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==In popular culture==
==In popular culture==
{{Main|Tufts University in popular culture}}
{{Main|Tufts University in popular culture}}
[[List of Tufts University people#Actors.2C film.2C and media|Tufts alumni in the media]] have been known to write characters as students of Tufts or a thinly-veiled substitute, such as the title characters of ''[[Two Guys and a Girl]]'' and the lead character of [[Christopher Golden]]'s ''Body of Evidence'' mystery novels. Fictional doctors who cite [[Tufts University School of Medicine|Tufts School of Medicine]] as their alma mater include the title character on ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' and Dr. [[Jennifer Melfi]] on ''[[The Sopranos]]''. [[Elaine Benes]] from ''[[Seinfeld]]'' claims that she attended Tufts, calling it her "[[safety school]]."
[[List of Tufts University people#Actors.2C film.2C and media|Tufts alumni in the media]] have been known to write characters as students of Tufts or a thinly-veiled substitute, such as the title characters of ''[[Two Guys and a Girl]]'' and the lead character of [[Christopher Golden]]'s ''Body of Evidence'' mystery novels. Fictional doctors who cite [[Tufts University School of Medicine|Tufts School of Medicine]] as their alma mater include the title character on ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' and Dr. [[Jennifer Melfi]] on ''[[The Sopranos]]''. [[Elaine Benes]] from ''[[Seinfeld]]'' claims that she attended Tufts, calling it her "[[safety school]]." In the 2009 Simpsons episode "Bart Gets a 'Z'," Bart's substitute teacher announces to the class that he received his Master's in teaching from Tufts.


Because of both the school's suburban ambiance and proximity to Boston, it has been used as a filming location to represent [[New England]] [[liberal arts]] colleges. Footage of the campus has appeared in television series ''[[Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina, the Teenage Witch]]'', ''[[The Next Karate Kid]]'', and ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]'', as well as the 1968 film ''[[Charly]]''.
Because of both the school's suburban ambiance and proximity to Boston, it has been used as a filming location to represent [[New England]] [[liberal arts]] colleges. Footage of the campus has appeared in television series ''[[Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina, the Teenage Witch]]'', ''[[The Next Karate Kid]]'', and ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]'', as well as the 1968 film ''[[Charly]]''.

Revision as of 21:23, 6 April 2011

"Tufts" redirects here. For people named Tufts, see Tufts (surname).
Tufts University
File:Tufts univ seal brown blue.png
MottoPax et Lux
Motto in English
Peace and Light
TypePrivate
Established1852
Endowment$1.366 Billion[1]
PresidentLawrence S. Bacow
ProvostJamshed Bharucha
Academic staff
1,233[2]
Students9,517[2]
Undergraduates5,138[2]
Postgraduates4,379[2]
Location
Medford/Somerville
,
MA
,
USA
CampusUrban
ColorsBrown   and blue  
AffiliationsNESCAC
MascotJumbo
WebsiteTufts.edu
Tufts College, 1853.

Tufts University is a private research university in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools,[3] including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France. The university emphasizes public service in all of its disciplines[4] and is well-known for internationalism and its study abroad programs.[5] Among its schools is the United States' oldest graduate school of international relations, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

In 1852, Tufts College was founded by Christian Universalists who had for years worked to open a non-sectarian institution of higher learning.[6] Charles Tufts donated the land for the campus on Walnut Hill, the highest point in Medford, saying that he wanted to set a "light on the hill." The name was changed to Tufts University in 1954, although the corporate name remains "the Trustees of Tufts College." After over a century as a small New England liberal arts college, the French-American nutritionist Jean Mayer became president of Tufts in the late 1970s and, through a series of mergers with other institutions and schools, transformed the school into an international research university.[7]

History

19th century

In 1852, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts chartered Tufts College, noting the college should promote "virtue and piety and learning in such of the languages and liberal and useful arts as shall be recommended." Charles Tufts was the donor of the land the university now occupies on the Medford-Somerville line. The twenty-acre plot, given to the Universalist church on the condition that it be used for a college, was valued at $20,000 and located on one of the highest hills in the Boston area, Walnut Hill. Having been one of the biggest influences in the establishment of the College, Hosea Ballou II became the first president in 1853, and College Hall, the first building on campus, was completed the following year.[8]

P. T. Barnum was one of the earliest benefactors of Tufts College, and the Barnum Museum of Natural History was constructed in 1884 with funds donated by him to house his collection of animal specimens and the stuffed hide of Jumbo the elephant, who would become the university's mascot. The building stood until April 14, 1975, when fire gutted Barnum Hall, destroying the entire collection.

