24 URI faculty members named to Stanford Top 2% Scientists List

KINGSTON, R.I. — Two dozen University of Rhode Island faculty members representing a wide range of fields have been named among the world’s top scientists and most influential researchers by Stanford and Elsevier.

The Stanford Top 2% Scientists list is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished global rankings of academic impact. A comprehensive data analysis from the Scopusabase evaluates researchers based on multiple citation metrics that measure their influence over both their career and the most recent year, in this case, 2024.

The 6 citation indicators include:

• Total citations 
• Hirsch index (h-index) 
• Co-authorship-adjusted h-index (hm-index) 
• Citations to single-author papers 
• Citations to single, or first-author papers 
• Citations to single, first, or last-author papers 

Rankings are presented in two formats: one based on a scientist’s entire career and another reflecting the most recent year, highlighting their latest achievements. Scientists are categorized into 22 broad scientific fields and 174 subfields, with placement on the list based on a researcher’s percentile rank within their specific subfield, with only the top 2%earning recognition.

The URI faculty members recognized span nearly every college, including the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, College of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy, College of Education, and the Graduate School of Oceanography.

College of Arts and Sciences:

• Renee Hobbs, professor, communication studies 
• Michael Pürrer, computational scientist and adjunct associate professor, physics
• Yana K. Reshetnyak, professor, physics

College of Business:

• Mahtab Kouhizadeh, assistant professor, supply chain management
• Lauren Isabelle Labrecque, associate professor, marketing 
• Dara G. Schniederjans, professor, supply chain management

College of Engineering:

• Ashutosh Giri, associate professor, mechanical, industrial and systems engineering
• Michael L. Greenfield, associate professor, chemical, biomolecular and materials engineering
• Stéphan Grilli, distinguished professor and chair, ocean engineering
• Haibo He, professor, electrical, computer and biomedical engineering 
• Arun Shukla, Simon Ostrach Professor, mechanical, industrial and systems engineering
• Chengzhi Yuan, assistant professor, mechanical, industrial and systems engineering 

College of the Environment and Life Sciences:

• David Bidwell, professor, marine affairs
• Elizabeth Mendenhall, associate professor, marine affairs
• H.M. Putnam, associate professor, biological sciences
• Alan L. Rothman, research professor, cell and molecular biology

College of Health Sciences:

• Nicole Holland Weiss, professor, psychology
• Jing Jian Xiao, professor, human development and family science

College of Pharmacy:

• Peter J. Snyder, professor, biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences

College of Education:

• Julie Coiro, professor, literacy education 
• Annemarie Vaccaro, associate dean and professor, college student personnel

Graduate School of Oceanography:

• Steven L. D’Hondt, interim dean and professor, oceanography
• Katherine Kelley, professor, oceanography
• Rainer Lohmann, professor, oceanography