Emory psychologists to build new connections in Science Commons

Marshall Duke: "Some years ago, from out of the blue, I received an anonymous gift of several thousand dollars from a former student to be used to fund my research. Not only did this allow me and my current students to explore some very interesting questions, but it affirmed for me the power of the relationships that we here at Emory work to establish and maintain every single day."

[Candler Professor of Psychology, two-time winner of the Williams Award for Distinguished Teaching]

Philanthropic contributions are more important than ever because they further the College's momentum in bringing together the world's top students and scholars in an exciting intellectual community.

As the College continues to invest in groundbreaking research and inquiry-driven teaching, your contributions create new opportunities – and may lead to important discoveries that benefit humanity – in the decades ahead.

Below we've included naming opportunities that are currently available. If you would like more information, contact Josh Newton (404-727-9627, joshua.newton@emory.edu).

Naming Opportunities

Psychology Building Name

A transformational gift will name the new building where psychologists and students will share modern classrooms, labs and offices in close proximity to Emerson Hall (Chemistry) and the Math & Science Center. The five-story building (119,000 square feet) will be constructed to take advantage of the latest approaches to teaching and research. For example, technology-enhanced collaboration spaces located throughout the building will allow for ad hoc meetings between faculty and students, as well as among students themselves. Instructors will find a variety of learning spaces that encourage an inquiry-driven education, all seamlessly integrated with current technology. Researchers will conduct groundbreaking work in laboratories that will be easily adapted to fit their research needs. The building will pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, recognizing its status as high-performance, sustainable building.

Brain Imaging Center

Many scientists believe that the next frontier of discovery, following last decade's work on the human genome, will involve research on the human brain. This work is advancing rapidly thanks to fMRI technology, a brain scanning technique that shows real-time changes throughout the brain while an individual performs various functions. With greater access to an fMRI facility, Emory scholars and students from across the disciplinary spectrum will be able to address the connections among the higher cognitive functions of the brain, molecular and neural system studies of memory, and cultural mechanisms. Fully aware of the need for collaboration and team-based research, funding agencies such as NIH, NSF, and private sponsors are actively supporting mind-brain initiatives.

Psychological Center

The Psychological Center serves children, adolescents and adults in the Atlanta community and is a training facility for advanced doctoral candidates in clinical psychology. Established in 1965 and accredited by the American Psychological Association, the Center is staffed by 13 licensed Ph.D. clinical psychologists and a group of advanced-level graduate student trainees.

Child Studies Center

The Child Studies Center will house the Emory Infant and Child Lab, Language and Learning Lab and Family Narratives Project laboratory. The Infant and Child Lab, led by Philippe Rochat, focuses on issues of early social cognition, and early emotional and moral development. The Language and Learning Lab, headed by Laura Namy, studies how typically developing children learn, particularly how they learn language, use other forms of communication such as gestures, and learn categories. The Spatial Cognition Laboratory, led by Stella Lourenco, focuses on the development of spatial perception and reasoning, as well as developing interventions that can maximize spatial and numerical competence in children and adults. The Family Narratives Project, led by Robyn Fivush, investigates how children and adults remember and create meaningful accounts of their past experiences through examining personal and family narratives. Early research shows that family rituals such as dinners together and story telling may help adolescents avoid dangerous behaviors.

Auditorium

The 110-seat auditorium will become one of Emory's most attractive spaces, making it optimal not only for classes suited to lecture-style delivery but also for special events and speakers. Advanced technology will allow for events to be taped for simultaneous broadcast or archived streaming via the Web. Adjacent lobby space spilling out into the courtyard will provide a gracious area for receptions and presentations.

Main Lobby

Courtyard

Child Studies Center lobby

Psychology Center lobby

Psychology Department conference room

Psychology Center therapy rooms

Smaller Psychology conference rooms (4)

Collaboration areas with technology (2)

Current research shows that students learn as much outside the classroom as inside of it and as much from each other as from their teachers, and current design trends in learning space pay as much attention to "informal" learning spaces as "formal" ones (aka classrooms). Collaboration areas situated throughout the building are modeled after those found in the award-winning Cox Computing Center, with a large plasma screen for shared reference to learning materials available via the network. Here, students can sit down with a cup of coffee, visit their online course, compile materials for a presentation, and author the presentation, all within easy reach of their professors.

Collaboration areas without technology (1)

Graduate Computing Lab

Computer Classroom

Laboratories (35)

Psychology classrooms (5)

Faculty offices

Lactation room

Faculty Gifts

Emory provides several giving opportunities for donors who would like to endow a professorship or lectureship. These gifts enable the College to attract and retain first-rate scholars whose work advances the frontiers of knowledge and benefits the lives of both local and global communities. We will be happy to provide more information on request.

Giving Opportunities