The UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry ranks among the world’s research leaders, according to the 2025 ScholarGPS global rankings, with UCLA placing No. 4 worldwide overall for lifetime scholarly impact across all fields and No. 6 globally in chemistry. These rankings are based on analyses of tens of millions of scholars, publications, and citations using advanced AI-driven data mining and machine learning.
The rankings also highlight the depth of UCLA’s chemistry and biochemistry faculty. In lifetime scholarly impact rankings for chemistry, six faculty members rank within the top 1,000 worldwide: Ken Houk (No. 39), David Eisenberg (No. 187), Richard B. Kaner (No. 233), Donald J. Cram (No. 515), Xiangfeng Duan (No. 565), and Jeffrey I. Zink (No. 667). Notably, Houk is also ranked No. 1 globally in the specialty of Diels–Alder reactions. In the most recent five-year rankings, UCLA faculty continue to place prominently, with Houk and Duan again among the world’s top-ranked chemists.
ScholarGPS is a California-based company that provides data-driven rankings of scholars, institutions, and countries worldwide. Additional information about its rankings and methodologies is available at ScholarGPS.com.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
