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Claremont McKenna College plays a significant role in addressing critical questions of importance to society through 11 nationally recognized research institutes. The institutes serve to enrich the curriculum and provide timely research opportunities for students working closely with faculty scholars. They also attract distinguished scholars and lecturers to the College, provide students with a variety of internship experiences, and produce scholarly research valuable to the community, the state, and the nation. The institutes in the order of their founding are:
The Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World
The Salvatori Center was founded in 1969. The Center is devoted to developing close relations between students and scholars to engage in the study of freedom, particularly as it relates to American Constitutionalism. It seeks to understand and nurture the civic, moral, political, and philosophical underpinnings of democracy in America, including the study of liberal democracy, and the political philosophy that informs it more broadly. The Center is uniquely positioned to further the College’s mission of promoting responsible citizenship and leadership by encouraging a deeper understanding of democracy and enabling students to affect real-world change. Professor George Thomas, Wohlford Professor of American Political Institutions, serves as the director of the Center.
The Rose Institute of State and Local Government
The Rose Institute of State and Local Government is a leading source of objective, non-partisan information on California state and local governments. Founded in 1973, the Institute’s mission is to enhance the education of students at CMC, produce high quality research, and promote public understanding of issues of state and local government, with an emphasis on California. The Institute’s professional staff and student teams conduct research in areas including demographics, polling, direct democracy, elections, governance, public policy, and California’s competitiveness. Professor Ken Miller, Don H. and Edessa Rose Professor of State and Local Government, is the Institute’s director.
The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies
The Keck Center’s main goals are to engage students in the sophisticated analysis of contemporary international and strategic issues and to encourage and support students and faculty to conduct research on critical issues in world affairs. The Center’s activities include support for student research, extracurricular activities and practical experiences, student fellowships and awards, funding of summer internships, curriculum development, public lectures, scholarly conferences and workshops, and faculty research. The Center offers extensive experiential learning opportunities for students that involve podcasting, international journalism, research assistantships, conference travel, and international study trips. Professor Hilary Appel, the Podlich Family Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow, is the director of the Center.
The Lowe Institute of Political Economy
The primary mission of the Lowe Institute of Political Economy is to provide students with opportunities to apply their textbook knowledge of economics, politics, and statistics to address open-ended questions under the supervision of faculty experts. We pursue this by designing and funding a variety of faculty-student research projects where students contribute by providing quantitative analysis on a variety of questions from academia and public policy. This fits neatly with the founding vision that Claremont McKenna College would prepare students to engage with the economic and political problems of the day. Professor Cameron Shelton, McMahon Family Associate Professor of Political Economy and George R. Roberts Fellow, is the director of the Institute.
The Roberts Environmental Center
The Roberts Environmental Center (REC) takes an interdisciplinary approach to equip students with the skills needed to address real-world environmental challenges and opportunities. Recent REC projects working with external clients span ecological conservation, climate mitigation, sustainable finance, and environmental education. These include evaluating tree canopy strategies for urban heat mitigation, creating a long-term carbon offset dataset for Certified B Corp companies, analyzing solar adoption in multifamily housing, mapping the corporate social responsibility market, and analyzing capital allocation in impact venture capital. The REC also oversees sustainability initiatives on campus and national sustainability reporting for CMC. Professor Branwen Williams, George R. Roberts Professor of Integrated Sciences: Environmental Science, is the Director of the Center.
The Family of Benjamin Z. Gould Center for Humanistic Studies
The Gould Center for Humanistic Studies provides opportunities for research, study, and experience in art, literature, history, philosophy and other fields as a means to understand and develop the power and use of the imagination. The Gould Center provides mutual research opportunities for students and faculty in the humanities via programs such as our yearlong Humanities Labs, our winter break Passion Projects, and our summer Creative Works Fellowships. Other initiatives, such as the Gould Center Fellows program, serve to introduce students to the power of the humanities. The Gould Center also sponsors research and visiting fellowships, lectures, seminars, artistic and musical performances, and traveling fellowships. Professor Amy Kind, Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, is the director of the Center.
