Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, commonly known as RPI, is a private research university in Troy, New York, United States, and the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world.伦斯勒理工学院（Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute，简称 RPI）是美国纽约州特洛伊的一所私立研究型大学，也是英语世界历史最悠久的理工科大学。

It was established in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer and Amos Eaton for the application of science to the common purposes of life, and its campus sits on a hillside overlooking the city of Troy and the Hudson River.该校由 Stephen Van Rensselaer 与 Amos Eaton 于 1824 年创办，宗旨是「将科学应用于日常生活」；其校园坐落于俯瞰特洛伊市与哈得孙河的山坡之上。

In the QS World University Rankings 2027 RPI was placed 581st, and in the fall of 2024 it enrolled 6,967 students, of whom 5,665 were full-time undergraduates and 1,064 full-time graduate students.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，伦斯勒理工学院位列第 581 位；2024 年秋季其在校学生为 6,967 人，其中全日制本科生 5,665 人、全日制研究生 1,064 人。

History

• Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on 5 November 1824 with a letter to the Reverend Dr. Samuel Blatchford, asking him to serve as the first president and appointing Amos Eaton as the first senior professor.Stephen Van Rensselaer 于 1824 年 11 月 5 日致信 Samuel Blatchford 牧师，创办伦斯勒学校，请其出任首任校长，并任命 Amos Eaton 为首位高级教授。
• The school opened on Monday 5 January 1825 at the Old Bank Place near the north end of Troy, charging tuition of about $40 per semester and attracting students from as far as Ohio and Pennsylvania.该校于 1825 年 1 月 5 日（星期一）在特洛伊北端的旧银行广场开学，学费约为每学期 40 美元，吸引了远至俄亥俄与宾夕法尼亚的学生。
• Fourteen months of successful trial led to its incorporation by the state of New York on 21 March 1826, and in its early years the school resembled a graduate school more than a college.经过十四个月的成功运作，该校于 1826 年 3 月 21 日获纽约州特许注册；早年它更像一所研究生院而非本科院校。
• Under Eaton the school, renamed the Rensselaer Institute in 1832, became a centre for technological research, and the first civil engineering degrees in the United States were granted there in 1835.在 Eaton 主持下，该校于 1832 年更名为伦斯勒学院（Rensselaer Institute），成为技术研究中心，并于 1835 年颁授美国首批土木工程学位。
• In 1847 the alumnus Benjamin Franklin Greene became senior professor and, after studying European technical schools, reorganised the institution in 1850 into a three-year polytechnic institute with six technical schools.1847 年，校友 Benjamin Franklin Greene 出任高级教授，在考察欧洲技术院校后，于 1850 年将学校改组为设六个技术学院的三年制理工学院。
• In 1861 the name was changed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Great Fire of 10 May 1862 destroyed the building that housed the institute.1861 年，该校更名为伦斯勒理工学院；1862 年 5 月 10 日的「大火」烧毁了当时容纳该校的建筑。
• Columbia University proposed that Rensselaer leave Troy and merge with its New York City campus, but the proposal was rejected and the institute moved instead to the hillside overlooking the city.哥伦比亚大学曾提议让伦斯勒离开特洛伊、并入其纽约市校区，但该提议被否决，学校转而迁往俯瞰城市的小山。
• One of the first Latino student organisations in the United States, the Club Hispano Americano, was founded at RPI in 1890 by its Latin American students.1890 年，美国最早的拉丁裔学生组织之一「西语美洲俱乐部」（Club Hispano Americano）由该校的拉丁美洲学生创立。
• In 1904 the institute was devastated by fire for the fourth time, when its main building was completely destroyed.1904 年，该校第四次遭遇火灾，主楼被彻底烧毁。
• Under President Palmer Ricketts, who took office in 1901, the curriculum was liberalised and the number of degrees offered rose from two to twelve, including electrical, mechanical and civil engineering as well as biology, chemistry and physics.1901 年就任校长的 Palmer Ricketts 放宽了课程设置，把所授学位由两个增至十二个，涵盖电气、机械、土木工程以及生物、化学与物理。
