Centers & Institutes

Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities

Established in 1996 with a generous endowment gift from Eric and Jane Nord, the Baker-Nord Center is dedicated to: 1) highlighting and celebrating the arts and humanities at Case Western Reserve University (art history and art, classics, English, history, modern languages and literatures, music, philosophy, religious studies, theater, and dance) through public lectures, panels, performances, and special programs; 2) supporting research and creative work in the humanities and arts through fellowships, grants, and symposia, as well as encouraging new and innovative directions in research and creativity, including the digital humanities, through public forums and open discussion; and 3) facilitating cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary collaborations among Case Western Reserve University faculty and members of other University Circle institutions that address questions and problems of broad human interest, within and outside of the academy.

Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics

The Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics (CERCA) is a center for the advancement and promotion of the scientific understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe and its contents, and their connection to fundamental physics. CERCA connects scientists and educators in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and at the Shafran Planetarium of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH). It draws together theoretical and experimental physicists and astrophysicists with observational astronomers to explore the cosmos and, together with partner educators, to communicate their excitement and knowledge to students and to the world at large. CERCA is also a partner in the Institute for the Science of Origins, a partnership of Case Western Reserve, CMNH, and ideastream to advance and promote knowledge in a wide range of origins sciences.

Center for Policy Studies

The Center for Policy Studies has four objectives: 1) to make Case Western Reserve University a more attractive and rewarding institution for students and faculty who wish to learn about and engage in the creation of public policy; 2) to raise the public profile of the university by sponsoring programs and other activities that publicize and increase the reach of the work of CWRU's policy analysts and their guests; 3) to contribute to the wider community by disseminating information and analysis of policy issues as generated both by faculty and by guests we bring to campus; and 4) to encourage creation of a community of policy studies on campus that may serve in the future as the basis for further development of policy-oriented curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Center for Research on Tibet

The Center for Research on Tibet at Case Western Reserve University was founded in 1987 and is administered within the Department of Anthropology. The center's goal is to conceptualize and conduct research on Tibetan history, society, language, ecology/physiology, and culture so as to understand traditional Tibet and the manner in which it has changed.

Dittrick Medical History Center

The Dittrick Medical History Center is comprised of the Dittrick museum, archives, and collections of rare books, artifacts, and images. The center originated as part of the Cleveland Medical Library Association (est. 1894) and today functions as an interdisciplinary study center within the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ernest B. Yeager Center for Electrochemical Sciences

The mission of the Ernest B. Yeager Center for Electrochemical Sciences (YCES) is: 1) to enhance the education and training of students in fundamental and applied aspects of electrochemistry; 2) to provide a national and international resource for the dissemination of electrochemical knowledge within industrial, laboratory, and academic communities and to the general public and to support the continuing education of professional electrochemists; (3) to promote interactions between electrochemists and their research colleagues through seminars and symposia; and 4) to foster the improvement of the environment and human welfare through research in the design of materials and the development of processes and devices that will positively influence fields from medicine and microelectronics to energy conversion and energy storage.

Institute for the Science of Origins

The Institute for the Science of Origins (ISO) is a collaborative team of faculty members and researchers from diverse scientific disciplines seeking to understand how complex systems emerge and evolve, from the universe to the mind, from microbes to humanity.

Through interdisciplinary teams and cross-departmental programs, the institute works with its partners, fellows, and the university community to create new knowledge, to prepare the scientists of tomorrow and to educate the public about origins research.

Leonard Gelfand STEM Center

The Leonard Gelfand STEM Center links the resources of the College of Arts and Sciences - including faculty, staff, and students - with needs in the K-12 STEM community. Its collaborations with external partners, including schools and public libraries, park systems, and science museums, enhance instruction and generate student interest in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The center hosts the annual Northeast Ohio Regional Science Olympiad, conducts a summer Shipwreck Camp that includes lessons in meteorology and marine geology, and engages middle school students in biological fieldwork in its Environmental Heroes Program. Through the Gelfand Science and Engineering Fair Program, it provides support for science fairs in Northeast Ohio schools, and it recruits and trains undergraduates to assist younger students with their science fair projects. In addition, the center participates in the university's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, which provides mentoring and other support for future math and science teachers.

Schubert Center for Child Studies

The Schubert Center for Child Studies aims to strengthen links between child-related academic study, public policy formation, and professional practice. The Schubert Center convenes experts from across campus and throughout the Cleveland community to provide an innovative forum for multidisciplinary education, research, and communications focused on child policy.

Skeletal Research Center

The mission of the Skeletal Research Center (SRC) is to facilitate the advancement of basic research and to accelerate the translation of this new information into innovative clinical strategies for the regeneration and maintenance of skeletal tissues. Based in the Department of Biology, the center provides an organizational umbrella for the creative and innovative interactions of faculty. Although members of our faculty have long been recognized as leaders in skeletal research, the center was established in 1986 to draw these individuals together into a multidisciplinary group that could jointly approach current basic research and clinical problems. SRC is an administrative entity under the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the dean of the School of Medicine.

Baker-Nord Center for Humanities

Please contact the Baker-Nord Center for faculty information.


Institute for the Science of Origins Program Faculty

Patricia Princehouse, PhD
Senior Research Associate, Department of History; Director, Origins Sciences Program; Director, Program in Evolutionary Biology; Outreach Director, Institute for the Science of Origins

Glenn Starkman, PhD
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Physics; Director, Institute for the Science of Origins; Director, Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics (CERCA)

Daniela Calvetti, PhD
James Wood Williamson Professor, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics

Darin Croft, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine

Christopher A. Cullis, PhD
Francis Hobart Herrick Professor of Biology

Michael Decker, PhD
Associate Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing

Neil S. Greenspan, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine

Mark Griswold, PhD
Professor, School of Medicine

Ralph Harvey, PhD
Professor, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

Joseph LaManna, PhD
Jeanne M. and Joseph S. Silber Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine

Harsh Mathur, PhD
Professor, Department of Physics

J. Christopher Mihos, PhD
Worcester R. and Cornelia B. Warner Professor of Astronomy, Department of Astronomy

John E. Ruhl, PhD
Connecticut Professor, Department of Physics

Scott W. Simpson, PhD
Professor, Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine

Erkki Somersalo, PhD
Professor, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics

Giuseppe Strangi, PhD
Professor and Ohio Research Scholar in Surfaces of Advanced Materials, Department of Physics

Kingman P. Strohl, MD
Professor, School of Medicine

Wanda Strychalski, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics

James Van Orman, PhD
Professor, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

Mark A. Willis, PhD
Professor, Department of Biology


Schubert Center for Child Studies Program Advisors

Gabriella Celeste, JD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology; Policy Director, Schubert Center for Child Studies; Co-Director and Minor Advisor, Childhood Studies Program

Anastasia Dimitropoulos, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences; Director, Schubert Center for Child Studies; Co-Director and Minor Advisor, Childhood Studies Program

Sonia Minnes, PhD
Professor, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences; Research Director, Schubert Center for Child Studies

Elizabeth Short, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences; Co-Director and Minor Advisor, Childhood Studies Program