Association of American Universities

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Association of American Universities

The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization

Organization

An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment....
of leading research universities

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education....
devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research

Research

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe....
and education. It consists of sixty universities in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
(both public and private

Private university

Private universities are not operated by governments though they may or may not receive funding . Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation....
) and two universities in Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
.

was founded in 1900 by a group of fourteen Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. or PhD for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", is an postgraduate academic degree awarded by University....
-granting universities in the United States to strengthen and standardize American doctoral programs. Today, the primary purpose of the AAU is to provide a forum for the development and implementation of institutional and national policies, in order to promote strong programs in academic research and scholarship and undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.

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Encyclopedia

The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization

Organization

University

Research

United States

Private university

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
.

Organization

AAU was founded in 1900 by a group of fourteen Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....

Presidents

Executive	Term
Thomas A. Bartlett Thomas A. Bartlett Thomas Alva Bartlett is an American educator who is most notable for having served as President of several universities and university systems....	1977 – 1982
Robert M. Rosenzweig	1983 – 1993
Cornelius J. Pings	1993 – 1998
Nils Hasselmo Nils Hasselmo Nils Hasselmo was the thirteenth president of the University of Minnesota, serving from 1988 to 1997. He went on to become the president of the Association of American Universities from 1998 to 2006....	July 1, 1998 – April, 2006
Robert M. Berdahl Robert M. Berdahl Robert M. Berdahl is an American historian, author and university administrator. He was chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley from 1997 to 2004, and became president of the Association of American Universities in May 2006....	May, 2006 – present

Statistics

As of 2004, AAU members accounted for 58% of US universities' research grants and contract income and 52% of all doctorates awarded in the United States. Since 1999, 43% of all Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
winners and 74% of winners at U.S. institutions have been affiliated with an AAU university. Approximately two-thirds of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an organization dedicated to scholarship and the advancement of learning. It serves as a nationwide honor society for the United States....
2006 Class of Fellows are affiliated with an AAU university. The faculties at AAU universities include 2,993 members of the National Academies (82% of all members): the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering

National Academy of Engineering

The United States National Academy of Engineering is a private, non-profit institution which was founded in 1964, under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the United States National Academy of Sciences, signed by Abraham Lincoln, in 1863....
, and the Institute of Medicine (2004).

Undergraduate students: 1,044,759; 7% nationally
Undergraduate degrees awarded: 235,328; 17% nationally
Graduate students: 418,066; 20% nationally
Master’s awarded: 106,971; 19% nationally
Professional Degrees: 20,859; 25% nationally
Doctorates awarded: 22,747; 52% nationally
Postdoctoral Fellows: 30,430; 67% nationally
Students Studying Abroad: 57,205
National Merit/Achievement Scholars (2004): 5,434; 63% nationally
Faculty: approximately 72,000

Membership

Admission

AAU membership is by invitation only, which requires an affirmative vote of three-fourths of current members. Invitations are considered periodically, based in part on an assessment of the breadth and quality of university programs of research and graduate education, as well as undergraduate education. Founding members are bolded, and year of admission is shown in parentheses.

Public universities (34)

University of Arizona
University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and Space grant colleges Public university institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States....
(1985)
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly known as the University at Buffalo or , is a public university research university which has multiple campuses located in Buffalo, New York and Amherst, New York, USA....
(1989)
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
(1900)
University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis

The University of California, Davis is a public university research university located in Davis, California, and one of ten campuses in the University of California system....
(1996)
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine is a public university coeducational research university founded in 1965, situated in Irvine, California....
(1996)
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
(1974)
University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego is a public research university in San Diego, California, California. The school's campus contains 694 buildings and is located in the La Jolla, San Diego, California community....
(1982)
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public university research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system....
(1995)
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado at Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado. Considered a Public Ivy, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system and was founded five months before Colorado was admitted to the union in 1876....
(1966)
University of Florida
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
(1985)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public university research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
(1908)
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University

Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. The IU system includes the following campuses:...
(1909)
University of Iowa
University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public university research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees....
(1909)
Iowa State University
Iowa State University

The Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant university and Space grant colleges university located in Ames, Iowa, United States....
(1958)
University of Kansas
University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university with campuses located in Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas, and Overland Park, Kansas, Kansas with the main campus being located atop Mount Oread in Lawrence....
(1909)
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university located in the city of College Park, Maryland in Prince George's County, Maryland outside Washington, D.C....
(1969)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1900)

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public university research university in East Lansing, Michigan, Michigan United States. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act....
(1964)

