Columbia’s 450,000-square-foot Jerome L. Greene Science Center, home to the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, is designed for the kind of social interaction and interdisciplinary thought among a diversity of scholars that is essential for new ideas to thrive. Its transparency and public spaces open the world of brain science to a wider community beyond campus.

An Extraordinary Space for Exploring the Complexities of Mind, Brain and Behavior

The mechanisms of the brain, the workings of the mind, the complexities of human behavior—these are the challenges that define the scientific frontier for the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. Grasping the implications for the health of the brain, mind and nervous system is perhaps the greatest challenge facing 21st-century science.

The Zuckerman Institute brings together a constellation of neuroscientists, engineers, statisticians, psychologists and other scholars from across Columbia University and around the world who will collaborate on research, teaching and public programming.

By providing unrivaled facilities and encouraging cross-disciplinary interaction, the building will enable advances in inquiries ranging from the biology of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to investigations that bring together computer science, economics, law, the arts and social policy.

“Just as science was

transformed in the 20th

century by the decoding

of DNA, science in the 21st

century will be transformed

by decoding the human

brain.”

—Eric Kandel, MD,

2000 Nobel laureate and

codirector of the

Zuckerman Institute

Jerome L. Greene Science CenterA Center for Scientific Discovery

Pioneering Leadership

The Institute is led by two of Columbia’s most distinguished scientists. Richard Axel, MD, has performed pioneering work mapping the genetics and molecular biology of the olfactory system—research that earned him a Nobel Prize in 2004. Eric Kandel, MD, has conducted seminal work showing how learning permanently alters synaptic connections between neurons—research recognized with a Nobel Prize in 2000.

The building was made possible by a gift from the late Dawn M. Greene ’80HON and the Jerome L. Greene Foundation in memory of Jerome L. Greene ’26CC, ’28LAW. The Zuckerman Institute was established through a gift from New York philanthropist and business leader Mortimer B. Zuckerman.

Nurturing Connections

The nine-story structure is the largest that Columbia has ever built and the biggest academic science building in New York City. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop with Davis Brody Bond, LLP as executive architect and Body Lawson Associates, a Harlem-based certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), as associate architect, the Greene Science Center creates innovative spaces that fuel a collision of ideas.

Inviting social spaces will bring faculty, scholars and students together to share ideas, hear new perspectives and generate fresh insights. Stairways that pair floors and spaces with communal facilities and a floor plan that groups the labs of scientists with similar areas of inquiry will help foster collaboration among fellow researchers.

Engaging the Community

Architect Renzo Piano planned the Greene Science Center’s ground floor to ensure that the “ritual of learning, teaching, exploring and the ritual of everyday life come together.” With lively retail and restaurant options serving the campus and the local community, the building’s ground floor corridor will also be the site of public events and interactive installations that engage people of all ages in the wonders of brain science and mysteries of the mind.

The public lobby floor of the building will also house a community Wellness Center led by physicians from Columbia University Medical Center who have developed pioneering programs to address mental health and stroke prevention in Harlem and Washington Heights. The Center will not only work to improve access to mental health services and raise awareness about stroke and other neurological conditions, it will also offer free blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, as well as appropriate medical referrals. The main floor of the Jerome L. Greene Science Center will also be home to the Zuckerman Institute’s Education Lab, which will host a range of programs designed for local students, public school teachers and all lifelong learners interested in brain science.

Learn more at manhattanville.columbia.edu

Jerome L. Greene Science Center