U.S. News and World Report has named the Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education and Human Development the nation’s top graduate school of education for the fifth consecutive year.

The magazine’s Best Graduate Schools 2014 guidebook will be available April 9. Peabody bested programs at Johns Hopkins University (No. 2) and Harvard (No. 3) for the top spot, in addition to having its programs in administration/supervision and special education named No. 1 by education school deans.

“These are challenging times for educators, and our faculty works hard to contribute knowledge through research and to prepare leaders who can be a force for positive change,” Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Peabody, said in a release.

Relatedly, the VU Law School improved one position to tie with the University of Texas at No. 15 in the law school category, while the VU School of Medicine kept its No. 14 spot on the list of best research medical schools. Harvard was No. 1.

“During a period in our nation where there are serious and competing pressures facing medical education, the outstanding commitment demonstrated by our faculty and leadership to train the nation’s next generation of physician-leaders is evident in this year’s ranking,” said Jeff Balser, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

For the first time since 2009, U.S. News and World Report ranked the social sciences and humanities doctorate programs. The Vanderbilt Ph.D. program in history is tied for the No. 24 ranking, English is tied for No. 26, psychology is tied for No. 30, sociology is tied for No. 31 and political science and economics are both tied for No. 36 in their categories. In English specialties, Vanderbilt is tied for fourth place in the African American literature category.

“It’s gratifying to see the remarkable strides we’re making in the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt recognized by the U.S. News and World Report poll,” said Dean Carolyn Dever. “The social sciences and humanities remain a core priority at Vanderbilt.”

The VU School of Engineering was ranked No. 36, and the Owen Graduate School of Management was tied for No. 30 in the business school rankings.

Carolyn Dever has accepted a second five-year term as dean of the Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science, according to VU Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Richard McCarty.

“From the extensive review of her first four-plus years as dean, it is obvious that Carolyn has succeeded in advancing the College of Arts and Science beyond our highest of expectations,” McCarty said in a release. “She has engaged effectively with our faculty, students, staff, alumni and parents, and she presents a compelling vision for the future of the liberal arts at Vanderbilt.”

Read more at Vanderbilt.edu.
 

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has named Vanderbilt University humanities professors Jonathan Lamb and William Luis 2012 fellows.

Both men work within VU’s College of Arts and Science.

Lamb, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, and Luis, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Spanish, are among 181 recipients in the United States and Canada selected for the highly coveted fellowship. Artists, scholars and scientists in all fields are eligible to apply for the fellowships, which are awarded on the basis of impressive achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.

“The Guggenheim represents the pinnacle of academic achievement, and we are honored by this tribute to Professors Lamb and Luis, Carolyn Dever, dean of the VU College of Arts and Science and professor of English, said in a release. “Both scholars bring innovation to questions of major significance within their fields.”

Lamb, who teaches and writes about 18th century literature and culture, is working on a book about the effects of the disease scurvy on the nerves and temperaments of its victims.

Luis, who is editor of the Afro-Hispanic Review, will use his Guggenheim funding to write the definitive book on the life and works of the Cuban slave poet Juan Francisco Manzano.

Previous Vanderbilt recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships include the following: William Caferro, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History; Michael Bess, the Chancellor’s Professor of History; Barbara Hahn, Distinguished Professor of German; Ruth Rogaski, associate professor of history; Jay Clayton, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English; Paul Freedman, former professor of history; John Wikswo, the Gordon A. Cain University Professor; Mark Jarman, Centennial Professor of English; and Matthew Ramsey, associate professor of history.