• During Ricketts's tenure enrollment grew from about 200 in 1900 to a high of 1,700 in 1930, and much of the campus gained its distinctive "Green Rooftop" Colonial Revival buildings.在 Ricketts 任内，学生人数从 1900 年的约 200 人增至 1930 年的 1,700 人高峰，校园也由此形成独特的「绿屋顶」殖民地复兴式建筑群。
• Another period of expansion followed the Second World War, when returning veterans used their GI Bill benefits, and the Freshman Hill residence complex opened in 1953 followed by the Commons Dining Hall in 1954.二战后，返乡老兵借助《退伍军人法案》资助入学，学校再度扩张：新生山（Freshman Hill）宿舍区于 1953 年启用，公共食堂（Commons Dining Hall）于 1954 年建成。
• In 1961 the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator, then the most powerful in the world, and the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center were constructed, and the current Student Union building opened in 1967.1961 年，当时全球最强的盖特纳直线加速器（Gaerttner Linear Accelerator）与琼森-罗兰科学中心落成；现行学生会大楼于 1967 年启用。
• In 1966 Herta Regina Leng was appointed RPI's first female full professor, and she is honoured by an annual lecture series.1966 年，Herta Regina Leng 获聘为该校首位女性正教授，学校至今以其名设立年度讲座系列。
• The H-building, previously used for storage, became the home of the RPI incubator programme, the first such programme sponsored solely by a university.曾用作仓库的 H 楼后来成为该校创业孵化器项目所在地，这是首个完全由大学资助的此类项目。
• RPI invested 3 million in infrastructure on about 1,200 acres of land south of campus to create the Rensselaer Technology Park, and in 1982 the New York State legislature granted it30 million to build the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation.该校在校园以南约 1,200 英亩的土地上投入 300 万美元基础设施，创建伦斯勒科技园；1982 年纽约州议会又拨款 3,000 万美元，用于建造乔治·洛工业创新中心。
• In 1999 RPI was one of the first universities to implement a mandatory laptop computer programme, and Shirley Ann Jackson, a former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arrived as its eighteenth president.1999 年，该校成为最早推行学生必须配备笔记本电脑的大学之一；曾任美国核管理委员会主席的 Shirley Ann Jackson 出任该校第 18 任校长。
• Jackson instituted the Rensselaer Plan, but her leadership style drew faculty opposition, and on 26 April 2006 the faculty failed by a vote of 149 to 155 to pass a no-confidence motion against her.Jackson 推行「伦斯勒计划」，但其领导作风引发教师反对；2006 年 4 月 26 日，教师以 149 票对 155 票否决了对其的不信任动议。
• On 3 October 2008 RPI celebrated the opening of the 220 million Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, whose cost had ballooned from an original budget of50 million.2008 年 10 月 3 日，该校庆祝造价 2.2 亿美元的实验媒体与表演艺术中心（EMPAC）落成，其成本远超最初 5,000 万美元的预算。
• The year 2008 also saw the elimination of 98 staff positions during the national economic downturn, but campus construction continued with the $92 million East Campus Athletic Village, completed in 2009.2008 年经济下行期间该校裁减了 98 个职位，但校园建设仍在继续：造价 9,200 万美元的东校区体育村于 2009 年建成。
• The Howard N. Blitman Residence Commons, converted from a former motel at the base of the hill, was dedicated on 15 May 2009 and houses about 300 students in 148 rooms.由山脚原汽车旅馆改建的 Howard N. Blitman 宿舍于 2009 年 5 月 15 日启用，设有 148 个房间、可容纳约 300 名学生。
• In 2022 Rensselaer hosted an incoming class of 2,110 students, the largest in its history, and in July of that year Martin A. Schmidt, formerly provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became its nineteenth president.2022 年，该校迎来史上最大规模的新生班共 2,110 人；同年 7 月，曾任麻省理工学院教务长的 Martin A. Schmidt 出任第 19 任校长。
• In 2024 Rensselaer, in partnership with IBM, unveiled a new quantum computer on campus to further quantum computing research for the university and the New York State region.2024 年，该校与 IBM 合作在校内推出新的量子计算机，以推动学校及纽约州地区的量子计算研究。

