice president for research, said the ranking slip did not reflect poorly on the university's continued commitment to being a premier research institution.

"The change does not mean a lot," Cusanovich said. "You have to look over five or 10 years to see if there is any real trend."

He said the UA should continue to improve in the next few years.

The UA had substantial research success this year, despite losing its Top 10 status, Cusanovich said.

"The university has been making research strides across the board," he said. "The reason for the drop in the ranking is most likely due to the fact that the funding is now over for the long-term projects."

Research advances last year included building the Mars Pathfinder camera and an infrared camera for the Hubble Space Telescope. The university's medical community also has shown strong work in Alzheimer's research and in developing cancer drugs.

University researchers also studied disease-resistant crops.

The NSF also ranks public and private institutions together. On that list, the UA dropped From No. 14 to No. 17, falling behind Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley.

Johns Hopkins University held its No. 1 ranking, spending about $796.5 million on research. The University of Michigan placed highest overall among public schools, with a $468.9 million research spending budget.

The National Science Foundation's rankings for the top public universities and colleges for research and development spending:

Universities Research expenditures in millions

1. University of Michigan $468.9

2. University of Wisconsin-Madison $412.6

3. University of Washington $406.5

4. University of California at San Diego $371.5

5. Texas A&M University $367.0

6. University of California at Los Angeles $354.6

7. University of Minnesota $341.2

8. Pennsylvania State University $337.9

9. University of California at San Francisco $320.8

10. University of California at Berkeley $316.3

11. University of Arizona $279.7