About the University of Rochester

Brief History

Founded in 1850 as a Baptist-sponsored institution. First master's degrees awarded in 1897. Due in large part to the efforts of Susan B. Anthony, women were first admitted in 1900.

Under President Rush Rhees (1900-1935), the University grew expansively. It was during his tenure that George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, became a major donor, and the Eastman School of Music and the School of Medicine and Dentistry were founded. The renowned Institute of Optics opened in 1929. The first Ph.D. was awarded in 1925, and by 1930 several departments had begun to train candidates for the doctorate. Also under Rhees, ground was broken in 1927 for the present main campus on the Genesee River.

In 1955, the Colleges for Men and Women were merged into what is now the College. In 1958, three new schools were created in engineering, business administration, and education. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics was founded in 1970, and the School of Nursing was created from the Department of Nursing in 1971.

In 1986, the business school was named for William E. Simon, entrepreneur and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

In 1993, the education school was named in honor of Margaret Warner Scandling '44, lifelong University supporter and wife of philanthropist and businessman William Scandling.

In 1998, the Eastman Dental Center was added to the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Faculty and Students

Tenure-track faculty: 1,223
Faculty and staff (University/Strong Health): 17,075

Rochester's faculty include fellows of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Nursing, among other prestigious professional societies.

In the last 20 years, 27 faculty have been named Guggenheim Fellows. Present faculty include a MacArthur Foundation fellowship ("Genius Grant") recipient and six National Endowment for the Humanities Senior Fellows.

Rochester faculty are recognized for distinction in a wide variety of academic circles. Six have won the most prestigious honor of the Optical Society of America, the Frederic Ives Medal. One is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, an honor that goes only to two or three economists each year. The American Political Science Association annually awards a prize named in honor of Rochester's Richard F. Fenno Jr., professor emeritus of political science.

Students: 4,420 full-time undergraduates
Full-time graduate students: 2,820
Part-time graduate students: 1,185
Alumni: More than 97,000 living

About the Medical Center

• Medical Center faculty consists of approximately 1,300 full-time faculty members and 1,100 voluntary clinical faculty members organized into 32 Departments and Centers.
• The research portfolio has great depth and breadth and has achieved top-15 rankings in NIH funding in neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, oral biology, biostatistics, neurosurgery, public health and preventive medicine, and musculoskeletal research.
• Basic and clinical students work closely together on research projects. Furthermore, there is active collaboration clinically among University-based and community based practitioners.
• The annual budget for the full academic and clinical enterprise is approximately $1.5 billion and it is the largest unit within the University of Rochester.
• The URMC was awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award in 2004 from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
• U.S. News & World Report ranks the School of Medicine and Dentistry 30th for research and 17th best in the primary care schools category. The dental programs are consistently ranked in the top 10.
• NIH funding to the School of Medicine and Dentistry exceeds $140 million, ranking it 30th among the nation's medical schools.
• In 2006, the School of Medicine and Dentistry became the first in the country to receive full six-year accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
• URMC has 26 residency programs with 531 residents and 42 fellowship programs with 120 fellows.
• Almost 400 graduate students are in training to become the basic, translational and clinical investigators of the future.
• Integrating cutting-edge, evidence-based medical science and the relationship-centered art of clinical medical practice is embodied in the "Double Helix Curriculum," which combines basic science and clinical work throughout all four years of medical school.
• In 1996, URMC expanded of its research programs in the basic sciences. Nearly $400 million has been invested in facilities, equipment and faculty recruitment, with another $130 million slated to be invested through 2010. Major facility additions include state-of-the-art research space that bring the total research footprint to more than 420,000 square feet.

Adapted from http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/smd/about/facts.cfm and http://www.rochester.edu/aboutus/