Academics

• RPI has five schools, namely the School of Architecture, the School of Engineering, the School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, the Lally School of Management and Technology, and the School of Science.伦斯勒理工学院设有五个学院，即建筑学院、工程学院、人文艺术与社会科学学院、拉里管理与技术学院以及科学学院。
• The School of Engineering is the largest by enrollment, followed by the School of Science, and the institute contains 37 departments in total.按在校人数，工程学院规模最大，其次为科学学院；全校共设 37 个系。
• Altogether the university offers over 145 programmes in nearly 60 fields leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, along with around a dozen interdisciplinary programmes.该校在近 60 个领域开设 145 个以上本、硕、博学位项目，另有约十几个跨学科项目。
• Special interdisciplinary programmes include Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences, Design Innovation and Society, Minds and Machines, and Product Design and Innovation.其特色跨学科项目包括游戏与仿真艺术与科学、设计创新与社会、心智与机器，以及产品设计与创新。
• As a technology-oriented university, RPI provides hard-wired and wireless internet access in all buildings and residence hall rooms, and all incoming freshmen have been required to have a laptop since 1999.作为一所以技术为导向的大学，该校所有建筑与宿舍房间均提供有线与无线网络；自 1999 年起，所有新生都须配备笔记本电脑。
• It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and operates six institute research priorities, including biotechnology, energy and the environment, and nanotechnology.该校被卡内基分类列为「R1：最高研究活跃度博士型大学」，并设六个校级研究优先方向，包括生物技术、能源与环境以及纳米技术。
• The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, opened in 2004, is a 218,000 square-foot facility that has produced over 2,000 peer-reviewed publications with more than 30,000 citations.2004 年启用的生物技术与跨学科研究中心面积达 21.8 万平方英尺，已产出 2,000 多篇同行评审论文、被引超过 3 万次。
• The center employs over 200 scientists and engineers and trains more than 1,000 undergraduates and 200 doctoral students.该中心雇用 200 多名科学家与工程师，培养逾 1,000 名本科生与 200 名博士生。
• Rensselaer hosts the Tetherless World Constellation, whose faculty experts include James Hendler, Deborah McGuinness and Peter Fox, focusing on the future web and semantic foundations.该校设有「无束缚世界星座」（Tetherless World Constellation），其专家包括 James Hendler、Deborah McGuinness 与 Peter Fox，聚焦未来网络与语义基础研究。
• The Center for Computational Innovations, a $100 million collaboration with IBM and New York State, is home to one of the most powerful private-university supercomputers in the world.计算创新中心由该校与 IBM 及纽约州合作、投入 1 亿美元建成，拥有全球最强大的私立大学超级计算机之一。
• Rensselaer operates the only university-run nuclear reactor in New York State and is upgrading the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator under a $9.44 million grant from the US Department of Energy.该校运营着纽约州唯一由大学运行的核反应堆，并正以美国能源部 944 万美元的拨款升级盖特纳直线加速器。
• In 2018 Rensselaer operated 34 research centres and maintained annual sponsored research expenditures of $100.8 million.2018 年，该校运营 34 个研究中心，年度受资助研究支出达 1.008 亿美元。
• The Rensselaer Plan, announced in 1999, aimed to bring greater prominence to RPI as a technological research university, raising research expenditures and international exchange.1999 年公布的「伦斯勒计划」旨在提升该校作为技术研究型大学的地位，增加研究支出并拓展国际交流。
• For the 2025-2026 academic year RPI enrolled 5,958 undergraduates and 1,025 graduate students in residence on the Troy campus, as well as 171 working professionals.2025-2026 学年，该校在特洛伊校区招收本科生 5,958 人、在校研究生 1,025 人，另有 171 名在职专业人士。
• More than 71 per cent of Rensselaer students come from outside New York State, more than 20 per cent are international, and the undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 13 to 1.该校逾 71% 的学生来自纽约州以外，逾 20% 为国际学生，本科生与教师之比为 13 比 1。
• Undergraduate tuition and fees for 2024-2025 were set at $62,500 for tuition, and 95 per cent of full-time domestic undergraduates receive need-based or merit-based financial aid.2024-2025 学年本科生学费为 62,500 美元；95% 的全日制本土本科生获得助学金或奖学金类资助。

