- Carnegie Institution for Science
The Carnegie Institution for Science (also called the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW)) is a organization in the United States established to support
scientific research .Departments
Today the CIW directs its efforts in six main areas: plant molecular biology at the Department of Plant Biology (
Stanford ,California ),developmental biology at the Department of Embryology (Baltimore ,Maryland ),global ecology at the Department of Global Ecology (Stanford, CA),earth science ,materials science , andastrobiology at the Geophysical Laboratory (Washington, DC ); earth andplanetary sciences as well asastronomy at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (Washington, DC), and (at the "Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington " (OCIW;Pasadena , CA andLas Campanas ,Chile )).Mission
The Carnegie Institution was established by
Andrew Carnegie as a unique organization dedicated “in the broadest and most liberal manner” to scientific discovery. The guiding doctrine during the institution's history has been to devote its resources to “exceptional” individuals who can explore, in an atmosphere of complete freedom, complex scientific problems . Realizing that the institution’s success depended upon flexibility and freedom, Carnegie and his trustees established that tradition as the foundation of the institution which continues to supportEarth , space, andlife sciences.History
"It is proposed to found in the city of Washington, an institution which...shall in the broadest and most liberal manner encourage investigation, research, and discovery [and] show the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind..." — Andrew Carnegie,
The Carnegie Institution was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1902. Its first president wasJanuary 28 ,1902 Daniel Coit Gilman , founder of theJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine . One of the first grant recipients wasGeorge Hale in 1904.The name
Beginning in 1895, Andrew Carnegie donated his vast fortune to establish 23 organizations around the world that today bear his name and carry on work in fields as diverse as
art ,education ,international affairs ,world peace , and scientific research. (See Andrew Carnegie's 23 Organizations [http://www.ciw.edu/andrew_carnegies_organizations] ). The organizations are independent entities and are related by name only.In 2007, the institution adopted the name "Carnegie Institution for Science" to better distinguish it from the other organizations established by and named for Andrew Carnegie. The new name closely associates the words “Carnegie” and “
science ” and thereby reveals the core identity. The institution remains officially and legally the Carnegie Institution of Washington, but now has a public identity that more clearly describes its work.Observatories of the CIW
The Institution's grant to George Hale was used for the construction of a
telescope built around a largemirror blank that he had received as a gift from his father. The OCIW funded the completion of the convert|60|in|mm|sing=onHale Telescope on Mount Wilson in theSan Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena. Immediately work began on designing the even largerHooker Telescope (100-inch), completed in 1917. Twosolar telescope s were also constructed with Carnegie support and together they form theMount Wilson Observatory , still chiefly supported by the Carnegie Institution after 100 years.Fact|date=February 2007 The OCIW went on to help Hale design and build the convert|200|in|mm|sing=on telescope of thePalomar Observatory (although construction was mostly paid for by aRockefeller grant ).The OCIW's chief observatory is now the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, where two identical 6.5 metre Magellan telescopes operate. OCIW is the lead institution in the consortium building the
Giant Magellan Telescope , which will be made up of sevenmirror s each 8.4 meters indiameter for a total telescope diameter of 25.4 metres (83 ft). The telescope is expected to have over four times thelight -gathering ability of existing instruments.upport for genetic research
In 1920 the
Eugenics Record Office inCold Spring Harbor, New York was merged with the Station for Experimental Evolution to become the CIW's "Department of Genetics". The CIW funded that laboratory until 1939. It closed in 1944 and its records were retained in a university library. The CIW continues its support for genetic research, and among its notable grantees in that field are Nobel laureatesBarbara McClintock ,Alfred Hershey andAndrew Fire .upport for archeological research
The Institution supported
archaeology in theYucatán Peninsula in the 1910s through the 1930s, including extensive excavations (under Carnegie associate andMayanist scholar Sylvanus G. Morley) ofChichen Itza ,Copán , and other sites of thepre-Columbian Maya civilization .Presidents of the CIW
*Daniel Coit Gilman (1902-1904)
*Robert S. Woodward (1904-1920)
*John C. Merriam (1921-1938)
*Vannevar Bush (1939-1955)
*Caryl P. Haskins (1956–1971)
*Philip Abelson (1971–1978)
*James D. Ebert (1978–1987)
*Edward E. David, Jr. (Acting President, 1987–1988)
*Maxine F. Singer (1989-2002)
*Michael E. Gellert (Acting President, Jan.- April 2003)
*Richard A. Meserve (April 2003-present)External links
* [http://www.ciw.edu/ Official website]
* [http://www.ciw.edu/about/whoweare/administration Administration]
* [http://www.ciw.edu/first_light_case/ Carnegie Academy for Science Education and First Light]
* [http://www.ciwemb.edu/ Department of Embryology]
* [http://globalecology.stanford.edu/DGE/CIWDGE/CIWDGE.HTML Department of Global Ecology]
* [http://www-ciwdpb.stanford.edu/ Department of Plant Biology]
* [http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/ Department of Terrestrial Magnetism]
* [http://www.gl.ciw.edu/ Geophysical Laboratory]
* [http://www.ociw.edu/ Observatories]Notes
"This article is about a scientific institution. For the center of higher learning which is not a part of
Carnegie Mellon University , refer toCarnegie Institute of Technology . For the Carnegie Institute which operates theCarnegie Museums of Pittsburgh , see that article.
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