Walnut Hill as it appeared prior to the construction of Tisch Library and steps, circa 1910. The road to the right no longer exists.

On July 15, 1892, the Tufts Board of Trustees voted "that the College be opened to women in the undergraduate departments on the same terms and conditions as men." At the same meeting, the trustees voted to create a graduate school faculty and to offer the Ph.D. degree in biology and chemistry.

20th century

Tufts expanded in the 1930s with the opening of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the first graduate school of international affairs in the United States and a collaboration with Harvard University. In 1955, continued expansion was reflected in the change of the school's name to Tufts University.[9]

The university experienced tremendous growth during the presidency of Jean Mayer (1976–1992).[10] Mayer was, by all accounts, some combination of "charming, witty, duplicitous, ambitious, brilliant, intellectual, opportunistic, generous, vain, slippery, loyal, possessed of an inner standard of excellence, and charismatic."[11] Mayer established Tufts' veterinary, nutrition, and biomedical schools and acquired the Grafton and Talloires campuses, at the same time lifting the university out of its dire financial situation by increasing the size of the endowment by a factor of 15.[12]

Under President Larry Bacow, Tufts started a capital campaign in 2006 with the goal of raising $1.2 billion to implement full need-blind admission by 2011.[13][14] As of December 10, 2010 the campaign raised $1.14 billion.[15] Tufts received the largest donations in its history since 2005, including a $136 million bequeathment to its endowment upon the dissolution of a charitable trust set up by 1911 alumnus Frank C. Doble,[16][17] a $100 million gift from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to establish the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund,[18] and a number of $40 million-plus gifts to specific schools.[19][20][21]

On November 30, 2010, the university announced that Anthony P. Monaco, formerly of Oxford, would become its thirteenth president.[22]

Greater Boston

Tufts' main campus is located on Walnut Hill in Medford, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Boston. While the majority of the campus is in Medford, the Somerville line intersects it, placing parts of the lower campus in Somerville and leading to the common terms "Uphill" and "Downhill." Many points on the hill have noted views of the Boston skyline, particularly the patio on the Tisch Library roof. The offices of the president, the provost, and several vice presidents and deans are located in Ballou Hall, and administrative offices occupy the surrounding neighborhoods and nearby Davis Square, where Tufts makes payments in lieu of taxes on some of its tax-exempt (educational) properties.[23]

The Schools of Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Dental Medicine, and the Friedman School of Nutrition are located on a campus in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, adjacent to Tufts Medical Center, a 451-bed academic medical institution. All full-time Tufts Medical Center physicians hold clinical faculty appointments at Tufts School of Medicine.

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is located in Grafton, Massachusetts, west of Boston, on a 634-acre (2.57 km2) campus. The school also maintains the Ambulatory Farm Clinic in Woodstock, Connecticut and the Tufts Laboratory at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole on Cape Cod.

Campuses

The University has four main campuses—three in the Boston area and one in southern France. The main campus is located on the border of Medford and Somerville just outside Boston. The medical and dental school are located in Boston proper, and the veterinary school is located in central Massachusetts, in Grafton.

Talloires

The Tufts European Center on the Talloires campus

Tufts has a satellite campus in Talloires, France at the Tufts European Center, a former Benedictine priory built in the 11th century. The priory was purchased in 1958 by Donald MacJannet and his wife Charlotte and used as a summer camp site for several years before the MacJannets gave the campus to Tufts in 1978. Each year the center hosts a number of summer study programs, and enrolled students live with local families. The site is frequently the host of international conferences and summits.[24]

Organization

Tufts University comprises ten schools including:[3]

Each school has its own faculty and is led by a dean appointed by the president and the provost with the consent of the Board of Trustees. In addition, the university is affiliated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the New England Conservatory.