Campus

• RPI's campus occupies 265 acres on a hill overlooking Troy and the Hudson River, bisected by 15th Street, with athletic and housing facilities to the east and academic buildings to the west.该校校园占地 265 英亩，坐落于俯瞰特洛伊与哈得孙河的山丘上，由第 15 街一分为二，东侧为体育与住宿设施、西侧为教学建筑。
• Much of the campus features Colonial Revival structures built in the first three decades of the 20th century, and the campus has experienced four periods of expansion.校园大部分为 20 世纪头三十年建造的殖民地复兴式建筑；整个校园先后经历了四个扩建阶段。
• The Winslow Chemical Laboratory, a building on the National Register of Historic Places, remains from the early era and now houses the Social and Behavioral Research Laboratory.温斯洛化学实验室（Winslow Chemical Laboratory）是早期留存建筑，已列入美国国家史迹名录，现为社会与行为研究实验室所在地。
• Ricketts-era buildings include the Carnegie Building of 1906, Walker Laboratory of 1907, Russell Sage Laboratory of 1909, the Quadrangle Dormitories of 1916 to 1927 and Amos Eaton Hall of 1928.Ricketts 时期的建筑包括 1906 年的卡内基楼、1907 年的沃克实验室、1909 年的罗素·塞奇实验室、1916 至 1927 年的四方院宿舍，以及 1928 年的 Amos Eaton 楼。
• The Approach, a massive granite staircase built in 1907, originally linked RPI to the Troy Union Railroad station and again serves as a link between the city and the university.1907 年建成的宏伟花岗岩大阶梯「The Approach」原连接该校与特洛伊联合火车站，如今再度成为城市与大学之间的通道。
• After the Second World War nine dormitories were built at the east edge of campus, a location known as Freshman Hill, and the Houston Field House of 1949 was reassembled from its original Rhode Island location.二战后，校园东缘兴建了九栋宿舍，该区域被称为「新生山」；1949 年的休斯顿体育馆（Houston Field House）则自其原址罗得岛拆解迁移后重新组装而成。
• The Voorhees Computing Center, originally a 1933 seminary chapel acquired in 1958, served as the institute's library from 1960 until the completion of the brutalist Folsom Library in 1976.沃里斯计算中心原为 1933 年的神学院礼拜堂、1958 年购入，自 1960 年起作为该校图书馆使用，直至 1976 年粗野主义风格的福尔森图书馆（Folsom Library）建成。
• Modern buildings include the Materials Research Center, the Darrin Communications Center, the Jonsson Engineering Center and the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies of 2004, and tunnels connect several of them.现代建筑包括材料研究中心、达林通信中心、琼森工程中心与 2004 年的生物技术及跨学科研究中心，其中数座由隧道相连。
• The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center sits on the west edge of campus, its main entrance at the top of the hill leading into a 1,200-seat concert hall within a glass exoskeleton.实验媒体与表演艺术中心位于校园西缘，主入口设于山顶，进入由玻璃外壳包覆的 1,200 座音乐厅。

