Amazing MBA Universities in the World

1. University of Chicago

The University of Chicago was created and incorporated as a coeducational, secular institution in 1890 by the American Baptist Education Society and a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller on land donated by Marshall Field. The University of Chicago also maintains facilities apart from its main campus. The University’s Booth School of Business maintains campuses in Singapore, London, and the downtown Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. The Center in Paris, a campus located on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, hosts various undergraduate and graduate study programs.

2. Harvard University

Harvard University is an American private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country.   Harvard has an intense athletic rivalry with Yale University traditionally culminating in The Game, although the Harvard–Yale Regatta predates the football game. This rivalry, though, is put aside every two years when the Harvard and Yale Track and Field teams come together to compete against a combined Oxford University and Cambridge University team, a competition that is the oldest continuous international amateur competition in the world.

3. Northwestern University

Northwestern has one of the top ten university endowments in the United States. One of only 62 institutions elected to the Association of American Universities, Northwestern was awarded more than $500 million in research grants in 2010–2011, placing it in the first tier of the top research universities in the United States by the Center for Measuring University Performance. In Fall 2008, Northwestern opened a campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar, joining five other American universities: Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

4. University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania  is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and considers itself to be the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies.  Penn is consistently included among the top five research universities in the US, and among the top research universities in the world, both in terms of quality and quantity of research.

5. University of Michigan

The University of Michigan  is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state’s oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan. U-M also has satellite campuses in Flint and Dearborn. Michigan has one of the world’s largest living alumni groups at 460,000 in 2007. U-M owns the University of Michigan Health System and has one of the largest research expenditures of any American university, passing the $1.24 billion mark during the 2010-2011 academic year.

6. Stanford University

Stanford University or Stanford, is an American private research university located in Stanford, California on an 8,180-acre  campus near Palo Alto, California, United States. The university is organized into seven schools including academic schools of Humanities and Sciences and Earth Sciences as well as professional schools of Business, Education, Engineering, Law, and Medicine. Stanford has a student body of approximately 6,988 undergraduate and 8,400 graduate students.

7. Columbia University

The university was founded in 1754 as King’s College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain. After the American Revolutionary War King’s College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. The University now operates under a 1787 charter that places the institution under a private board of trustees, and in 1896 it was further renamed Columbia University.  The university is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities, and was the first school in the United States to grant the M.D. degree.

8. Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892.In its 2012 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the university’s undergraduate program 10th among national universities, while ranking the medical, law, public policy, nursing, and business graduate programs among the top 12 in the United States.

9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, is an American private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. MIT was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934. Researchers were involved in efforts to develop computers, radar, and inertial guidance in connection with defense research during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. MIT has a strong entrepreneurial culture. The aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world.

10. University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, USA.  Berkeley has been charged with providing both “classical” and “practical” education for the state’s people and is generally considered to be the flagship institution in the University of California system. Berkeley student-athletes have won over 100 Olympic medals. Known as the California Golden Bears, the athletic teams are members of both the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the NCAA.

World's Strange Books

These weird and strange books and manuscripts will fascinate anyone who has ever been interested in the unexplained.

