About the Centers
The Center, affectionately known by the acronym LEADS, emphasizes Leadership Development, Economic Empowerment, Advocacy through the Arts, Dialogue across Difference and Service Learning and Civic Engagement. It is designed to be a research site, a place for discussion of contemporary issues and their implication for public policy, and an environment where students can learn from women who themselves have been on the front lines of social change in both the private and public sector.
Lehman Brothers Center for Global Finance and Economic Development
Spelman College recently established the Lehman Brothers Center for Global Finance and Economic Development. The Center will house an interdisciplinary, global, and multicultural liberal arts program with service learning, internships, scholarship support, and expanded student study abroad and career opportunities. The Center will eventually offer both a minor and major in Global Finance and Economic Development, and will complement Spelman’s mission of academic excellence in the liberal arts and its intention for students to demonstrate their commitment to positive social change.
International Affairs Center at Spelman College (IAC)
The International Affairs Center at Spelman College was established in 1989. In keeping with the mission of the College, the Center prepares students to make significant contributions to the global community. The Center is headed by a director who coordinates the major in International Studies and sponsors international programs and activities for students and faculty.
Funded by a grant from NIH's Office of Minority Health, this historic facility is the locus for research and community partnerships on the health and wellness of African Americans.
Marian Wright Edelman Center
The Spelman College Nusery-Kindergarten School, The Marian Wright Edelman Center, became a part of the resources of the College in 1930 under the leadership of Miss Pearlie E. Reed. It was the first laboratory school established in a black college. The School provided experiences for children in physical, cognitive and psychosocial growth and development. It served as a training center for parents; a practice field for college students, and a research laboratory for graduate students in education and psychology.
The Sister Center for WISDOM is a new initiative of Sisters Chapel funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment. This project seeks to enhance the College's ability to develop and empower the total person, to re-establish and strengthen our ability to integrate faith commitments and contextual experiences into curricular and co-curricular activities, to strengthen and renew our church-related heritage and identity, and to help connect the social and cultural relevance of ministry to a new generation of emerging leaders. Read more about Sisters Chapel
Founded in 1981 with a grant from the Charles Mott Foundation, the Women's Research and Resource Center has three goals: curriculum development in women's studies; research on women of African descent; and community outreach. Directed by Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the Center publishes Sisters of the Word, a bi-annual newsletter, and coordinates the College's archives, the Toni Cade Bambara Writer/Scholar/Activist Internship Program, and the Sojourner Truth Women's Studies Collective.
Research and Science Related Centers of Distinction
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience
Funded by an inter-institutional cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, it is a Science and Technology Center (STC) for study in the life sciences with the purpose of integrating research and education initiatives. Specifically this program will assist in expanding and/or developing Neuroscience and Behavior programs and classes at participating schools and to create an inter-institutional major.
Center for Biomedical and Behavioral Research (RIMI)
Funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Minority Health Disparities, its primary purpose is to expand the college's infrastructure to support biomedical and behavioral research. Currently going into Phase II of funding the center is now primed to address and support the development of Junior Faculty members into fully developed and competitive research scientists.
Center for Energy and Environmental Studies
Previously funded by a grant from the Department of Energy, its primary purpose is to conduct environmental research, education and training both on campus and at DOE national laboratories. Currently the center is focused on ensuring that the College is well equipped and positioned to compete successfully in addressing global environmental issues.
Center for Molecular Biology
Funded by a grant from Amgen, the Center is designed to promote research in molecular biology and biotechnology. The Center represents a pioneering initiative between two of our nation's leading innovators in the fields of liberal arts higher education and biotechnology. The goal of the Center is to provide an international showcase to highlight the contributions of biotechnology to improving the quality of life for societies around the world. At the core of the Center will be activities to advance the study of molecular biology and biotechnology, while simultaneously providing a training ground to increase the representation of highly qualified, enterprising African American women in this important field of study.
Merck Center for Science Excellence
Funded by the Merck Foundation. The Center provides direct scholarship support to Merck Scholars in Biology and Chemistry who participate in research training activities. Four scholars are supported each year. HBCU Faculty Training Program provides four junior faculty, from other HBCU=s come to Spelman for a four week summer training session. The chief goal of the program is for visiting faculty to gain hands-on experience in selected research techniques and methodology by working closely with a faculty mentor. Additional goals include an increase in their grantsmanship skills and exposure to new developments in science education