Reputation

• In the QS World University Rankings 2027 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was placed 581st in the world.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，伦斯勒理工学院位列世界第 581 位。
• The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 placed RPI in the 601-650 band, and the U.S. News Best Global Universities 2026-2027 ranked it 1090th.2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名将该校列入 601-650 区间；《美国新闻与世界报道》2026-2027 年度全球最佳大学排名将其列为第 1090 位。
• The Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026 placed RPI in the 501-600 band.2026 年软科世界大学学术排名将该校列入 501-600 区间。
• In 2023 U.S. News & World Report ranked Rensselaer 51st among national universities in the United States and 46th for "Most Innovative Schools".2023 年《美国新闻与世界报道》将伦斯勒列为全美国家级大学第 51 位，并在「最具创新力学校」中排名第 46。
• The same rankings placed RPI's undergraduate engineering programme tied at 32nd among schools whose highest degree is a doctorate, and its graduate engineering programme tied for 43rd.同一排名将该校本科工程课程列为「最高学位为博士」院校中的并列第 32，其研究生工程课程并列第 43。
• OpenAlex records around 67,713 research works and 4,228,732 citations associated with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.OpenAlex 收录与伦斯勒理工学院相关的研究成果约 67,713 项、被引约 4,228,732 次。
• In 2022 RPI was ranked by U.S. News among the top ten national universities for highest starting salary, and in 2023 its graduates had a median early-career salary of $105,367.2022 年《美国新闻与世界报道》将其列为起薪最高的全美前十大学之一；2023 年该校毕业生职业早期年薪中位数为 105,367 美元。
• In 2024 Washington Monthly ranked RPI 117th among 438 national universities for its contribution to the public good, and the Leiden Ranking of 2016 placed it 127th worldwide.2024 年《华盛顿月刊》按对公共利益的贡献将该校列为全美 438 所国家级大学第 117 位；2016 年莱顿排名将其列为全球第 127 位。
• In 2016 the Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings placed Rensselaer among the top 50 universities for technology in the world.2016 年泰晤士高等教育—QS 世界大学排名将伦斯勒列为全球技术类前五十名大学之一。

Student life

• Rensselaer's motto is "Why not change the world?", and roughly 170 student organisations are funded by the Student Union, while about thirty more are self-supporting.该校校训为「Why not change the world?（何不改变世界？）」；约有 170 个学生组织由学生会资助，另有约 30 个自筹经费。
• The Rensselaer Union was the last entirely student-run union at a private university in the United States until September 2017.直至 2017 年 9 月之前，伦斯勒学生会一直是美国私立大学中最后一个完全由学生自行管理的学生会。
• Phalanx, RPI's senior honour society, was founded in 1912 and has inducted more than 1,500 members since its founding.该校的高年级荣誉学会 Phalanx 创立于 1912 年，至今已吸纳 1,500 多名成员。
• The Rensselaer Polytechnic, known as The Poly, is the student-run weekly newspaper, and WRPI is the campus radio station broadcasting on 91.5 FM with 10 kW of power.《Rensselaer Polytechnic》（简称 The Poly）是学生自办的周报；校园电台 WRPI 以 91.5 FM 播出，功率达 10 千瓦。
• The RPI Players, an on-campus theatre group formed in 1929, have staged over 300 productions in its history.校内剧团 RPI Players 成立于 1929 年，历史上已演出 300 多部剧目。
• "The Alma Mater (Here's to Old RPI)" is sung at formal events such as commencement and is played daily at noon by the quadrangle bell tower.「校歌（Here's to Old RPI）」在毕业典礼等正式场合咏唱，并每天正午由四方院钟楼奏响。
• The RPI Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps began in September 1941, and since 1926 more than 75 naval officers have attained flag rank with a degree from RPI.该校海军后备军官训练团于 1941 年 9 月启动；自 1926 年以来，已有 75 名以上海军军官凭该校学位晋升将官。
• Greek life at Rensselaer includes 29 active fraternities and 6 sororities, with 32 per cent involvement among men and 18 per cent among women.伦斯勒的希腊学生组织包括 29 个活跃兄弟会与 6 个姐妹会，男生参与率为 32%、女生为 18%。
• The "First-Year Experience" programme begins with a week called Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond, and from 2008 the university adopted a residential college model called CLASS.其「大一体验」计划以名为「Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond」的一周活动开启；自 2008 年起该校采用名为 CLASS 的住宿学院模式。

