[caddemon]

A lot of the top universities have majority of their profs caring almost exclusively about research though. I think MIT is (or at least was) a bit of an exception, where there was enough of a critical mass of profs that cared about teaching. Can't say the same for a couple other "top" unis I've spent time at.

[frakt0x90]

Yes I've heard that as well. For example I heard 2nd hand that Andrew Wiles at Princeton, who famously solved Fermat's last theorem, is a brilliant researcher but a terrible professor.

I had a math professor from Dartmouth who told me that Dartmouth really emphasized teaching in their phd program and he was indeed an exceptional teacher. I wish that was emphasized more, or they separate hardcore researchers from the teachers.

[etrautmann]

It’s a good point, although Princeton in general places a higher emphasis on undergraduate teaching than a number of other top research universities, so that example might be idiosyncratic if true.

The emphasis on teaching in a PhD program may not have much bearing on the quality of undergraduate teaching at a university, though it might be indicative of a culture or spirit.