My colleague, Robert Citino, the distinguished scholar of military history, has been determined by the “RateMyProfessor.com” online rating company, to have the highest rating of any professor at American universities. The data are of course entirely self-reported, so there’s nothing scientific about “RateMyProfessor” ratings overall. But the company just this week announced that it had had statisticians at the University of Maryland crunch the data for all its ratings for professors who’ve been rated by 30 or more students, to find out the most highly rated individual professors, and the highest rated schools in the country. Brigham Young University in Utah is deemed the school with the highest overall rating. Seems to me that these determinations do have a scientific validity within the universe of professors rated at RateMyProfessor.
This news was reported in USA TODAY and other media this week. Rob Citino is truly an outstanding teacher – and a great scholar. His newest book, his eighth, has just appeared: DEATH OF THE WEHRMACHT: THE GERMAN CAMPAIGNS OF 1942 (University of Kansas Press). And he knows history in depth and with great breadth, both within and outside of his fields of military and German history. The current issue of the AMERICAN HISOTRICAL REVIEW cotains an essay of Citino’s reviewing the current state of studies in military history.
RateMyProfessor is owned by the MTV company. And you don’t have to rely on RateMyProfessor to ascertain Professor Citino’s qualities as an instructor – he is terrific, a gem of the Eastern Michigan community.
Rob tells me that he is “bemused” by the RateMyProfessor rating. His students and colleagues already knew that he’s the very best. Congratulations to Rob Citino, a great teacher and scholar!
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Below I’ve copied the list of other top rated professors:
The full 2007 RateMyProfessors.com Rankings are available at RateMyProfessors.com. The top ten entries from selected lists include:
Highest Rated Professors – The professors who got the highest marks from their students.
1.Robert Citino, Eastern Michigan University
2.Devon Hanahan, College of Charleston
3.Donna Christy, Rhode Island College
4.Chris Legrow, Marshall University
5.Eric Wildman, University of Houston
6.Martin Jones, College of Charleston
7.Melissa Bush, University of North Florida
8.Christine Lottes, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
9.Kateryna Schray, Marshall University
10.Jenny Lee, Pratt Institute
First off, this is great for Rob Citino, if only because it’s giving him national exposure as a great teacher and scholar. I completely agree with Mark about this.
But frankly, I think RateMyProfessors.com is an enormous crock. I was going to write more than that, but I’ll just leave it at that….
I had Professor Citino for a history class and he has been one of the best teachers I have had for history. He made it interesting and engaged his students and made me a bigger fan of a subject that I already love. He deserves the distinction.
As for ratemyprofessors.com, it is a valuable tool for students who are wary of getting bad professors at a time when tuition is just too high to gamble on a professor who they cannot pass with. I would advice professors to take into consideration some of the comments on that web site because I have found that site to be correct well over half the time.
As a history graduate student here at EMU, I am totally stoked that the nation finally gets to hear about one of EMU’s greatest treasures!!
This latest honor bestowed upon Prof. Citino speaks to what an inspirational professor he happens to be! There are over 400,000 tenure and tenure tracked professors in the US and for Prof. Citino to be ranked #1 demonstrates how his students feel about him. He not only teaches, he inspires. The passion and thirst Prof. Citino has for knowledge, not just history, happens to be contagious. He is a very humble person and does not boost of his many accomplishments.
These things speak to the mind of Prof. Citino, but I just wish to briefly speak to his character. Prof. Citino has been known on many occasions to allow students to “drop in” on his courses because he appreciates the high cost of tuition and truly believes if you have an interest in learning, he has the passion and drive to teach you.
He sincerely walks the walk of what it means to be the #1 professor in the nation. We are very privileged to have him here at EMU. To have him as a professor has just been amazing
It should also be mentioned that Professor Citino is on the list of STANDOUTS for “RateYourProfessor”!! There is no number ranking provided, so, he could very well have been #1 here too
Standout Professors: This list was developed by examining the comments posted to the profiles of the Top 50 Highest Rated Professors and feedback from selected college students nationwide.
*Eli Amdur
Farleigh Dickinson University – Metropolitan
*Jenny Lee
Pratt Institute
* Kateryna Schray
Marshall University
* Ross Bressler
Berklee College of Music
* Andrew Beran
Marymount Manhattan College
* Chris Legrow
Marshall University
* Devon Hanahan
College of Charleston
* Kimberly Duvall-Early
James Madison University
* Robert Citino
Eastern Michigan University
* Peter Costello
Providence College
Congratulations to Prof. Citino!
Grats to Dr Citino!
Easily the best prof I had at EMU.
He has spoken to the Ypsilanti Rotary Club a few times and we really enjoyed it.
Congrats!
Not very long ago, one of my graduate students said that the undergraduate class he was taking from Professor Citino was the best university class he had taken anywhere, in any discipline, bar none. Congratulations to Professor Citino and to EMU! A high water mark we all aspire to.
Hmm.. I haven’t heard of him prior to this, I’ll have to see if I can take a class by him!
Mike, you’d have a great time and learn a lot if you take one of Citino’s classes. I speak from first hand knowledge,
as I did take a course of his two years ago, and it was terrific. I could also tell that the other students – the regular ones – in the course were having a great time too. RateMyProfessor’s top in the nation rating is a cool thing, but Citino proves his excellence as a teacher here at EMU every MWF, in PrayHarrold’s hallowed halls!
At some of the elite universities, and some not so elite ones too on the East Coast, there is a tradition of students applauding the professor on the last day of the semester, when and only when they believe the class was outstanding and the professor top notch. It’s not pro forma, it’s heatfelt and meaningful. I know that if Rob Citino was at such a place like Columbia, he would get such applause each semester from his students.
HEY!! Prof Higbee!! I like to think Citino proves his excellence on Thursday nights in his graduate class!!
And Graduate students do applaud him, but we do it EVERY class period!! 
I think you could ask him if he feels appreciated by his students and I will go out on a limb a state Prof. Citino knows he is appreciated and held in the highest esteem by his students, including the undergraduates. And PLEASE do not encourage Prof Citino to contemplate other Universities!!
Hey, Donna, I know Citino’s students appreciate his efforts and I know that Citino understands that his students love his teaching. I didn’t say otherwise, did I? I certainly did not mean to give anyone the impression that Citino’s merits are not noticed by his students — indeed, I started this post to show exactly the opposite, right?
However, I’ve not observed classes at EMU in which, on the last day of the term, students stand up and applaud the insructor who’s really done an outstanding job. And it’s ok that EMU and most universities don’t have that tradition — but it is a meaningful traditon and I just mentioned it here because I am sure that at those schools he’d be one of the professors who get that end of semester tribute from their students.
I am in full agreement with the thousands of EMU students who have been so impressed with Citino’s great teaching. Sorry you