A Ranking Milestone for All of Us to Celebrate
Dear LAU Community,
I am thrilled to announce that LAU tied for the No. 1 position in Lebanon in the newly released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024, where it was placed in the 501-600 bracket (for the second year in a row).
While LAU shared first place nationally, it distinguished itself with an outstanding Research Quality indicator score of 76.4 percent, the highest in Lebanon.
This milestone is particularly significant as THE is recognized as one of the most prestigious ranking agencies globally. Its World University Rankings 2024 included 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions.
LAU’s stellar performance reflects the considerable efforts, investments, and initiatives made to improve its rankings with support from our Board of Trustees, our faculty, our staff, our friends and supporters of LAU’s mission, and our community at large.
Among these efforts were a successful faculty retention plan with a minimal attrition rate; the integration of academic research into every facet of our Strategic Plan IV; an almost threefold increase in research output and a remarkable 150 percent surge in publications in Tier 1 journals; a sevenfold increase in scholarly output since 2017; a sixfold increase in the number of papers with international collaborations and fivefold increase in the SDGs-related papers; and one of the highest field-weighted research citations impacts worldwide.
I commend the faculty body, Provost George E. Nasr, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Samer Saab for their outstanding contributions to these efforts, as well as Assistant to the President for Institutional Research & Assessment Diane Nauffal and DIRA for their hard work.
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the Board of Trustees, whose support in faculty retention and research made this achievement possible. We are very proud to have attained this position in the ranking, however every effort should be made to ensure the sustainability of the improvements in the coming years.
Sincerely,
Michel E. Mawad, M.D.
President