Cornell's advanced degree program in biological sciences has risen significantly in rankings by U.S. News and World Report in its "America's Best Graduate Schools 2007" annual report, released April 14.

The report placed Cornell seventh in the nation (in a tie with Yale University) in biological sciences Ph.D. programs, out of 163 schools ranked -- a leap from 14th place in the 2006 rankings.

"This jump reflects Cornell's integrated and collaborative approach to biological sciences and the investment we have made over the last few years," said Susan Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "We have succeeded in attracting some of the very best and brightest scientific minds to our faculty. Graduate students have seen this about Cornell. They want to study with the best."

Peter Lepage, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said, "Cornell has been engaged over the last several years in a very high profile effort to build up the new life sciences, with the New Life Sciences Initiative -- and that effort has led to a series of impressive young and mid-career hires of new faculty. I think these rankings indicate that people are noticing those hires."

Lepage also noted that the quality of current Ph.D. students in the program was a factor in the rankings, along with strategic hiring.

"By and large these rankings show that our strong programs remain strong, and they show real strength in biology and we can call ourselves a Top 10 biology school," Lepage said.

Cornell also tied for sixth (with the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) in ecology and evolutionary biology, out of 17 graduate programs rated.

"A lot of momentum has been built in recruitment for junior and senior people, and in investments in different areas in the life sciences including genomics," said Stephen Kresovich, professor of plant genetics and Cornell's vice provost for life sciences. "Our goal is to move up in the rankings and to concurrently build strengths in molecular, cell and organismal biology."

Other Cornell graduate programs also rose in the rankings. The engineering program was ranked 11th in the nation, up from 12th place in 2006; and Cornell was 39th in education, up from 45th. Cornell's Department of Education offers graduate degree programs in teacher education, adult and extension education, and in learning, teaching and social policy.

The physics Ph.D. program retained its seventh-place ranking, and the university ranked second in physics specialties for condensed matter graduate studies, just ahead of Harvard University and behind the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.

Cornell's mathematics Ph.D. program tied for 12th in the nation with the University of California-Los Angeles. Other rankings for Cornell graduate programs included ninth in chemistry, a tie for ninth in electrical engineering and 15th in earth sciences. In a survey of computer science Ph.D. programs, Cornell ranked fifth overall, and among computer science specialties, the university was ranked fourth in computer science theory, fifth in specialized programming language and 10th among artificial intelligence programs.

Cornell also ranked 16th in accounting -- a new category in the U.S. News survey, under economics specialties -- in a tie with Columbia University and Indiana University-Bloomington.

Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management was ranked 16th among business schools, down from 15th in 2006.

Cornell Law School ranked 13th in the nation, based in part on successful job placement for its graduates, a minute change from a three-way tie for 11th last year.

In a survey of 126 medical schools, Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City was ranked 15th, down from 14th place in 2006.

It is typical for a school to move up or down one place in the rankings from year to year. U.S. News' graduate program rankings are based on peer assessment and surveys of deans and department heads in specific fields. The 2007 report is based on data gathered in the fall of 2005.

"These are based mostly on your reputation amongst your peers," Lepage said. "Any ranking like this is one-dimensional; it doesn't capture all of the truth. But these particular rankings do tell you something about your profile in the country and what other academics in your field think of your program."