Research
Top 10 in the world for patents
ASU with Stanford, MIT and Harvard
— U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association
Top 1% of world’s most prestigious universities
— Times Higher Education, World University Rankings, 2020
#7 ahead of Princeton and Caltech
– National Science Foundation, 2018
Economic impact
ASU’s research-based economic impact on Arizona economy
Two-year economic impact on Arizona from ASU startups and affiliated businesses
Annual economic impact generated by international students at ASU
SOURCE: Seidman Research Institute
Academics
ASU annually graduates thousands of innovators who excel in engineering, business, education, the arts and other fields. In 2018-19, ASU awarded degrees to 19,340 undergraduate and 8,145 graduate students.
— ASU Office of Institutional Analysis, UArizona University Analytics and Institutional Research, NAU Institutional Research and Analysis
Top producer of Fulbright Scholars
With 21 students in the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, ASU ranked third among public universities in Fulbright awards in 2018-19 and 11th among all research institutions, ahead of Harvard, Columbia and Stanford. ASU’s selection rate of 39.6% was the highest among top-producing schools.
#1 most innovative in the U.S.
five consecutive years, ahead of Stanford and MIT
— U.S. News & World Report, five years, 2016-2020
#1 in the world for global management
Thunderbird global management degree
—Times Higher Education and Wall Street Journal
#2 supply chain and logistics program
for second consecutive year, ahead of Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan
—U.S. News & World Report, 2020
#9 in first-year experience
—U.S. News & World Report, 2020
#10 in U.S. for best undergraduate teaching
—U.S. News & World Report, 2020
Athletics
Best in field
- 3.24 highest cumulative GPA of all time (77% with a GPA above 3.0)
- Triathlon team national champions
- One of the top 50 greatest college football programs over 150 years of college football, according to ESPN
- Hannah Henry, triathlon individual national champion
- Zahid Valencia, NCAA champion at 174 lbs., wrestling
- Samantha Noenning, NCAA champion in shot put
- Cliff English, College Triathlon Coaches Association Coach of the Year
Matt Thurmond, Pac-12 Men’s Golf Coach of the Year - Armen Kirakossian, GCAA/TaylorMade Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award
Philanthropy
101.5K+ donors
Campaign ASU 2020 set a fundraising record for the fifth consecutive year. More than 101,500 individuals, corporations and foundations donated $413.7 million in fiscal year 2019, a 65% increase from fiscal year 2018.
7,400+ ASU students received scholarships funded by private support in 2019.
January
ASU researchers break solar-cell efficiency record at 25.4%. ASU researchers have set a new world record for solar-cell efficiency, breaking their own previous record set in 2017.
The cost of solar electricity is largely driven by the efficiency of the panels and the improvements could drive down the long-term cost of solar energy. Read more at Renewable Energy World
April
Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University reveal 6 startups in new MedTech Accelerator.
Early-stage medical device and health care technology companies join the accelerator as they tackle issues like hand injuries, remote patient monitoring and sexual health. The companies get support and expertise as they develop or optimize new
products, license intellectual property and sponsor research and clinical studies.
The TENZR wearable sensor measures movement to rehabilitate injured wrists and elbows. Its creator participated in the MedTech Accelerator. Read more at MedCity News
May
This nanoscience researcher is building DNA origami to fight cancerous tumors. In a major advancement in nanomedicine, ASU scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply.
For his work, ASU’s Hao Yan was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business of 2019. Read more at Fast Company
June
How the gut microbiome could provide a new tool to treat autism. ASU researchers Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown and James Adams demonstrated long-term beneficial effects for children through a revolutionary technique known as Microbiota Transfer Therapy.
Read more at Smithsonian Magazine
October
It’s time to end the obsession with college exclusivity. Amid the “Varsity Blues” scandal involving parents paying sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to fraudulently get their children into exclusive universities, The Washington Post invited President Michael Crow to weigh in. Read more at The Washington Post
“Though small and elite colleges have their roles, higher education is too important for individual and social progress to be held hostage to exclusivity thinking.”
— Michael M. Crow, President, ASU
November
Satellite built by students soars to space on mission to map heat in Phoenix, other cities. A spacecraft the size of a jumbo loaf of bread, launched from Wallops, Virginia, is bound for the International Space Station.
The Phoenix CubeSat is the creation of more than 100 science and engineering students, faculty and researchers at ASU. The spacecraft is designed for a two-year mission to study urban heat island effect. Read more at The Arizona Republic
December
Obsessed with efficiency: the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 in energy. Startup venture EnKoat (a shorthand for energy saving coatings) emerges from ASU engineering research, poised to make big energy and environmental conservation impact. The product could help maintain comfortable temperatures in the interiors of houses and other structures. Founders Aashay Arora, ’18, and Matthew Aguayo,’18, received their doctoral degrees in civil, environmental and sustainable engineering. Their early pitches at ASU’s Change the World Competition and ASU Venture Devils Demo Day provide early support and funding. Read more at Forbes
$8.7 million grant aims to get more Arizona kids enrolled in college. ASU and the Be A Leader Foundation have been awarded a grant to form a Network for School Improvement. The program expands their existing school partnerships to build the K–12 pipeline and increase access to higher education for Arizona students. The $8.7 million grant will be funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Read more at KJZZ
