Written by economist Howard Bodenhorn of Lafayette College, the 2001 study, Economic Scholarship at Elite Liberal Arts Colleges: Are Other Economists Paying Attention? measured the influence of 439 economists at liberal arts colleges. Bodenhorn concluded, “Although prominent economists at elite research universities produce the most influential scholarship, economists at the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges make significant contributions to the literature.” Ranking the publication record not by the number or books and articles, but by the frequency with which others cite their work, the study seeks to measure the quality and influence of the department’s scholarly output, rather than its quantity.

David A. Aschauer, the Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics at Bates, was the top-ranked full professor among liberal arts colleges. A former Federal Reserve senior economist, Aschauer has taught at Bates since 1989. His teaching and research interests center on macroeconomics, financial markets and public finance.

Aschauer’s scholarship represents only a part of his department’s publication record. Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics; Margaret Maurer-Fazio, associate professor of economics; and James Hughes, associate professor of economics, all have substantial numbers of citations.

Murray’s work concerns public economics, urban economics, econometrics and urban development. Maurer-Fazio’s research focuses on labor-market issues in China. Hughes specializes in labor economics and health care economics. “We were quite pleased with the results of the study,” said Hughes, who is also the department chair. “People have been working hard to complete and publish their work. It is nice to see that other economists have been paying attention.”

Hughes also noted that the rankings did not include the publications of the department’s newest member, Associate Professor Lynne Lewis, a well-respected and highly productive environmental economist. “If you include Lynne’s work, our ranking would be higher still,” said Hughes.

According to Bodenhorn’s findings, the 10 most productive liberal arts economics departments in the 1990s were Wellesley, Bates, Wesleyan, Colby, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Smith, Lafayette and Swarthmore.

Bodenhorn’s study cites 1999 research by James Baughman and Robert Goldman published in Change, a journal of higher education, that shows a high correlation between faculty publication records and college rankings. Prestigious baccalaureate liberal arts colleges have faculty publication records comparable to some research and doctoral granting institutions, Baughman and Goldman concluded.

The AIP conducted the survey in 1999 and the results were released in August 2001. In the period 1997-1999, among bachelor’s-only schools, Bates graduated an average of 13 physics majors a year, compared to an overall average of three, the survey found. In fact, two-thirds of the schools in the group reported between zero and three physics graduates. Bates was in the minority that produced 10 or more graduating majors each year.

John K. Pribram, professor of physics at Bates, sees a simple explanation for Bates’ strong showing in the AIP ranking. “We get good people, and we don’t push them away,” he says.

The typical Bates student, Pribram explains, is bright and strongly motivated. And Bates’ physics program is user-friendly without sacrificing intellectual rigor.

For example, Pribram says, physics majors are given their own work areas in the laboratories – laboratories that, he adds, the school has equipped and maintained generously. Moreover, close collaborative work is encouraged among students and with their teachers.

In addition, Pribram pointed to the fact that as a liberal arts college, Bates is “set up to serve people going in a lot of different directions.” So although a Bates graduate in physics may be well-prepared to pursue an advanced physics degree, he or she is also equipped for myriad other choices for a career or post-graduate study.

The AIP ranked the U.S. Air Force Academy highest among bachelor’s-only schools in the average number of physics majors, at 22 graduates. Bates was one of five institutions to graduate an average of 13 majors in the ranking. Among comparable New England institutions, Middlebury graduated 11 physics majors and Swarthmore, 10.

The AIP survey indicates that the number of bachelor’s degrees being granted in physics is at a 40-year low. In 1999, 3,646 bachelor’s degrees in physics were bestowed, a drop of more than a quarter in just eight years.

However, the proportion of women among bachelor-level physics majors in 1999 increased by 2 percent to 21 percent, an all-time high.

In addition, the institute reported that first-year graduate student enrollments in physics grew significantly – 4 percent from 1998 to 1999 – for the first time in nearly a decade. The gain was almost entirely attributable to the 6 percent growth in enrollment by foreign students, while their American counterparts increased by only 1 percent. The survey found that enrollment in introductory physics courses remained robust.

The AIP also reported that in the 1999-2000 academic year, the number of juniors declaring physics majors rose 4 percent over the previous year. In the current academic year, there are 25 declared physics majors at Bates, one sophomore, 16 juniors (including four with a double major that includes physics) and eight seniors.

Pribram noted that throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Bates averaged from 12 to 15 physics majors in every graduating class. (In 1989, the number peaked at 27.) Pribram added that typically, regardless of the total number of physics majors in a given class at Bates, five or six of those graduates continue physics studies at the graduate level.

The 2002 Princeton Review: The Best 331 Colleges offers a variety of “top 20″ lists. Its ratings for Bates include Toughest to Get Into (18th) and Great Food (12th). Under Academics it says: ‘”If you were to give us a nickel for every time a Bates College student tells us ‘this school is great; I just love it,’ or ‘I have had such a positive experience here’ or something along those lines, we could probably stop updating this book every year and retire to a nice island in the South Pacific.’”

In the U.S. News & World Report 2002 edition of “America’s Best Colleges,” Bates is ranked 22nd among 218 national liberal arts colleges. The factors the magazine considers include academic reputation, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate and alumni giving rate. The national liberal arts college category was expanded from 162 to 218 for the 2002 edition. Last year, Bates was in the top 12 percent of the category. This year, Bates is ranked in the top 10 percent in the nation.

In the Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog 2002, Bates is recognized as a top school in the category: ”Schools that offer a high level of individual attention from faculty.”

The 27th edition of The Insiders’ Guide to the Colleges leads with this undergraduate’s remark about Bates: “The professors are more available than most students’ parents.”

In the most recent edition of The Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence, Bates is lauded for its service-learning opportunities and its consistent top-10 ranking for student participation in international study among all colleges. It notes that about two-thirds of Bates graduates earn graduate degrees, and includes this summary comment from an administrator on alumni survey findings: “For a college with a long-standing reputation in the sciences, we were surprised to discover we had more graduates whose title was ‘entrepreneur,’ having founded their own businesses, than graduates who were M.D.’s.”

The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2002 notes that the Lewiston-Auburn area “provides plenty of internships and part-time jobs, a distinct vocational advantage not always found at such small colleges.” Its listing concludes with these quotes from Bates students: ” ‘Bates has a strong sense of community, and students here look out for one another socially and academically,’ says a political science major. One freshman is sold. ‘It’s a fun place,’ the student says. ‘People just seem happy here.’”