Top headlines of the week, June 28, 2025
Here are some stories you may have missed on BeaconJournal.com and in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.
The University of Akron once again has the top ranked polymer science and plastics engineering program in the world, according to EduRank.org.
UA, which was last ranked No. 1 in 2022, fell behind Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo in recent years. While not ranked No. 1 in the global rankings, UA was still the top American program during that period.
This year, UA’s program comes in first ahead of schools including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, the University of Manchester (England) and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). More than 1,000 polymer science and plastics engineering programs were ranked, UA said in a press release.
“This ranking reaffirms the global reputation of our faculty and programs,” Craig Menzemer, dean of the College of Engineering and Polymer Science, said in the release. “Our sustained leadership in polymer science is built on decades of innovation, excellence in research, and close ties with industry.”
UA’s School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering (SPSPE) offers master’s and doctoral programs with faculty that have invented more than 300 issued and pending patents, UA said.
“We’re proud to be the destination for students and partners around the world who want to advance the field,” Menzemer said.
UA recognized in other areas
The chemical engineering program at UA was also highly ranked, coming in third overall in Ohio, second among the state’s public universities and No. 49 in the country.
EduRank.org ranks UA No. 8 out of 90 Ohio public and private universities and No. 193 in the U.S. in its overall rankings, which are based on research output, non-academic reputation and the impact of notable alumni.
The school also scored in the top 50% across 177 other research topics.
About EduRank.org
EduRank.org is an independent organization that ranks over 14,000 universities across more than 200 research topics utilizing the world’s largest scholarly papers database, UA said.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter @athompsonABJ
