The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science empowers scientists and health professionals to communicate complex topics in clear, vivid, and engaging ways; leading to improved understanding by the public, media, patients, elected officials, and others outside of their own discipline.

The Center was formally established in 2009 with support from Stony Brook University, Stony Brook School of Journalism, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and is located at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. Training methodologies are inspired by the empathy, clarity, and vivid storytelling brought to life by Alan Alda and hundreds of experts on the PBS television show Scientific American Frontiers.

The Alda Center’s faculty specialize in: science, technology, engineering, math, medicine, journalism, communications, public policy and theater. This multidisciplinary approach to science communication training helps trainees tap into innate connections that come alive naturally when people recall a passion for their work.

Alda Communication Training Company

In 2017, Alan Alda founded the Alda Communication Training Company (ACT) to capitalize on the communication training innovations created at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. Here’s how we work together.

The Alda Center

• Designs programs and workshops for trainings in STEM and medical communication
• Conducts research on science and medical communication
• Develops intellectual property for ACT to use in other areas outside of STEM and medicine
• Leverages the full assets of a research university and serves as an interface to provide direct engagement with the entire SUNY system

Alda Communication Training Company

• Provides operational support so the Alda Center can devote more resources to research and development
• Interfaces with clients and trainers to clear and process contracts, billing and legal requirements
• Builds on our strong name recognition and provides guardianship and guidelines for the use of the brands
• Creates diversified revenue lines through the creation and marketing of new training programs developed from the Alda Center’s work

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Our Financial Model

The Alda Center’s intellectual property forms the basis for much of ACT’s commercial enterprise, which returns financial assets to the Alda Center by booking workshops and returning profits to fund ongoing research and development work. The Alda Center receives additional revenue from private donations, interest on endowment investments, grants and sponsorships, as well as tuition and base budget contributions from Stony Brook University.

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