The School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering are the only schools that award both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Jackson College for Women, established in 1910 as a coordinate college adjacent to the Tufts campus, was integrated with the College of Liberal Arts in 1980, but is recognized in the formal name of the undergraduate arts and sciences division, the "College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College." Undergraduate women in arts and sciences continued to receive their diplomas from Jackson College until 2002.

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service was founded in 2000 "to educate for active citizenship" with the help of a $10 million gift from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. The school was renamed in 2006 after a $40 million gift from Jonathan Tisch. It has been called the "most ambitious attempt by any research university to make public service part of its core academic mission."[25] Tisch College does not grant degrees; the college facilitates and supports a wide range of community service, civic engagement programs, research, and teaching initiatives across the university.

Under the purview of the School of Arts and Sciences is the Experimental College, a non-degree-granting entity created in 1964 as a proving ground for innovative, experimental, and interdisciplinary curricula and courses. By far, the most successful component of the Ex College is EPIIC, a year-long program begun in 1985 to immerse students in a global issue, which culminates in an annual symposium of scholars and experts from the field.

Additionally, the Crane Theological School was opened in 1869 and closed in 1968.

Academics

Rankings

Academic rankings
National
Forbes[26]34
U.S. News & World Report[27]28
Washington Monthly[28]34
Global
ARWU[29]101 (tie)
THE[30]53

Tufts' undergraduate school is ranked #28 overall on U.S. News & World Report's 2011 rankings of national universities[31] and #34 in Forbes' list of America's Best Colleges.[32] U.S. News ranks Tufts as #51 for engineering among schools that grant PhD degrees, slightly ahead of nearby Boston University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.[33] In 2010, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Tufts at #53 in the world.[34] The university ranks #101 in Shanghai Jiao Tong University's 2009 Academic Ranking of World Universities[35] and #157 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings.[36] Tufts' Medical School and Research Institute are ranked #33 and #44, respectively, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2010 rankings of Best Medical Schools in primary care and research,[37] and the Sackler School likewise ranks #56 in their rankings of Best Graduate Schools, Biological Sciences.[38] Despite being relatively small in size compared to other premier universities, Tufts is one of only 96 American universities receiving the highest research classification ("RU/VH") by the Carnegie Foundation.[39]

Tufts is counted among the "Little Ivies" and was named by Newsweek as one of the "25 New Ivies."[40] In August of 2010, Unigo named Tufts one of ten "New Ivies" as well.[41] In The Princeton Review's 2010–2011 "Best 363 Colleges," Tufts was ranked #14 for the happiest students and its study abroad program was ranked #3 in the country.[42][43] According to the October 2010 rankings compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Tufts ranked 12th in the country (tied with both Harvard and Johns Hopkins) in the number of Fulbright scholars, namely seventeen.[44] Tufts is also tied for second, along with UPenn and Dartmouth, for the number of undergraduate alumni who are current Fortune 100 CEOs.[45] Because of its continual growth as an institution, Tufts was ranked as the 5th "hottest school" of the decade.[46]

Admissions

In the 2011 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, Tufts ranked as one of the top 20 most selective schools among national universities in the United States.[47] Tufts accepted 24% of 15,437 applicants to its undergraduate class of 2014.[48] For the class of 2015, Tufts accepted 21.8% of 17,130 applicants,[49] an all-time low.[50] For the matriculating class of 2014, ninety-one percent of incoming freshmen rank in the top 10% of their high school class (up one percent from the previous year).[22][51] The class of 2014 has an average SAT score of 2176.[52] Tufts expects approximately one-third of its admitted students to enroll.[53]

In 2006, Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg added experimental criteria to the application process for undergraduates to test "creativity and other non-academic factors," including inviting applicants to submit YouTube videos to supplement their application.[54] Calling it the "first major university to try such a departure from the norm," Inside Higher Ed also notes that Tufts continues to consider the SAT and other traditional criteria.[55][56]

Libraries

The Tufts University Library System contains over three million volumes. The main library, Tisch Library, holds about 2.5 million volumes, with other holdings dispersed at subject libraries including the Hirsh Health Sciences Library on the Medical campus in Boston, the Edwin Ginn Library at the Fletcher School, the Lilly Music Library in the Granoff Music Center, and Webster Library at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine on the Grafton campus.

