Vanderbilt engineering in ‘Science Watch,' ranked in top 10

In the January/February issue of Thomson Scientific's newsletter Science Watch, Vanderbilt University's School of Engineering ranked in the top 10 universities nationally. They were measured by the impact their publications have had in the field.

The basis of the rankings is what Science Watch calls "citation impact," which is defined as the average number of times that papers written by an institution's researchers are cited in papers published by other experts.

The School of Engineering ranked ninth in the engineering category, with 414 papers.
"We are pleased with this recognition," said Vanderbilt Dean of Engineering Kenneth F. Galloway. "Our faculty and students publish significant papers, and the Science Watch ranking recognizes both their productivity and the quality of their work."

The achievement is especially notable in light of the fact that the Vanderbilt School of Engineering contains less than 100 faculty members.

Vanderbilt's Divinity School dean releases new book

In his new book awaiting release in March, "In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar: A History of Money and American Protestantism," Vanderbilt's Divinity School Dean James Hudnut-Beumler surveys how American Protestants have gone about collecting and spending money from the 1790s to the present.

The book looks at the history of money and the church by means of congregants paying for choice pews, dating envelopes for easier collection, selling Christmas wrappings, cookies and other products, or simply being guilted into increasing donations.

"As someone involved in the Christian religion, some of this made me squeamish," Hudnut-Beumler said.

He said religious leaders see that great things can be done in the religious world with money, and they also fear what would happen if the people do not pay enough to keep it going.

"In Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar" also looks at how donation money is spent, with pastoral talent and facilities at the top of the list. Hudnut-Beumler hopes his book will offer perspective on the issue of money and the church.