The number of scientists from New Mexico State University named to an elite list has grown since last year, according to the list’s publishers.
The list of the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide is regularly updated by Stanford University and Elsevier, a publishing company that specializes in scientific, technical and medical content. This year, 40 NMSU researchers have been named to the list, compared to 25 last year.
“I expected the number of NMSU faculty in the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide to grow. We have made a commitment to grow our research enterprise,” said Luis Cifuentes, NMSU vice president for research, creativity and economic development. “Brilliant new hires and long overdue investment in existing faculty and infrastructure are making a difference as evidenced by the list. I am truly honored and privileged to work for the faculty, scholars, research scientists and artists of NMSU.”
Over the past few years, NMSU has strengthened research efforts as the university strives to obtain Carnegie R1 status. Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education issues the R1 classification to Ph.D.-granting universities with very high research activity.
Faculty members who rank in the top 2 percent for their career include Paul W. Bosland, Matthew E. Gompper, Robert Jenness, Frank A. Ward, P. J. Wierenga, Manoj Shukla, Jinfa Zhang and Brandon T. Bestelmeyer from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Andrew Conway, Wayne Van Voorhies, Michael Engelhardt, Jeffrey B. Arterburn, Matthias Burkardt, Gary A. Eiceman, James W. Herndon, Greg H. Mack, Thomas Schmugge, David Trafimow, Hermann Wollnik and Stefan Zollner from the College of Arts and Sciences; David M. Boje from the College of Business; and Abdessattar Abdelkefi, Jay I. Frankel, Khandan Nirmalakhandan, Zohrab A. Samani, Igor Sevostianov and David G. Voelz from the College of Engineering.
Faculty members who rank in the top 2 percent for the 2022 calendar year include Bosland, Gompper, Jenness, Schmugge, Shukla, Ward, Bestelmeyer and Zhang from the College of ACES; Burkardt, Engelhardt, Conway, Schmugge, Trafimow, Kathryn A. Hanley, Jon Holtzman and Satyajayant Misra from the College of Arts and Sciences; Boje from the College of Business; Abdelkefi, Nirmalakhandan, Samani, Sevostianov, Voelz, Andreas Gross, Thomas A. Manz, Catherine E. Brewer and Pei Xu from the College of Engineering; and Jagdish Khubchandani from the College of Health, Education and Social Transformation.
“I arrived at NMSU in 2020 and since then, I have consistently featured in this list. So, a lot of credit should be given to our staff members supporting us ardently and the students who are willing to take the challenge of research with us,” said Khubchandani, professor of public health. “Above all, while we become the face of these accomplishments, we cannot forget the tireless efforts of Dr. Cifuentes and the entire team at the Office of Research, Creativity and Economic Development, who work tirelessly and behind the scenes to make these accomplishments possible.”
Retired NMSU faculty members Walter G. Whitford, James Ni and Walter G. Stephan are also included in the list of most cited researchers. Sevostianov, who passed away in 2021, is featured in the list of top cited scholars for both the past year and for lifetime.
Stanford professor John P.A. Ioannidis directed the creation of the database, which ranks the most cited authors across all scientific disciplines. The database classifies the publications in 22 scientific fields with 174 subfields, and is publicly available.
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PHOTO CAPTION: Forty research scientists from New Mexico State University have been named among the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide, according to a list by Stanford University and Elsevier, a publishing company that specializes in scientific, technical and medical content. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: NMSU signage outdoors.