About UMKC

Recognition and Rankings

• Princeton Review named UMKC one of the Top 75 "Best Value" public universities in the U.S. Read more here...

• UMKC was ranked number one in the world for innovation management research by the Journal of Product Innovation Management

• Military Times EDGE magazine ranked UMKC as one of the 101 best colleges for veterans.

• UMKC was one of three colleges in the U.S to be presented the President’s Award for Community Service in Higher Education

• The Sierra Club named UMKC one of the country’s top 100 Green Campuses

• UMKC placed 5th on Newsweek’s Gay-Friendly College rankings

• The Henry W. Bloch School of Management’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is one of only 11 universities ranked in the top 25 by Princeton Review for both undergraduate (ranking: 14) and graduate (ranking: 21) programs.

Acclaimed Faculty

Guggenheim Fellowships were awarded to two members of the College of Arts and Sciences faculty in 2011 – Assistant Professor Christie Hodgen of the English Department and Philosophy Department Chair Clancy Martin.

Conservatory of Music and Dance research professor Zhou Long was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for music for his opera, Madame White Snake.

Other notable past and present faculty include former Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Mark Funkhouser, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes, jazz saxophonist Bobby Watson and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Distinguished Alumni

Distinguished alumni include Florida Governor Rick Scott, Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist Mike Keefe, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Charles Evans Whittaker, actress Edie McClurg, Executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association and National Hockey League Players Association Donald Fehr, and FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley.

Award-winning Students

The accomplishments of UMKC students range from dozens of local and regional honors to Johnson & Johnson, Fulbright and National Science Foundation honorees, and a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

Research

UMKC is committed to research that changes the world, from the discoveries of the School of Biological Sciences to the educational innovations being developed at the Institute for Urban Education to the advances taking place at Hospital Hill.

Sustainability

UMKC’s sustainability leadership has resulted in local and national recognition, including being named Mid-America Regional Council Sustainable Success Stories Honoree and Solid Waste Management District Outstanding Program Award, Bicycle Friendly University Honorable Mention, and Sierra Club Top 100 Cool School.

Community

UMKC garnered the top honor from the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2010-11—the direct result of programs such as Tulips on Troost, the Conservatory’s Community Music and Dance Academy, and the School of Pharmacy’s award-winning outreach programs.