[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Maclean’scovers.jpg”]For the eighth time in nine years McMaster has been named Canada's most innovative “medical doctoral” university in Maclean's annual rankings of universities. The University also improved its standing in the three other categories of the reputational survey, placing fourth in the “best overall” category and fifth in both “highest quality” and producing the “leaders of tomorrow”.

In the “medical doctoral” category McMaster is ranked with 15 other Canadian universities, all of which have a medical school and a broad range of doctoral and research programs. (It is not a ranking of the medical school alone.) In this group, McMaster ranked eighth overall. In 2000 McMaster was ranked seventh.

“Our number one priority is ensuring that our students receive the best possible education,” says McMaster president Peter George. “We have consistently achieved a high ranking in the Maclean's survey and every member of the McMaster community should be proud that together we have reinforced our national reputation as an innovative leader that prepares students for the known and unknown challenges that lie ahead.”

George acknowledges that the University's overall ranking dropped one place, but says the distinctions between each ranking are generally very small. He's also confident that the University's commitment to developing new programs, offering new scholarships and bursaries, integrating research with teaching, attracting top faculty from around the world, and completing new facilities such as the University Centre will make McMaster even more attractive to students and will continue to see it placed among the country's leading universities.