The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York
Motto	Scholarship for an Urban World
Established	1961
Type	Public
President	William P. Kelly
Faculty	125 core, 1,700 consortial
Postgraduates	4,250
Location	New York, New York,  United States
Campus	Urban
Website	www.gc.cuny.edu

The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York (known more commonly as the CUNY Graduate Center or the GC) is the main doctorate-granting institution of the City University of New York. (While other CUNY schools may house doctoral degree programs, the degrees are granted through the GC.) It is housed in the former B. Altman and Company department store on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, which it shares with the Science, Industry and Business (SIBL) branch of the New York Public Library and Oxford University Press. The 4,000 students at the GC are mostly doctoral students in one of over 30 programs with the exception of those pursuing degrees in six master's programs and the CUNY Baccalaureate Program. The facility also houses the production studios and offices of CUNY TV, the University's 24/7 educational cable channel.

The GC sponsors numerous continuing education programs, all open to the public, including regular lectures from world-renowned scholars, politicians and artists.

The only consortium of its kind in the nation, the school draws its faculty of more than 1,600 members mainly from the CUNY senior colleges and cultural and scientific institutions throughout New York City, and approximately 125 appointed at The Graduate Center. Among the faculty are leading researchers in the humanities, social sciences, hard or "bench" sciences, and engineering.

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 Fellowships, 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Establishment 1.2 First Presidents 1.3 The New Building 2 Library 3 Cultural Center 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (January 2008)

[edit] Establishment

The City University of New York began offering doctoral education through a graduate division in 1961^[1] and graduated its first Ph.D.—in English Literature—in 1965. In 1969, the graduate division formally became the Graduate School and University Center,^[2] located at 33 West 42nd Street.^[3] 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.^[4]

[edit] First Presidents

Mathematician Mina S. Rees served as the institution's first president from 1969 until her retirement in 1972.^[5] Rees was succeeded as president of the Graduate Center by environmental psychologist Harold M. Proshansky, who served until his death in 1990.^[6]

[edit] The New Building

Following a national search, political scientist Frances Degen Horowitz was appointed president in September, 1991.^[7] By the mid-1990s, the college 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.^[8] In 2005, Horowitz returned to scholarly pursuits and was replaced by the school's provost, Professor of English Literature William P. Kelly.^[9]

[edit] 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 Library 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.

[edit] Cultural Center

The CUNY Graduate Center houses three performance spaces and two art galleries. The Harold M. Proshansky Auditorium, named for the institution's second president, is located on the concourse level and contains 389 seats.^[10] The Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall, located on the first floor, seats 180.^[11] The Martin E. Segal Theatre, also located on the first floor, seats 70.^[12] The Amie and Tony James Fifth Avenue Art Gallery, located on the first floor with windows on Fifth Avenue, features the work of current artists,^[13] as does the Foundation Gallery, also on the first floor.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CUNY Graduate Center
• Doctoral Students' Council: student government at the GC
• The Advocate: GC Student Newspaper

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