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public university research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States....
(1908)

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press....
(1908)

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The University of Nebraska?Lincoln, often called UNL, but also known as Nebraska or NU, is the flagship institution of the University of Nebraska system....
(1909)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the Colonial colleges in the United States....
(1989)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public university research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States....
(1922)

The Ohio State University (1916)

University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is a State university, coeducational research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The second oldest public university in the state, and the flagship school of the Oregon public university system, UO was founded in 1876, and graduated its first class two years later....
(1969)

The Pennsylvania State University (1958)

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States....
(1974)

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, Indiana, United States, is the flagship university of the six campuses within the Purdue University System....
(1958)

Stony Brook University (The State University of New York at Stony Brook) (2001)

The University of Texas at Austin (1929)

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University, often called A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public university research university located in College Station, Texas, Texas....
(2001)

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public university research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson. Conceived by 1800 and established in 1819, it is the only university in the United States to be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, an honor it shares with nearby Monticello....
(1904)

University of Washington

University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, Washington, United States. Also known as Washington and locally as UW or the U, it is the largest university in the northwestern United States and the oldest public university on the west coast....
(1950)

University of Wisconsin–Madison (1900)

Private universities (26)

Brandeis University
Brandeis University

Brandeis University is a Private university research university with a liberal arts focus, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, nine miles west of Boston, Massachusetts....
(1985)
Brown University
Brown University

Brown University is a private university university located in , United States and is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and Colonial Colleges in the United States....
(1933)
California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering....
(1934)
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a top private university research university in Pittsburgh. Since its inception, Carnegie Mellon has grown into a world-renowned institution, with numerous programs that are frequently college and university rankings among the best in the world....
(1982)
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, with some residence halls on the south end of campus located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio....
(1969)
Columbia University
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
(1900)
Cornell University
Cornell University

Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a private university with four Statutory college. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar....
(1900)
Duke University
Duke University

Duke University is a private university research university located in Durham, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodism and Religious Society of Friends in the present-day town of Trinity, North Carolina in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892....
(1938)
Emory University
Emory University

Emory University is a private university located in the metropolitan area of the city of Atlanta, Georgia in western unincorporated area DeKalb County, Georgia, Georgia , United States....
(1995)
Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
(1900)
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Hopkins or JHU, is a private university research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, United States....
(1900)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
(1934)
New York University
New York University

New York University is a private university, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan....
(1950)

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a non-sectarian private university research university located in Evanston, Illinois and downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States....
(1917)

Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
(1900)

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University is a private university research university located in Houston, Texas, Texas, United States. The campus is located near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center....
(1985)

Stanford University
Stanford University

Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private university research university located in Stanford, California, California, United States....
(1900)

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, New York. It was founded as a university in 1870, but its roots can be traced back to a seminary founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832 which eventually became Genesee College....
(1966)

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private university, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as a public medical college in 1834, the school grew into a comprehensive university and was eventually privatized under the endowments of Paul Tulane and Josephine Louise Newcomb in the late 19th century....
(1958)

University of Chicago
University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park, Chicago neighborhood of Chicago. Although an older university by the same name existed prior to its founding, the modern University of Chicago credits its founding to the oil magnate John D....
(1900)

University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is America's first university and is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States....
(1900)

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private university, nonsectarian, research university located in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and professional degrees through six schools and various interdisciplinary programs....
(1941)

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private university, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park, Los Angeles, California neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
(1969)

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private university research university in Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for ship transport and rail transport magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial United States dollar1 million endowment despite having never been to the Southern...
(1950)

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis is a nonsectarian, private University located in Greater St. Louis. Founded in 1853 and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S....
(1923)

Yale University
Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League....
(1900)

Canadian universities (2)

McGill University
McGill University

McGill University is a Public university#Canada located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university....
(1926)
University of Toronto
University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public university research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated a mile north of the city's Financial District, Toronto on grounds that surround Queen's Park ....
(1926)

Former members

The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America , located in Northeast Washington, D.C., is the national university of the Roman Catholic Church and the only higher education institution founded by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops....
(1900-2002)

Departed as a result of "institutional emphases and energies" that differed from the other AAU members.

Clark University
Clark University

Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 by the industrialist Jonas Clark, it is the oldest institution founded as an all-graduate university....
(1900-1999)

Departed because of its change of focus from research to undergraduate education.

Association of American Universities

Organization

Presidents

Statistics

Membership

Admission

Public universities (34)

Private universities (26)

Canadian universities (2)

Former members

External links