Culture and student life

Main article: Student life at Tufts University
File:Tufts cannon bday.jpg
The Tufts cannon painted with birthday wishes

The Princeton Review has listed Tufts in its "Best Campus Food" category since 2005, ranking it as high as second.[57][58][59] The undergraduate student body is ethnically and socioeconomically diverse,[60] despite a "notable amount of self-segregation."[61] The Advocate ranks Tufts as one of the top 20 gay-friendly campuses.[62] Over 150 student organizations dominate campus life, led prominently by a dozen a cappella groups. The school is also home to a variety of longstanding traditions and celebrations, most notably the cannon on the Medford campus, which is frequently repainted overnight by individuals and student groups.

Notable alumni and faculty

Main article: List of Tufts University people

Tufts alumni hold prominent positions in government, media, and business: former Prime Minister of Greece Kostas Karamanlis, United States Senator Scott Brown, journalist and TV personality Meredith Vieira, and The New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. count Tufts as their alma mater. Although Tufts does not have a business school or major, several alumni are notable founders and chief executives of the following firms: eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Victoria's Secret founder Roy Raymond, along with the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase (Jamie Dimon), Pfizer (Jeff Kindler), Loews Hotels (Jonathan Tisch) and DuPont (Ellen J. Kullman).

Notable Tufts faculty include philosopher Daniel Dennett, former American Psychological Association president Robert Sternberg, retired Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Martin J. Sherwin, and Nobel Prize recipient Allan M. Cormack (1924–1998).

Main article: Tufts University in popular culture

Tufts alumni in the media have been known to write characters as students of Tufts or a thinly-veiled substitute, such as the title characters of Two Guys and a Girl and the lead character of Christopher Golden's Body of Evidence mystery novels. Fictional doctors who cite Tufts School of Medicine as their alma mater include the title character on Crossing Jordan and Dr. Jennifer Melfi on The Sopranos. Elaine Benes from Seinfeld claims that she attended Tufts, calling it her "safety school." In the 2009 Simpsons episode "Bart Gets a 'Z'," Bart's substitute teacher announces to the class that he received his Master's in teaching from Tufts.

Because of both the school's suburban ambiance and proximity to Boston, it has been used as a filming location to represent New England liberal arts colleges. Footage of the campus has appeared in television series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Next Karate Kid, and Friday Night Lights, as well as the 1968 film Charly.

