National Humanities Center
In 1973, the Academy formed a planning committee to explore the development and creation in the United States of an institute for advanced humanistic studies, somewhat analogous to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
In 1973, the Academy formed a planning committee to explore the development and creation in the United States of an institute for advanced humanistic studies, somewhat analogous to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. For the next five years, the Academy served as the institutional base and catalyst for the planning and development activities associated with this effort. In 1978, the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park near Raleigh, North Carolina, opened its doors, with Academy Fellow Charles Frankel serving as its first director. The NHC is the only major independent American institute for advanced study in all fields of the humanities. Each year, it supports 40 fellows who pursue individual and collaborative humanistic research. By encouraging excellence in scholarship, the Center insures the continuing strength and importance of the liberal arts and the humanities in American life.