Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks professional programs in business, education, engineering, law and medicine based on two criteria: statistical data and expert opinions. They also periodically rank other academic programs and specialties based solely on ratings from peer institutions.

This year, two Temple programs made major leaps in the rankings in America’s Best Graduate Schools: 2010 Edition: the School of Medicine and Criminal Justice Department in the College of Liberal Arts.

The School of Medicine, led by groundbreaking work in lung disease, obesity, drug addiction and cancer has, for the first time in its history, been ranked for research, coming in at 56 out of 146 medical and osteopathic schools nationwide. This places the school second in Philadelphia and third in Pennsylvania.

“Several recent initiatives contributed to our U.S. News and World Report ranking profile, including research-related and educational accomplishments,” said John M. Daly, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “A major contributor on the research side was our establishment of the Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine in August 2008.

“The institute, directed by Drs. Richard Coico and Henry Parkman, is a joint endeavor with the Fox Chase Cancer Center and Geisinger Health System,” Daly explained. “Headquartered at the School of Medicine, its mission is to serve as the epicenter for collaborative translational science research, clinical and translational education and training, and community outreach aimed at improving health outcomes.”

With this year’s opening of the new medical school building, which contains thousands more square feet of research work space, officials foresee only further growth for the school’s research enterprise.

Another program that made a major leap in the rankings is the Criminal Justice graduate program in the College of Liberal Arts, which rose from 18th  to 11th, outranking hundreds of other programs and ranking first in Philadelphia.

“This reflects the hard work and innovative research of the faculty and graduate students,” said Criminal Justice professor and chair John Goldkamp.

Criminal Justice faculty, who were also recently recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education — coming in at sixth in the Faculty Productivity Survey — are known for their work on bail and parole conditions, crime mapping and analysis, policing research and drug treatment evaluation. The department’s close collaboration with the Philadelphia Police Department on an evaluation of the street-corner policing of more than 250 officers this summer is expected to produce further high quality research and publications.

For details, visit: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools