CUNY Graduate Center
Encyclopedia
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) brings together graduate education, advanced research, and public programming to midtown Manhattan hosting 4,600 students, 33 doctoral programs, 7 master's programs, and 30 research centers and institutes. A core faculty of approximately 150 Graduate Center appointments is supplemented by over 1,800 additional faculty members drawn from throughout CUNY's eleven senior colleges and New York City's cultural and scientific institutions.
The thirty research centers and institutes focus on areas of social, civic, cultural, and scientific concerns. Also affiliated with the institution are four University Center programs: the CUNY Baccalaureate Program through which undergraduates can earn bachelor's degrees by taking courses at any of the CUNY colleges; the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the associated Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies; the recently established CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which offers a master's degree in journalism; and Macaulay's Honor College. In addition, the Graduate Center extends its intellectual and cultural resources to the general public, offering access to a wide range of events, including lectures, symposia, performances, and workshops.
Since 1999, the Graduate Center's campus has been housed in a nine-story landmark building at 365 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Formerly home to the B. Altman Department Store, the building was redesigned as a new, state-of-the-art facility.
Due to the consortial nature of doctoral study at the Graduate Center, courses take place at the Graduate Center and at CUNY colleges. For the most part, courses in the social sciences, humanities, and mathematics, and courses in the sciences requiring no laboratory work convene at the Graduate Center. Science courses requiring laboratory work, courses for the clinical doctorates, and courses in business, criminal justice, engineering, and social welfare convene on CUNY college campuses.
Since 1965, more than ten thousand students have earned doctorates from the Graduate Center.
Faculty members regularly receive prestigious honors and awards. Some recent examples include the Pulitzer Prize
, the National Humanities Medal
, the National Medal of Science
, the Schock Prize
, the Bancroft Prize
, Grammy Awards, the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, Guggenheim Fellowship
s, the New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology, the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and the National Academy of Sciences
.
, received his Ph.D. in psychology while Stern received her Ph.D. in English literature. In 1969, the Division of Graduate Studies formally became the Graduate School and University Center.
From the time of its founding in 1961, the Graduate Center was located in Aeolian Hall
, located at 33 West 42nd Street. The building, now the home of the SUNY State College of Optometry, won a 1971 Bard Architectural Prize for the design of its ground-floor interior mall, which connects 42nd Street to 43rd Street. Mathematician Mina S. Rees served as the institution's first president from 1969 until her retirement in 1972. Rees was succeeded as president of the Graduate Center by environmental psychologist Harold M. Proshansky, who served until his death in 1990.
and the NYPL
Science, Technology and Business library relieves the GC from needing as extensive a collection as other prestigious institutions: both are within a five minute walk of the Graduate Center.
The thirty research centers and institutes focus on areas of social, civic, cultural, and scientific concerns. Also affiliated with the institution are four University Center programs: the CUNY Baccalaureate Program through which undergraduates can earn bachelor's degrees by taking courses at any of the CUNY colleges; the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the associated Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies; the recently established CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which offers a master's degree in journalism; and Macaulay's Honor College. In addition, the Graduate Center extends its intellectual and cultural resources to the general public, offering access to a wide range of events, including lectures, symposia, performances, and workshops.
Since 1999, the Graduate Center's campus has been housed in a nine-story landmark building at 365 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Formerly home to the B. Altman Department Store, the building was redesigned as a new, state-of-the-art facility.
Due to the consortial nature of doctoral study at the Graduate Center, courses take place at the Graduate Center and at CUNY colleges. For the most part, courses in the social sciences, humanities, and mathematics, and courses in the sciences requiring no laboratory work convene at the Graduate Center. Science courses requiring laboratory work, courses for the clinical doctorates, and courses in business, criminal justice, engineering, and social welfare convene on CUNY college campuses.
Since 1965, more than ten thousand students have earned doctorates from the Graduate Center.
Faculty members regularly receive prestigious honors and awards. Some recent examples include the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
, the National Humanities Medal
National Humanities Medal
The National Humanities Medal honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens’ engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities.The award, given by the...
, the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
, the Schock Prize
Schock prize
The Rolf Schock Prizes were established and endowed by bequest of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock . The prizes were first awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1993 and have been awarded every two years since...
, the Bancroft Prize
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
, Grammy Awards, the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
s, the New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science and Technology, the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
and the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
Early Years
The City University of New York began offering doctoral education through the Division of Graduate Studies of the City University of New York in 1961, and awarded its first two Ph.D.s to Daniel Robinson and Barbara Stern in 1965. Robinson, currently a professor of philosophy at the University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, received his Ph.D. in psychology while Stern received her Ph.D. in English literature. In 1969, the Division of Graduate Studies formally became the Graduate School and University Center.
From the time of its founding in 1961, the Graduate Center was located in Aeolian Hall
Aeolian Hall (New York)
Aeolian Hall was a concert hall near Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City located on the third floor of 29-33 West 42nd Street across the street from Bryant Park. The Aeolian Building was built in 1912 for the Aeolian Company, which manufactured pianos...
, located at 33 West 42nd Street. The building, now the home of the SUNY State College of Optometry, won a 1971 Bard Architectural Prize for the design of its ground-floor interior mall, which connects 42nd Street to 43rd Street. Mathematician Mina S. Rees served as the institution's first president from 1969 until her retirement in 1972. Rees was succeeded as president of the Graduate Center by environmental psychologist Harold M. Proshansky, who served until his death in 1990.
Current Years
Following a national search, political scientist Frances Degen Horowitz was appointed president in September, 1991. By the mid-1990s, the Center had clearly outgrown its facilities and was renting space next door in the Grace Building. In 1999, Horowitz presided over the institution's relocation to the former B. Altman building at 365 Fifth Avenue, a move which increased the physical space of the college by about one-third. In 2005, Horowitz returned to scholarly pursuits and was replaced by the school's provost, Professor of English Literature William P. Kelly.Library
The CUNY Graduate Center is served by the Mina Rees Library, named after former president Mina S. Rees. Situated on three floors of the Graduate Center's midtown Manhattan facility, the library houses a print collection of approximately 275,000 volumes, and subscriptions to over 1,500 print serials. The Library is also connected to the CUNY+ catalog system which allows borrowers to request items from other CUNY libraries, providing access to over 7.5 million volumes. Physical proximity to the NYPL Humanities and Social Sciences LibraryNew York Public Library Main Branch
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, more widely known as the Main Branch or simply as "the New York Public Library," is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. The branch, opened in 1911, is...
and the NYPL
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
Science, Technology and Business library relieves the GC from needing as extensive a collection as other prestigious institutions: both are within a five minute walk of the Graduate Center.