1. THE RIPLEY SCROLL The Ripley Scroll or “Ripley Scrowle” is one of the most important works (books) of Sir George Ripley an influential and renowned English alchemist of the 15th century. The life of Ripley is as mysterious as his legacy of mystical alchemical writings and illustrations but it is alleged that he studied in Rome and may have been an agent of the Papacy during this time with connections to The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem otherwise known as the Knights Hospitaller. During his latter life he returned to England where he produced most of his recognised works on alchemy. It is interesting to note that a Papal Decree of 1317 had forbidden the study into and publishing of alchemical texts and particularly forbade “clerics” from pursuing this subject and yet a little over a hundred years later Ripley, a clear favourite of Pope Innocent VIII seems to have dedicated his life to the pursuit of this science. The Ripley Scroll has been interpreted in many ways but still remains a mystery. Most scholars believe that the Ripley Scroll is the “recipe” for immortality but there are those that believe researchers have missed some crucial evidence. This mystery needs to be examined in much more depth in another section of this website. Perhaps Ripley may have known much much more than seems obvious.   FROM THE "SCROWLE" OF SIR GEORGE RIPLEY A section of the original Ripley Scroll that refers to the "Serpent of Arabia'. The traditional assumption is that this is code for "Aqua Fortis" or nitric acid but there may be another meaning! Very recent advances in modern medicine have begun to reveal that the alchemists, and Ripley in particular, may have known something as yet unexplored. THE BOOK OF NOSTRADAMUS PROPHECIES Nonsense or Divine Insight? The frightening part is that many of Nostradamus' prophecies do seem to make sense and can be linked to events that have happened or look likely to happen. Is this a case of making vague nonsense fit the facts or proof of a divine plan with unrevealed power – you decide?   2. THE PROPHECIES NOSTRADAMUS The prophecies of M. Michel de Nostradame (Nostradamus) have been repeatedly published over the centuries from the time when they were first made public in 1555AD. In brief, they are a collection weird verses called quatrains that apparently predict events that will occur in the future. (With a start date of 1556). Nostradamus never claimed to have personally experience visions or prophetic inspiration and openly attributed much of his work to earlier sources – a practice that was typical of the time. Ancient wisdom was already much more respected than modern discovery ... a practice that still continues 500 years later. The final edition of his works was published in 1568 and comprised of 942 quatrains divided into ten Centuries. It is worth noting that the last Century only has 42 verses indicating that Nostradamus planned more prophecies in the future. In addition, there is only one quatrain that does not rhyme and some scholars believe that this was deliberate and is a “key” to unlocking the others – others still believe that this is the prophecy for the last engagement or the final battle between good and evil. Hundreds of people and tens of thousands of words have tried to explain the mysterious writings of Michel Nostradamus but the truth is we are no closer to understanding today than they were in 1555. 3. THE CODEX SERAPHINIANUS Written between 1976 and 1978 by Luigi Serafini it is best described as the natural history book of a parallel Earth where life is similar but at the same time mind twisting and strange in its alien representation. Approximately 360 pages in length, it is almost entirely written in code or cipher text. Although the author is still alive in 2009 he has steadfastly refused to comment whether the language is real or simply an assembly of symbols collated to produce the illusion of meaning. The book is broadly separated into 11 sections that include; Flora and Biology, Fauna and Animals, Bipedal Creatures, Physics and Chemistry, Machines, Biology and Sexuality, Historical and religious, The Language, Social Practices, Entertainment, and finally, Architecture. There is no doubt that the book is a masterpiece of the imagination that challenges the natural instincts of human perception. The images are vibrant in colour and while clearly impossible in many cases are also strangely believable. The writing is based on the Western style with the words organised from left to right with a clear repetition symbols and a sense of grammar that is consistent with a written language. It has yet to be deciphered although there have been claims the pagination system has been "broken" by Bulgarian linguist Ivan Derzhanski. It is also now quite rare and if you can get an original edition it can cost well over $500. Whether it was intended merely as an weird experiment in art or is a complex code that will one day be deciphered remains to be seen.    THE CODEX SERAPHINIANUS Our resident linguist was amused to dissemble the title and play with the words. “Codex Seraph In I Anus”. For example: Codex can mean Book or Collection of Writings. A Seraph is also a Seraphim or Angel. The word Angel originally meant Messenger or Message. The word In can also mean From. The word I can also refer to My. And Anus is another word for Rectum. So the title could be constructed to read “A collection of wisdom that is a message from my rectum. In the colloquial” “I’m talking out of my Ass.” It’s probably just a coincidence but still a brilliant joke if true. PRODIGIORUM AC OSTENTORUMS CHRONICON (or) THE BOOK OF PORTENTS AND OMENS Perhaps a time will come when people living far in the future will look at the works of the 21st century and laugh at our own inaccuracies.   4. PRODIGIORUM AC OSTENTORUM The Greco Romano world (500bc – 400ad) had long known that beyond the borders of their respective empires there were vast unexplored lands teeming with weird and mysterious animals as well as strange people. Leopards, cheetahs and other beasts were even brought back to Rome and displayed to the awed citizens. A thousand years would pass before Konrad Lykosthenes assembled his Prodigiorum as Ostentorum Chronicon and published it in Basel in 1557 which described various beasts and creatures as reported by travellers to distant lands. The real mystery of this manuscript is not the strange and mythical creatures depicted but the accuracy of the descriptions and images of those that are known to be real. Page 17 clearly depicts a Canadian moose even though the famous mariner and explorer, John Cabot, had only recently, in 1497, rediscovered the region. (The woodcut is remarkably accurate.) Page 18 has accurate representations of both an Indian rhinoceros and elephant. Page 19 reveals a Camel and, more surprisingly, a good representation of a Chacma Baboon (Papio Ursinus). On leaf 24 is a collection of sea monsters and at least three of the creatures can be identified as a giant lobster, a narwhale and an oarfish. Leaf 27 has a good representation of a crocodile and 29 clearly shows a Pelican. However, some of the other images are of creatures unknown to modern science. While there is the temptation to dismiss these as the fantasies of travellers their does remain the possibility that they did once exist and are now extinct. Perhaps the most intriguing image in the book is the picture on page 31 which is clearly a representation of the now extinct Mauritian Dodo (bird). However, the first recorded Journey to Mauritius took place in 1598AD - 40 years after Lykosthenes book was published. Currently in the library of St John’s College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. 5. EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD Although this is now considered just a part of weird ancient history, the Egyptian Book of the Dead was once considered to be the most powerful collection of spells and paranormal power to have ever been known to mankind. The correct name for this collection of writings and incantations is “The Spells of Going Forth by Day”. In essence, it was a collection of songs, spells and guides that was placed together with a deceased person to help them pass through the veils of death to the place of immortality. The most well known of these funerary scrolls is the Papyrus of Ani, a document prepared in the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt during the period of the New kingdom circa 1240bc. Critical to the efficacy of the scroll was the accurate depiction of the powerful magical images or drawings which were often of a high quality. The writing itself was often less than perfect. This is not surprising as most Egyptians, even many of the higher classes, could not read but could appreciate the significance of an illustration. At its most basic, the scroll should be considered a handbook to survival in the afterlife not a magical or religious object in itself. The deceased was expected to use it rather than just benefit from its ethereal power. The most important image that had to be included was known as “The Weighing of the Heart”. The dead person would have his heart weighed by Anubis and if it was found to be lighter than a feather they would be allowed to proceed to the next place of existence. In general, there were four main variations of the scroll. This is a very short synopsis of a very complicated concept.   FROM THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD The Papyrus of Ani depicting the Weighing of the Heart What makes "The Scroll of the Dead" so weird and strange?  As far as we know, all religious texts throughout all time have dealt with how you should live your life while you are alive in order to be worthy to reach a pleasant afterlife.  The "Scroll of The Dead" is the only document that provides practical advice and support about what to do when you reach the other side. Now that should make you pause and think. “We write to remember, to be remembered and to be right.” Paul St. Claire (1964)