University of Guelph ranks in world's top 25 for agricultural programs

Monday, June 6, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

The University of Guelph’s agriculture program at its Ontario Agricultural College was ranked 24th in a 2016 global ranking of such programs at universities around the world.

College interim dean Wayne Caldwell says by email that’s great, “there’s always room for improvement and even better rankings” in the future.

Caldwell says the college is going through a time of renewal and has hired many new faculty members. The university is also in the process of hiring a new dean for the college. There are three shortlisted candidates for the job.

“I am excited to see how this (the college’s renewal efforts) combined with the vision of a new dean will further increase our rankings,” Caldwell says.

British-based company, Quacquarelli Symonds recently released the rankings, which highlight the world’s top universities in 42 subjects areas based on academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact. The company has published its rankings annually since 2011.

The University of Guelph was included in a section rating universities’ agriculture and forestry programs. In that section, the top school was Wageningen University in The Netherlands, while University of California, Davis, was second and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York was third.

The top Canadian school was University of British Columbia, with its forestry program, which was ranked 15th. Another top Canadian school in the agriculture and forestry section was McGill University in Montreal, which was ranked 40th.  

Caldwell says he’s pleased “to see the efforts of our faculty, staff and students reflected in strong world rankings. The leadership role that the Ontario Agricultural College and the University of Guelph play in supporting agriculture and food in Ontario and beyond is vital.” BF