Two OU Faculty Top ScholarGPS Rankings

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NORMAN, OKLA. – Two faculty members are currently the only University of Oklahoma researchers to be globally ranked among the top 10 Social Sciences scholars based on data from the past five years gathered by ScholarGPS. Both faculty in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. Meredith Worthen, a professor at the Department of Sociology, joins professor Samuel Perry, who was last year ranked the #1 sociologist by ScholarGPS.

“We are thrilled to have two faculty from the college ranked so highly in the ScholarGPS rankings,” said Randy Hewes, OU Graduate College Dean and the Interim Dean of the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. “This is a testament to the quality and impact of the research, scholarship, and creative work of our faculty. These rankings also highlight the rich opportunities provided at OU for students to learn from and work with true leaders in their fields.”

Worthen has 67 publications and more than 1,500 citations, earning her a top 10 ranking among researchers on human sexuality (7^th) and the top 20 among social policy (13^th). Overall, Worthen is among the top 0.5% of scholars in her field.

“To me, this means that my work and research are now globally recognized as highly impactful,” said Worthen. “As an activist-scholar, being globally ranked as seventh in human sexuality and thirteenth in social policy means that my work is making a difference both in academia and in public policy in ways that improve the lives of LGBTQ people.

“I believe this is a powerful signal that the Department of Sociology at OU is a growing powerhouse of academic strength,” she added. “We join a long history of lifetime top scholars in the social sciences at OU. With the University of Oklahoma’s overall global Institutional Rankings over the past five years including sociology (#33), human sexuality (#14), and social policy (#15), we are the home of cutting-edge research and groundbreaking studies of human behavior.”

Worthen's research focuses on understanding and confronting pervasive negative prejudices in society through three main areas of research: sexualities, stigma, and queer/feminist criminology. She has been with the university since 2009 after earning her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas.

Perry is the highest-ranked sociologist in the world for the second consecutive year, according to the metric. He has authored 129 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 4,700 citations.

“It is a point of pride,” Perry said in a 2023 OU News interview. “To know my work has been found useful and productive has been nice. This (recognition) encourages me to keep going, to ask more questions, compile more data. I hope it also reflects well on the University of Oklahoma. We want people to know there’s important work happening here.”

Perry joined OU in 2015 when he was hired as a professor of sociology of religion. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago in 2015.

ScholarGPS weighs standard metrics of research productivity and impact, among other factors, to find the top scholars in their fields who are pushing their discipline to new heights. ScholarGPS “includes all relevant details of over 150 million archival publications including books, book chapters, journals, conference papers and patents with over two billion citations and references.” The ranking’s data was compiled over the last five years for Worthen and Perry's recognition.