Last fall, Boston University received a coveted invitation. From? The Association of American Universities (AAU), an exclusive group of leading American and Canadian research universities, including Cornell, CalTech, MIT, and Harvard. BU is the first private university to join since 1995.

“Boston University is an outstanding institution,” says AAU President Hunter Rawlings III. “It belongs in the AAU by virtue of the strength of its research and academic programs.”

AAU membership is by invitation only and is based on 1) the quality of programs of academic research and scholarship, and undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; and 2) the general recognition that a university is outstanding when it comes to research and education. Click around to meet just a few of our groundbreaking researchers.

Clearly, we’re using our educational and research dollars the right way. In FY2013 alone, BU received $339.3 million in research awards. This year, the University also doubled the annual funding, to more than $1 million, for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, which has supported the enterprising work of more than 1,500 students since 1997.

In other words, check and check.