Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University produces an annual ranking of research universities. The methodology values publications and faculty awards (Nobel and Fields) which belies the focus on ranking research not for example the quality of education provided.
You could argue one measure does partially address teaching as the Nobel and Fields prizes to alumni are created to the institution (that is separate from a measure of faculty that receive those honors). I would agree it partially measure the education though it also measures the ability of that school to attract the absolute best candidates (whether they would have been just as successful going elsewhere is a fair question).
Results from the 2014 rankings of top 500 universities with the number of schools by country:
| location | Top 100 | % of World Population |
% of World GDP | % of top 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 52 | 4.5% | 22.2% | 29.2% |
| United Kingdom | 8 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 7.6 |
| Germany | 4 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 7.8 |
| Canada | 4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 4.2 |
| France | 4 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.2 |
| Japan | 3 | 1.8 | 7.8 | 3.8 |
| Australia | 4 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 3.8 |
| China | 0 | 19.2 | 11.7 | 8.8 |
| Netherlands | 4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| Sweden | 4 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Switzerland | 5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| South Korea | 0 | .7 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| India | 0 | 17.0 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
The top countries for top 100 and top 500 schools are listed above, but I skip over many after the top 7 or 8 to include a few countries I like to watch, see the ranking site for the full list. Country population and GDP data were taken from the World Development Indicators 2013, by the World Bank.
There is little change in top 100 since 2008, which I think is a good sign, it wouldn’t make much sense to have radical shifts quickly in this type of ranking. The USA lost 2 schools in the top 100, UK lost 3, Germany lost 2, Switzerland gained 2, Netherlands gain 2…
There is more change in the top 500 where changes are more sensible (there is probably not much separating schools ranked in the 300’s from those in the 500’s so variation and strong pushes (from countries like China) can have an impact. China gained 14 more schools in the top 500. China’s GDP also increased from 6.6% of global GDP to 11.7%.
University of Wisconsin – Madison is 24th, it was 17th in 2008 My father taught there while I grew up.
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George Box 1919 to 2013 – A Great Friend, Scientist and Statistician
Posted on March 30, 2013 Comments (2)
Reposted from my management blog.
I would most likely not exist if it were not for George Box. My father took a course from George while my father was a student at Princeton. George agreed to start the Statistics Department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and my father followed him to Madison, to be the first PhD student. Dad graduated, and the next year was a professor there, where he and George remained for the rest of their careers.
George died today, he was born in 1919. He recently completed An Accidental Statistician: The Life and Memories of George E. P. Box which is an excellent book that captures his great ability to tell stories. It is a wonderful read for anyone interested in statistics and management improvement or just great stories of an interesting life.
George Box by Brent Nicastro.
George Box was a fantastic statistician. I am not the person to judge, but from what I have read one of the handful of most important applied statisticians of the last 100 years. His contributions are enormous. Several well know statistical methods are known by his name, including:
George was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1974 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1979. He also served as president of the American Statistics Association in 1978. George is also an honorary member of ASQ.
George was a very kind, caring and fun person. He was a gifted storyteller and writer. He had the ability to present ideas so they were easy to comprehend and appreciate. While his writing was great, seeing him in person added so much more. Growing up I was able to enjoy his stories often, at our house or his. The last time I was in Madison, my brother and I visited with him and again listened to his marvelous stories about Carl Pearson, Ronald Fisher and so much more. He was one those special people that made you very happy whenever you were near him.
George Box, Stuart Hunter and Bill Hunter (my father) wrote what has become a classic text for experimenters in scientific and business circles, Statistics for Experimenters. I am biased but I think this is acknowledged as one of (if not the) most important books on design of experiments.
George also wrote other classic books: Time series analysis: Forecasting and control (1979, with Gwilym Jenkins) and Bayesian inference in statistical analysis. (1973, with George C. Tiao).
George Box and Bill Hunter co-founded the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984. The Center develops, advances and communicates quality improvement methods and ideas.
The Box Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Industrial Statistics recognizes development and the application of statistical methods in European business and industry in his honor.
“All models are wrong but some are useful” is likely his most famous quote. More quotes By George Box
A few selected articles and reports by George Box
Related: It is not about proving a theorem it is about being curious about things – Box on Quality – Soren Bisgaard – Learning Design of Experiments with Paper Helicopters – Peter Scholtes
Categories: Engineering
Tags: books, commentary, data, design of experiments, experiment, John Hunter, learning, Madison, quote, Science, scientists, statistics