BBR Campus Main Building

The Carnegie Institution of Washington, a private, nonprofit organization engaged in basic research and advanced education in biology, astronomy, and the earth sciences, was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 and incorporated by Act of Congress in 1904. Mr. Carnegie, who provided an initial endowment of $10 million and later gave additional millions, conceived the Institution's purpose "to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind."

From its earliest years, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering research organization, devoted to fields of inquiry that its trustees and staff consider among the most significant in the development of science and scholarship. Its funds are used primarily to support investigations at its own research departments. Recognizing that fundamental research is closely related to the development of outstanding young scholars, the Institution conducts a strong program of advanced education at the predoctoral and postdoctoral levels. Carnegie also conducts distinctive programs for elementary school teachers and children in Washington, DC. At First Light, a Saturday "hands-on" science school, elementary school students explore worlds within and around them. At summer sessions of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education, elementary school teachers learn interactive techniques of science teaching.