The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York.[9] The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of Rochester enrolls approximately 6,800 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students. Its 158 buildings house over 200 academic majors. According to the National Science Foundation, Rochester spent more than $397 million on research and development in 2020, ranking it 66th in the nation.[10] With approximately 28,000 full time employees, the university is the largest private employer in Upstate New York and the 7th largest in all of New York State.[11]
The College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is home to departments and divisions of note. The Institute of Optics was founded in 1929 through a grant from Eastman Kodak and Bausch and Lomb as the first educational program in the US devoted exclusively to optics, awards approximately half of all optics degrees nationwide,[12] and is widely regarded as the premier optics program in the nation, and among the best in the world.[13] The Departments of Political Science and Economics have made a significant and consistent impact on positivist social science since the 1960s,[14][15] and historically rank in the top 5 in their fields.[16][17] The Department of Chemistry is noted for its contributions to synthetic organic chemistry, including the first lab-based synthesis of morphine.[18] The Rossell Hope Robbins Library serves as the university’s resource for Old and Middle English texts and expertise.[19] The university is also home to Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, a national laboratory supported by the US Department of Energy.[20]
The University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music ranks first among undergraduate music schools in the U.S.[21][22][23] The Sibley Music Library at Eastman is the largest academic music library in North America and holds the third largest collection in the United States.[24]
In its history, university alumni and faculty have earned 13 Nobel Prizes, 13 Pulitzer Prizes, 45 Grammy Awards, 20 Guggenheim Fellowships, 9 National Medals of Science, 4 National Medals of Technology, 3 National Medals of Arts, and 3 National Humanities Medals, while others have been elected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.