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ a b c d Institutional research
  3. ^ a b Bylaws of the Trustees of Tufts College, Article VI, sec. 6.1
  4. ^ Bacow, Lawrence S. "How Universities Can Teach Public Service." The Boston Globe. 15 October 2005.
  5. ^ Kantrowitz, Barbara. "America's Hot 25 Schools." Newsweek Kaplan College Guide.
  6. ^ Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History "Tufts University, 1852"
  7. ^ Gittleman, Sol. (November 2004) An Entrepreneurial University: The Transformation Of Tufts, 1976-2002. Tufts University, ISBN 1-58465-416-3.
  8. ^ Tufts Digital Library - View Text tufts:central:dca:UA069:UA069.005.DO.00001
  9. ^ Tufts Digital Library - View Text tufts:central:dca:UA069:UA069.005.DO.00001
  10. ^ name="nyt_mayer">McFadden, Robert D. "Jean Mayer, 72, Nutritionist Who Led Tufts, Dies." The New York Times. January 2, 1993.
  11. ^ Gittleman, Sol. "The Accidental President." Tufts Magazine, Winter 2005.
  12. ^ McFadden, Robert D. "Jean Mayer, 72, Nutritionist Who Led Tufts, Dies." The New York Times. January 2, 1993.
  13. ^ Tufts U. Joins Growing Number of Colleges Seeking to Raise More Than $1-Billion Chronicle of Higher Education.
  14. ^ Beyond Boundaries: the Campaign for Tufts About the Campaign
  15. ^ Tufts Daily - Beyond Boundaries is close to attaining $1.2 billion goal
  16. ^ Russonello, Giovanni. "Tufts receives largest gift in university history." The Tufts Daily, April 9, 2008.
  17. ^ The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Tufts, Lesley Receive Big Gift
  18. ^ Hopkins, Jim. "Ebay founder takes lead in social entrepreneurship." USA Today, 3 November 2005.
  19. ^ Tisch announces $40 million gift to Tufts University. The Boston Globe. 12 May 2006.
  20. ^ E-mail sent from President Bacow to campus students, faculty and staff on September 4, 2007 at 1:18 pm ET.
  21. ^ Tufts Daily - Tufts receives $40 million gift
  22. ^ a b Peter Schworm (November 30, 2010). "Noted geneticists to lead Tufts". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  23. ^ ResiStat: Tufts' Contribution
  24. ^ [2].
  25. ^ Bombardieri, Marcella. At Tufts, civic engagement stretches across the globe. The Boston Globe, 14 March 2004.
  26. ^ "America's Top Colleges 2023". Forbes. September 27, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  27. ^ "2023-2024 Best National Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. September 18, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  28. ^ "2023 National University Rankings". Washington Monthly. August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  29. ^ "2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities". ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  30. ^ "World University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. September 27, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  31. ^ "Best Colleges 2011: National Universities". Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  32. ^ "America's Best Colleges". Forbes.com. August 11, 2010.
  33. ^ "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs 2008" (PDF). Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  34. ^ "Times World University Rankings 2010 Results".
  35. ^ "Top 500 World University (101-202)". Retrieved April 22, 2008.
  36. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2010 Results".
  37. ^ "America's Best Medical Schools 2010: National Universities". Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  38. ^ http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/rankings/page+3. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ^ http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/lookup_listings/view_institution.php?unit_id=168148&start_page=institution.php&clq={%22ipug2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ipgrad2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22enrprofile2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ugprfile2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22sizeset2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22basic2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22eng2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22search_string%22%3A%22tufts%22%2C%22level%22%3A%22%22%2C%22control%22%3A%22%22%2C%22accred%22%3A%22%22%2C%22state%22%3A%22%22%2C%22region%22%3A%22%22%2C%22urbanicity%22%3A%22%22%2C%22womens%22%3A%22%22%2C%22hbcu%22%3A%22%22%2C%22hsi%22%3A%22%22%2C%22tribal%22%3A%22%22%2C%22msi%22%3A%22%22%2C%22landgrant%22%3A%22%22%2C%22coplac%22%3A%22%22%2C%22urban%22%3A%22%22}
  40. ^ "25 New Ivies". Newsweek. August 21, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  41. ^ "10 New Ivies". Huffington Post. August 24, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  42. ^ http://www.princetonreview.com/Schoollist.aspx?type=r&id=712
  43. ^ http://www.princetonreview.com/Schoollist.aspx?type=r&id=675
  44. ^ "Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2010-11". The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 24, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  45. ^ Where CEOs at America's Largest Companies Went to College - US News and World Report
  46. ^ The hottest schools of the decade
  47. ^ "Best Colleges 2011: National Universities". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  48. ^ Coffin, Lee (March 30, 2010). "Fourteen Facts About '14". Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  49. ^ "Stanford and Duke Accepted How Many? Colleges Report 2011 Admission Figures". The New York Times. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/admit-stats-2011/?ref= ignored (help)
  50. ^ Hecht, Amelie (March 31, 2011). "Class of 2015 acceptance rate lowest in university history". The Tufts Daily. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  51. ^ Heckt, Amelie (March 30, 2010). "Class of 2014 by the numbers". Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  52. ^ "Profile of the Class of 2014". Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  53. ^ Javetski, Gillian (September 17, 2008). "Typical Yield Makes for Ideally Sized Incoming Freshman Class". Tufts Daily. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  54. ^ Lewin, Tamar (February 22, 2010). "To Impress, Tufts Prospects Turn to YouTube". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  55. ^ Jaschik, Scott (2006). A "Rainbow" Approach to Admissions. Inside Higher Ed, July 6, 2006.
  56. ^ McAnerny, Kelly (2005). From Sternberg, a new take on what makes kids Tufts-worthy. Tufts Daily, November 15, 2005.
  57. ^ Princeton Review picks Bowdoin for best campus food - Slashfood
  58. ^ Tufts University Review - Campus Dining - College Prowler
  59. ^ Top Schools in the Northeast – See the Rankings : NJ Arts Council
  60. ^ http://www.princetonreview.com/schools/college/CollegeStudents.aspx?iid=1023909
  61. ^ Tufts University Review - Diversity - College Prowler
  62. ^ Tufts E-News: Tufts Hailed As Gay-Friendly Campus
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