Carnegie Institution for Science
The Carnegie Institution for Science (also
called the Carnegie Institution of Wash-
ington (CIW)) is an organization in the Un-
ited States established to support scientific
research.
Today the CIW directs its efforts in six
main areas: plant molecular biology at the
Department of Plant Biology (Stanford, Cali-
fornia), developmental biology at the Depart-
ment of Embryology (Baltimore, Maryland),
global ecology at the Department of Global
Ecology (Stanford, CA), earth science, mater-
ials science, and astrobiology at the Geophys-
ical Laboratory (Washington, DC); earth and
planetary sciences as well as astronomy at
the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
(Washington, DC), and (at the Observatories
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
(OCIW; Pasadena, CA and Las Campanas,
Chile)).
History
"It is proposed to found in the city of
Washington,
an
institution
which...shall
in the broadest and
most liberal manner encourage in-
vestigation, research, and discovery
[and] show the application of know-
ledge to the improvement of man-
kind..." — Andrew Carnegie, January
28, 1902
The Carnegie Institution was founded by
Andrew Carnegie in 1902. Its first president
was Daniel Coit Gilman, founder of the Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine. One
of the first grant recipients was George Hale
in 1904.
The guiding doctrine during the institu-
tion’s history has been to devote its re-
sources to “exceptional” individuals who can
explore, in an atmosphere of complete free-
dom, 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 support Earth, space, and life sciences.
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.