| | Clemson University Biotechnology Facility |
In 2001, Clemson University adopted a set of 10-year goals aimed at making the school one of the nation’s top 20 public universities by increasing quality in teaching, research, public service and student achievement. A cornerstone of Clemson’s quest for excellence has been the development of an academic strategic plan to:
(1) attract and retain top faculty,
(2) manage enrollment to ensure a top-tier classroom experience,
(3) revamp the curriculum to increase rigor and relevance, and
(4) identify eight emphasis areas in which Clemson will build nationally competitive programs. Emphasis areas were selected on the basis of existing faculty strength, opportunities for external funding, and alignment with South Carolina’s economic development needs. They include: Advanced Materials, Automotive and Transportation Technology, Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, Family and Community Living, General Education, Information and Communications Technology, Leadership and Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Environment. Clemson’s reputation as a national university is growing. In 2001, Clemson was named TIME Magazine’s Public College of the Year for its innovative communications-across-the-curriculum program. In its 2009 annual college guide, U.S. News and World Report ranked Clemson 22nd among national public universities, while Kiplinger’s Magazine ranks Clemson 24th among the nation’s best values in higher education. The Princeton Review and Forbes.com named Clemson one of the top 25 “most-wired” college campuses, and in 2007, readers of The Scientist ranked Clemson the best place to work in academia among academic institutions. | Clemson University Tissue Engineering Laboratory |
Clemson has seen rapid progress in research, almost doubling external support in just three years. Clemson’s Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films was designated a national engineering research center by the National Science Foundation, one of only 23 in the nation. In recent years, Clemson research has generated 10 spin-off companies and created more than 100 jobs. The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, a 250-acre research campus devoted to automotive and motorsports research in Greenville, has generated more than $200 million in public and private support. The university also is investing more than $80 million over the next five years in research and education to support an advanced materials economic cluster, emphasizing the emerging photonics industry, and recently announced plans to develop a campus in Charleston devoted to restoration research and education. Through partnerships with the Greenville Hospital System and the Greenwood Genetic Center, Clemson is helping support the state’s biomedical industries and improving quality of life. Clemson is attracting outstanding new faculty, many of whom have recently received such prestigious awards as National Science Foundation Career Awards, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, and recognition from the National Endowment for the Humanities. A bioengineering faculty member was recently named one of the top 100 young innovators by Technology Review, a publication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.The student body is equally impressive. This year’s freshman class had an average SAT score over 1225 and included more than a third of the state’s Palmetto Fellows – a 24 percent increase over the previous year. Clemson was founded in 1889, a legacy of Thomas Green Clemson, who willed his Fort Hill plantation home, its surrounding farmlands and forest, and other property to the state of South Carolina to establish a technical and scientific institution for South Carolina. Clemson opened its doors to 446 students as a military college in 1893. Today, Clemson is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, a category comprising less than 4 percent of all universities in America. More than 16,000 students select from undergraduate and graduate degree programs in more than 80 fields of study offered by five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and Public Affairs; Engineering and Science; and Health, Education and Human Development. As the state's land-grant university, Clemson reaches out to citizens, communities and businesses all over South Carolina. Clients ranging from farmers and schoolteachers to at-risk youth and community leaders benefit from Clemson's diverse, local public service activities. The Public Service Activities division includes the county-based Cooperative Extension Service, five off-campus Research and Education Centers, and critical regulatory responsibilities for plant and animal health.
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