Twenty-eight faculty members of Brown University’s School of Engineering have been recognized among the world’s top two percent of scientists in 2025, according to Stanford/Elsevier’s Top 2% Scientist Rankings. The annual list highlights the most widely cited researchers across a broad range of scientific fields, and is intended to provide a standardized way to recognize scientists who have made a significant impact on their respective fields.
Inclusion in “Top 2%” draws from a variety of citation metrics, such as the h-index, co-authorship, and adjusted citation counts, to ensure fair and balanced representation of researchers. The list is updated annually, with career-long data and single-year impacts for transparency and current relevance. Scientists are classified into 22 broad fields and 174 sub-fields. More than six million researchers globally are evaluated.
Brown Engineering professors listed in the top two percent for 2025 include Yuri Bazilevs, Miguel Bessa, Eric Chason, Trey Crisco, Bill Curtin, Tejal Desai, Frank Doyle, Pedro Felzenszwalb, Franklin Goldsmith, Pradeep Guduru, Leigh Hochberg, Robert Hurt, Gregory Jay, Angus Kingon, Larry Larson, Feng Lin, Daniel Mittleman, Arto Nurmikko, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, Nitin Padture, Andrew Peterson, Yue Qi, Sherief Reda, Brian Sheldon, Gabriel Taubin, Axel van de Walle, Roberto Zenit, and Rashid Zia.
Engineering-affiliated professors and emeriti faculty also listed included Clyde Briant, Vicki Colvin, Eric Darling, John Donoghue, Huajian Gao, George Karniadakis, Sharvan Kumar, Ted Morse, Alan Needleman, and Shouheng Sun.
Among their sub-fields of expertise, Karniadakis was again the world’s top researcher in Applied Mathematics, while Bazilevs was 81st in the same category. Gao, who is now at Tsinghua University in Beijing, was 14th in the sub-field of Mechanical Engineering and Transports, and Needleman was 54th. Padture is listed 18th, Curtin 79th, and van de Walle 184th in Materials, Peterson is 26th in Physical Chemistry, and Mittleman is 42nd in Optics.
“This recognition for our faculty is a testament to the supportive ecosystem that exists at Brown - one that fosters high-level collaboration and provides the resources necessary for groundbreaking results,” said Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering Tejal Desai. “Our faculty are engaged in critical areas of research including advanced materials for infrastructure, sustainable energy technologies, and biomedical devices to improve human health.”