The Kravis Leadership Institute
The Kravis Leadership Institute (KLI) empowers students through leadership workshops, conferences, programs, and cutting-edge research opportunities. Students can also get involved in internships, student enterprises, and student consulting. The Institute brings distinguished alumni to campus to mentor and support students. Students work with KLI faculty on research projects studying leadership dynamics in various forms and in different contexts. KLI designs and delivers a range of co-curricular student leadership development initiatives in addition to the oversight of the student-led nonprofit consulting program, SOURCE. The Institute administers the Leadership Studies Sequence , including courses in psychology, government, history, literature, philosophy, economics, military science, and leadership. The Institute hosts the annual Kravis-de Roulet Leadership Conference and publishes a newsletter, Illumine. Professor David Day, Professor of Psychological Science, the Steven L. Eggert ‘82 Professor of Leadership and George R. Roberts Fellow, is the academic director of the Institute.
The Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development
The Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development is an intellectual and experiential home for research and programming focused on contemporary social issues. Our current research and programming focuses on three main goals: (a) advancing understanding of how well-being, health, and disease are affected by psychological states and social environments; (b) educating students, parents, educators, and public policy leaders on the interactions between individuals, their communities, and well-being; and (c) promoting interdisciplinary, community-focused, and translational research with the goal of promoting responsible and resilient leadership. We train students to produce and disseminate high-quality research with implications for policy, practical applications, and theory. Professor Stacey Doan, Norwood and Frances Berger Professor of Psychology, Business, and Society, is the director of the Institute.
The Mgrublian Center for Human Rights
With the study of the Holocaust as its foundation, the Center provides an educational experience that combines classroom and hands-on/experiential learning, activism, and research to foster in students a deeper understanding of human rights in their lives, and to prepare interested students for careers and postgraduate work in related professions. The Center hosts leading scholars on the Holocaust and genocide studies (including the Armenian genocide), human rights activists, sponsors academic travel, internships, student-led task forces, research projects, and supports local and global campaigns, thereby advancing the cause of human rights more broadly while helping students develop the ethical commitments and leadership qualities necessary to identify, prevent, and overcome human rights abuses in today’s world. Professor Heather Ferguson serves as the director of the Center.
The Financial Economics Institute
The Financial Economics Institute (FEI) administers a unique curricular program, the Financial Economics Sequence, which affords a rigorous educational opportunity for CMC students that is distinguished both by its liberal arts emphasis and quantitative orientation. The Institute provides databases and other resources to support faculty and student research, and sponsors conferences, workshops, and other events intended to bridge theory and practice, such as the Private Equity Case Competition or the Fintech Practicum, where students work in teams on consulting projects sponsored by financial institutions and fintech startups. Each year, the FEI sponsors a trip that allows CMC students to visit some of the leading financial institutions in New York City. The Institute also oversees several student clubs, including the Student Investment Fund, Claremont Quant Finance Club, Real Estate Finance Association, and the Claremont Cryptocurrency Club. Professor Nishant Dass, Charles M. Stone Professor of Finance, is the director of the Institute.
The Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The mission of the Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RLCIE) is to help prepare students to be thoughtful, productive, and responsible business leaders and innovators. The RLCIE advances its mission by identifying gaps in the coursework, career preparation, and other activities students participate in and then guiding and supporting the development of experiential education to fill the gaps. The primary offerings are the RLCIE Fellows Program, The Venture Capital Program, Graphite Group, Product Space, and Claremont Accelerator. The RLCIE supports a variety of related programming, including courses, workshops, networking events, speakers, mentoring, pitch events, internships, and guidance for prospective entrepreneurs. The leadership team includes students, faculty, staff, and an Advisory Board. Professor Darren Filson, James G. Boswell Professor of Economics, is the Director and Ron LaPierre is the Executive Director and Entrepreneur in Residence.
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