Garrison, NY - The Hastings Center, an independent bioethics research institution, and Yale University have announced the establishment of the Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy.

Hastings Center cofounder Daniel Callahan and David H. Smith, director of Yale's Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, formalized the long-standing ties between the two institutions at a signing ceremony at Yale on January 16, 2009. The collaboration is designed to increase the range, depth, and impact of both bioethics programs in teaching, research, and understanding of the field. Callahan and Smith are codirectors of the joint program, and both are Yale alumni. Callahan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College in 1952; Smith earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1964.

"I could hardly have imagined when I entered Yale as a freshman that I would be coming back many years later for a whole new relationship," Callahan said. "Nor could I have guessed it would be in a field that did not even exist when I was a student. It is exciting and stimulating, and a wonderful opportunity for the Center."


"At a time when bioethics has more relevance than ever, The Hastings Center welcomes the opportunity to work closely with our colleagues at Yale to develop new knowledge and new insights," said Thomas H. Murray, president of the Center.

"The University has been extremely fortunate to call upon the leadership of individuals like David Smith and Dan Callahan to transform bioethics at Yale from an exciting vision to a vibrant reality. Collaboration with a distinguished and accomplished partner like The Hastings Center promises to expand our vision and to broaden our impact on bioethical issues and discourse within the University community and beyond," said Stephanie Spangler, deputy provost for biomedical and health affairs.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for Yale's Bioethics Center," Smith said. "The Hastings Center has an unrivaled track record and an extraordinary range of contacts around the world. We will benefit from all that and help to make an important contribution in the years ahead."

"Collaboration between the Hastings Center and Yale's bioethics community brings together two very strong groups of ethicists and policy analysts, forming one of the most impressive bioethics programs anywhere," said Don Green, director of Yale's Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) and the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of Political Science. The Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics is a program of the ISPS.