Chancellor Mauli Agrawal announced Thursday, Feb. 13 at the Student Union that UMKC had received Carnegie R1 status.
The Carnegie Research 1 status is a classification that indicates a very high level of research activity. Only 187 universities in the country have been given this prestigious status.
“This puts us in the top tier of research universities nationwide,” said Agrawal. “This news is the crowning glory for research and scholarship for this world class campus in this world class city.”
With an R1 designation, UMKC will become a hotspot for world class faculty serving both national and international students.
Ian Colrain, member of the Board of Trustees and owner of MRI Global, said that R1 status would “put this university where it deserves to be on the international and national stage.”
“Research universities transform communities,” said Colrain. “A research based education, in which students are taught by professors who are academically engaged in research enterprise is more than vocational training. Societies thrive when populated by such people.”
Provost Jennifer Lundgren acknowledged UMKC’s faculty and staff in their roles supporting the campus and the larger Kansas City community.
“You have poured your hearts and your minds into your research because you want to make a difference in our community and in our world,” said Lundgren. “You don’t do it for the awards or for the recognition, you do it because of curiosity, because of your thirst for knowledge, because of your creativity and your desire to make people’s lives better.”
(Brenna Oxley)
UMKC spent more than $55 million on research in fiscal year 2023, 5 million over the required amount for R1. The university also recently added on eight new Ph. D. programs and hired Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Dua Sumeet this past September.
Agrawal made achieving R1 status one of his top priorities after joining the university in 2018. Obtaining R1 status has set the university five years ahead of its originally projected goal of 2030.
“Kansas City is fast emerging as one of the nations top cities with a strong presence on the world stage,” said Agrawal. “Together there’s nothing we cannot do.”
For more information on the honor, check out UMKC’s press release.
