Rutgers University
Rutgers University at a Glance
- U.S. influence rank
- #27
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Rutgers University Featured Rankings
- #1 Best Online Colleges for Veterans
- #1 Most Affordable Online Criminal Justice PhDs (Doctorates)
- #1 Easiest Online Degrees from Accredited Schools
- #1 Accelerated Online Master's of Accounting
- #1 The Most Affordable Online Clinical Nutrition Doctorate Degree Programs (PhDs) 2026
- #4 Best Online Clinical Nutrition Degree Doctorate Programs
- #16 The 20 Best Business Schools for Earning an MBA Ranked for Students
- #28 Most Influential Colleges in Lacrosse Today
- #66 Best Universities World 2026
About Rutgers University
Rutgers University’s full official name is Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
Rutgers traces its roots to Queen’s College, which was founded in 1766, making it the thirteenth-oldest university in the US.
In 1825, Revolutionary War hero and philanthropist Henry Rutgers made a large financial contribution to the school, which in turn changed its name to Rutgers College.
Rutgers College was upgraded to full university status in 1924, and in 1945 Rutgers was officially designated The State University of New Jersey.
Today, Rutgers comprises three main campuses (New Brunswick-Piscataway—the flagship campus—Newark, and Camden), with over 4000 faculty members spread across 175 academic departments and a total student body approaching 70,000.
Rutgers is associated with six Nobel Prize laureates, namely:
- Physicist, Heinrich Rohrer
- Microbiologist, Selman Waksman
- Economists, Milton Friedman & Harry Markowitz
- Dominican poet, Derek Walcott
- American novelist, Toni Morrison
Among other prominent Rutgers-connected people, we may note the following:
- Singer, actor, and civil rights activist, Paul Robeson
- Popular musician, David Bryan
- Painter and sculptor, George Segal
- Poets, Joyce Kilmer & Robert Pinsky
- Novelists, Philip Roth, Junot Díaz & Janet Evanovich
- Film director, Henry Selick
- Actors, James Gandolfini, Roy Scheider, Calista Flockhart, Charles Hallahan & Keir Dullea
- Historian, David Levering Lewis
- Linguist, John McWhorter
- Philosophers, Jerry Fodor, Zenon Pylyshyn, Stephen Stich & Jonathan Schaffer
- Philosopher, computer scientist, and Turing Award winner, Judea Pearl
- Physicist, Michael R. Douglas
- Evolutionary biology, Robert Trivers
- Former FBI Director, Louis J. Freeh
- US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg
- US Senator and 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination candidate, Elizabeth Warren
According to Wikipedia, Rutgers University , officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New Jersey after Princeton University, and one of nine U.S. colonial colleges that were chartered before the American Revolution.
What Is Rutgers University Known For?
Rutgers University is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
- Mathematics
- Economics
- Sociology
- Criminal Justice
- Nursing
- Philosophy
- Literature
- Social Work
- Anthropology
- Biology
- Education
- History
- Psychology
- Medical
- Law
- Communications
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Political Science
- Earth Sciences
- Chemistry
- Business
- Engineering
- Religious Studies
Rutgers University's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Rutgers University's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Rutgers University ranks #16 in the U.S. and #43 worldwide for influence in Mathematics.
Rutgers University ranks #18 in the U.S. and #32 worldwide for influence in Economics.
Rutgers University ranks #18 in the U.S. and #51 worldwide for influence in Sociology.
Rutgers University ranks #19 in the U.S. and #24 worldwide for influence in Criminal Justice.
Rutgers University ranks #20 in the U.S. and #29 worldwide for influence in Nursing.
Rutgers University ranks #23 in the U.S. and #68 worldwide for influence in Philosophy.
Rutgers University ranks #23 in the U.S. and #64 worldwide for influence in Literature.
Rutgers University ranks #25 in the U.S. and #34 worldwide for influence in Social Work.
Rutgers University ranks #26 in the U.S. and #66 worldwide for influence in Anthropology.
Rutgers University ranks #27 in the U.S. and #78 worldwide for influence in Biology.
Rutgers University ranks #28 in the U.S. and #91 worldwide for influence in Education.
Rutgers University ranks #28 in the U.S. and #70 worldwide for influence in History.
Rutgers University ranks #30 in the U.S. and #50 worldwide for influence in Psychology.
Rutgers University ranks #31 in the U.S. and #75 worldwide for influence in Medical.
Rutgers University ranks #31 in the U.S. and #107 worldwide for influence in Law.
Rutgers University ranks #34 in the U.S. and #109 worldwide for influence in Communications.
Rutgers University ranks #34 in the U.S. and #116 worldwide for influence in Physics.
Rutgers University ranks #35 in the U.S. and #90 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.
Rutgers University ranks #37 in the U.S. and #115 worldwide for influence in Political Science.
Rutgers University ranks #37 in the U.S. and #148 worldwide for influence in Earth Sciences.
Rutgers University ranks #38 in the U.S. and #158 worldwide for influence in Chemistry.
Rutgers University ranks #44 in the U.S. and #99 worldwide for influence in Business.
Rutgers University ranks #50 in the U.S. and #164 worldwide for influence in Engineering.
Rutgers University ranks #62 in the U.S. and #276 worldwide for influence in Religious Studies.
Who Are Rutgers University's Most Influential Alumni?
Rutgers University's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Criminal Justice, Nursing, and Social Work. Here are some of Rutgers University's most famous alumni:
- Milton Friedman
- An American economist, statistician, and writer.
- Philip Roth
- An American novelist .
- Judea Pearl
- A Computer scientist.
- Toni Morrison
- An American novelist, essayist and academic .
- Nel Noddings
- An American philosopher.
- Louis Freeh
- An American judge and attorney.
- John McWhorter
- An American academic and linguist.
- Selman Waksman
- An American scientist, biochemist, microbiologist who discovered Streptomycin and many antibiotics.
- Richard Florida
- An American urban studies theorist.
- Amiri Baraka
- An African-American writer .
- Rudy Rucker
- An American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author and philosopher.
- Stanley Norman Cohen
- An American geneticist.
Who Are Rutgers University's Most Influential Faculty?
Rutgers University's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Criminal Justice, Nursing, and Social Work. Here are some of Rutgers University's most famous faculty:
- Naomi Klein
- A Canadian author and activist.
- Eugene Thacker
- An American philosopher.
- Ben Zimmer
- An American linguist and lexicographer.
- Van H. Vu
- A Vietnamese mathematician.
- Jonathan Schaffer
- An American philosopher.
- Greg Moore
- An American mathematician and physicist.
- Amy Cuddy
- An American psychologist.
- Barry Komisaruk
- An American psychologist.
- Theodore Sider
- An American philosopher.
- Alan M. Leslie
- A British psychologist.
- Adam Mansbach
- An American writer.
- Sergey Aleynikov
- A Programmer.
