Reimagining GRADUATE EDUCATION

Reimagining GRADUATE EDUCATION

letter from dean lisa a. tedesco COMPRISING faculty from nearly every school within Emory University, the Laney Graduate School takes pride in providing rigorous training to researchers and scholars who are future intellectual leaders in higher education, business, government, industry, civic life, and just about every other facet of world societies and cultures. We have the privilege of working in an institution shaped by the imaginative and generative leadership of President Emeritus James T. Laney. Dr. Laney established at Emory a vision of graduate education as a contribution to the public good, a vision that continues to animate Emory s commitment to creating knowledge that will address the most complex and pressing of today s global problems. So much of this work is driven by private philanthropy. Alumni and friends looking for philanthropic opportunities will find meaningful avenues for investment in the Laney Graduate School. Among them are three funds honoring Dr. Laney and professional development programs that prepare our students for careers both in and beyond the academy. Those opportunities are outlined in this brochure, and I invite you to learn more about them. You will find that investing in the Laney Graduate School offers enduring returns.

A Continuing Legacy of scholarship When James T. Laney became Emory s president in 1977, he decided that a stronger graduate school was imperative for Emory to join the front ranks of national universities. During the next decade, through careful stewardship of the $105 million Woodruff gift, he increased the faculty, attracted distinguished scholars, and expanded the graduate school in both distinction and breadth. By the end of his presidency, the school had grown in such significant ways that Emory was invited to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), an elite group of research universities in the United States and Canada. Making the announcement, AAU s president credited Emory with major contributions to the advancement of the nation s research base and to the education of the nation s next generation of scientists, scholars, and teachers. To recognize the contributions of Dr. Laney, in 2009 the Emory Board of Trustees approved naming the graduate school the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies. Today, under the thoughtful leadership of Dean Lisa A. Tedesco, Emory s graduate faculty members from across the university guide the education of more than 1,500 students each year, and the school grants more than 300 degrees annually.

invest in education: the laney funds Honoring the efforts of President Emeritus James T. Laney to strengthen graduate education at Emory University, the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies seeks to build endowments for three academic funds that bear his name. With the full support of Emory s alumni and friends, these funds will become the most prestigious awards in doctoral education nationwide. James T. Laney Fellowship Endowment for Arts and Sciences: Your gifts to the James T. Laney Fellowship Endowment for Arts and Sciences will enable Emory to recruit some of the best minds in higher education to advance research and strengthen teaching in the humanities and social sciences. James T. Laney Fellowship Endowment for Biological, Biomedical and Health Sciences: Your investment in the James T. Laney Fellowship Endowment for Biological, Biomedical and Health Sciences will help recruit leading researchers to create new knowledge and raise the standard for university research nationwide. James T. Laney Symposium: Not yet endowed, the new James T. Laney Symposium presents an annual conversation on a topic that touches difficult issues facing global and local communities. Gifts of any amount can support this new engagement for scholarship and action as it takes form. A gift of $500,000 will create an endowment for the Laney Symposium, ensuring its funding in perpetuity.

invest in students: professional development The Laney Graduate School strives to prepare graduate students for teaching that increasingly relies on digital technologies, for professional positions outside of the academy, and for careers that may move between the academy and other sectors. To build financial support for professional development programs, the school seeks leadership-level gifts to the Dean s Fund for Excellence and endowed naming gifts, which ensure funding in perpetuity. Opportunities for investment include the following: n Professional Development Support funds, enabling research, training, and conference participation n Grant Writing Program, supporting students in the humanities and social sciences at every stage of grant writing n Program for Scholarly Integrity, for training in professional ethics and the responsible conduct of research n Networking events and the Alumni Mentoring Program n Pathways Beyond the Professoriate, a speaker series that connects students to successful alumni who have chosen career paths outside of the academy n Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity, providing lessons in the art of teaching

The laney graduate school: a sound investment Your support for the Laney Graduate School will help attract the brightest minds in higher education, fuel creative discussions that enliven the community and strengthen the academic enterprise, and help prepare Emory s talented students for leadership in a wide range of professional roles. In addition to the Laney Funds and professionalization programs at the Laney Graduate School, donors may invest in any of the school s academic programs, which are listed here. Anthropology Art History Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Clinical Research Cognition and Development (Psychology) Comparative Literature History Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis* Islamic Civilizations Studies Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution* Religion Sociology Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology* Bioethics Biomedical Engineering Biostatistics Business Cancer Biology* Chemistry Clinical Psychology Computer Science and Informatics Development Practice Economics Educational Studies English Environmental Health Sciences Epidemiology Film Studies French Genetics and Molecular Biology* Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts Health Services Research and Health Policy Mathematics MD/PhD Microbiology and Molecular Genetics* Molecular and Systems Pharmacology* Music Neuroscience* Neuroscience and Animal Behavior (Psychology) Nursing Nutrition and Health Sciences* Philosophy Physics Political Science Spanish Women s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies * A program of the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. The Laney Graduate School has a tradition of research and scholarship that reaches beyond the campus gates to make a difference in the world.

how to invest To invest in the Laney Graduate School, contact Senior Director of Development Katie Busch at kbusch@emory.edu or 404.727.1521. Or send your contribution by mail (make checks payable to Emory University) to 201 Dowman Drive, 209 Administration Building, Atlanta, GA 30322. To give online, visit emory.edu/give. graduateschool.emory.edu