I don't know where you work in academia, but even as an undergrad in the 90s, both hard and soft science majors at the UC system knew about the Sorbonne, and usually it was the first name people could mention outside of other US and UK institutions.
After that you might have heard people mention Canadian options like McGill and Waterloo, and then MAYBE a handful of European options in Germany and Switzerland.
But the Sorbonne was distinctly understood by a majority of peers for its status.