Notable people

• Stephen Van Rensselaer, the landowner and philanthropist, founded the Rensselaer School in 1824 for the application of science to the common purposes of life.地主兼慈善家 Stephen Van Rensselaer 于 1824 年创办伦斯勒学校，宗旨是「将科学应用于日常生活」。
• Amos Eaton was the school's first senior professor and a pioneering American geologist and botanist, while the Reverend Samuel Blatchford served as its first president.Amos Eaton 是该校首位高级教授、美国地质学与植物学的先驱；Samuel Blatchford 牧师则出任首任校长。
• Washington Roebling, the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, and Theodore Judah, the visionary of the transcontinental railroad, were 19th-century RPI civil engineering graduates.布鲁克林大桥总工程师 Washington Roebling 与横贯大陆铁路的推动者 Theodore Judah，都是 19 世纪该校土木工程专业的毕业生。
• George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., who designed and built the original Ferris Wheel, and Leffert L. Buck, chief engineer of the Williamsburg Bridge, also graduated from RPI.设计并建造首座费里斯摩天轮的 George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. 与威廉斯堡大桥总工程师 Leffert L. Buck 也都毕业于该校。
• Allen B. DuMont created the first commercial television and radar, Ted Hoff is known as the father of the microprocessor, and Raymond Tomlinson is often credited with the invention of e-mail.Allen B. DuMont 研制出首台商用电视与雷达；Ted Hoff 被誉为微处理器之父；Raymond Tomlinson 通常被认为是电子邮件的发明者。
• Steven Sasson invented the digital camera and Curtis Priem designed the first graphics processor for the PC and co-founded NVIDIA, both as RPI graduates.Steven Sasson 发明了数码相机；Curtis Priem 设计了首款个人电脑图形处理器并共同创办英伟达，二人均为该校毕业生。
• Ivar Giaever, who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics, earned his doctorate at Rensselaer in 1964.分享 1973 年诺贝尔物理学奖的 Ivar Giaever 于 1964 年在伦斯勒取得博士学位。
• George Low, manager of the Apollo 11 project and later president of RPI, and the astronaut John L. Swigert Jr., pilot of Apollo 13, were both alumni.阿波罗 11 号项目经理、后任该校校长的 George Low，以及阿波罗 13 号驾驶员、航天员 John L. Swigert Jr. 均为该校校友。
• NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II Moon mission, and the space tourist Dennis Tito are also Rensselaer alumni.美国航天局航天员、阿特米斯二号绕月任务指令长 Reid Wiseman 与太空游客 Dennis Tito 也是该校校友。
• Myles Brand, a former president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and David Ferrucci, lead researcher on IBM's Watson project, graduated from RPI.美国大学生体育协会前主席 Myles Brand 与 IBM 沃森项目首席研究员 David Ferrucci 都毕业于该校。
• Among the Chinese students who studied at Rensselaer were Pan Mingzhong, the first student sent by the Chinese government to attend an American university, and Luo Guorui, an early chief engineer of the Zhejiang railway.曾就读伦斯勒的中国学生中，有中国第一位官派赴美大学生潘铭钟，以及浙江铁路的早期总工程师罗国瑞。
• The sinologist and linguist Samuel Wells Williams, and Xie Zhifeng, a co-founder of the Chinese chipmaker SMIC, are also associated with Rensselaer.汉学家与语言学家卫三畏（Samuel Wells Williams），以及中国芯片企业中芯国际的联合创始人谢志峰，也都与伦斯勒有关。
• The director Bobby Farrelly and the American football coach Matt Patricia are counted among Rensselaer's notable alumni.导演 Bobby Farrelly 与美国橄榄球教练 Matt Patricia 也被列入该校知名校友之列。