LETTERS
Ubiquitous U.?

---

I have been following the discussion ("Letters," December/01 and February/02) about the importance of rankings of universities. I have no solution except to remark that if rankings lead to snobbery they are bad, while if they lead people to choose the right university they are good.

Regardless of where Chicago is ranked, it is a fine institution, but that does not mean it is appropriate for every serious student. Second, one may be influenced by Chicago, whether or not he is a student there. At the University of Missouri, where I was an undergraduate, I greatly revered Prof. Newell S. Gingrich, PhD'30 (physics), who had been a student of Prof. A. H. Compton. Professor Gingrich motivated me to go to Chicago for graduate work. By the second year, I realized I did not belong and I applied to the University of Kansas, near my home. Prof. J. D. Stranathan, PhD'28, the head of the physics department at Kansas, offered an assistantship. While I was completing my Ph.D., my advisor was not often available-however, Robert J. Friauf, SM'51, PhD'53, was also on my committee, and he helped advise me so that I completed the degree. Later, as a professor, I found myself at the Florida Institute of Technology where Jay Burns III, SM'51, PhD'60, was head. He was extremely helpful as my supervisor and also later during the 12 years that I headed the department. I left Chicago, but to my surprise, its influence never left me.

James D. Patterson, SM'57
Rapid City, South Dakota

---