The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) at Columbia University is excited to announce that it has been recognized as one of the top ten Regional Studies Centers and as one of the top 40 University-Affiliated Think Tanks in the University of Pennsylvania Lauder Institute’s 2016 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report.
WEAI placed eighth in the “Best Regional Studies Center (University-Affiliated)” category in the report, which has been published annually since 2008 by the Lauder Institute’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program. Additionally, WEAI, along with Columbia University’s Earth Institute, was ranked among the top 40 “Best University Affiliated Think Tanks” in the world.
“The ranking is a real honor, and recognizes the extraordinary and ongoing achievements of our faculty, research scholars, and staff,” said Eugenia Lean, Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and Associate Professor of Chinese History at Columbia University. “The honor encourages us to continue our commitment to generating knowledge about Asia, even as we think critically about the role of the regional institute—or ‘think tank’—in the twenty-first century. I have every expectation that we will continue to contribute in exemplary fashion to Columbia and beyond.”
According to the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP), its rankings of global institutions are “the result of an international survey of over 7,500 scholars, public and private donors, policy makers, and journalists who helped rank more than 6,600 think tanks using a set of 28 criteria developed by the TTCSP.” James G. McGann, the author of the report and the director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, explains that the index’s purpose is “to increase the profile and performance of think tanks and raise the public awareness of the important role think tanks play in governments and civil societies around the globe.”
Please click here to read the 2016 report.
