Professors revel in reputation--and nowhere does that show more clearly than in their concern about educational pedigree. That concern takes complicated forms. The author wondered what might happen if graduate admissions were reduced to a level that would only replace retiring professors. One possible consequence of such a move would be that…

Evidence is presented both for and against the proposition that innovation is punished by surveys that rank academic quality. Systematic work is needed to show how innovation, experimentation, and lack of orthodoxy in research and teaching affect Ph.D. programs' ratings in academic quality rankings. (Author/MLW)

A discussion of the National Research Council's 1995 ranking of research-doctorate programs in the United States criticizes the report for what it does not address, particularly comparisons with the information it disseminated in a 1982 report, some data discrepancies, and central issues such as an institution's available methods of instruction,…