On Saturday, April 18th 2009 the Geology department officially inaugurated the Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies. This new Collection and Research facility was funded by the Tawani Foundation with a generous grant of $7.3 million, and included a significant meteorite collection from the Planetary Studies Foundation valued at an additional $3 million.
In attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony and polar panel on April 18 were FM Trustee and former Board Chair Robert Pritzker and Col. James Pritzker, members of Col. Pritzker’s recent Antarctic expedition, representatives of the Tawani Foundation, a representative of Prince Albert of Monaco, and Board Chairman, John Canning.
The generosity of Col. James Pritzker and the Tawani Foundation enable The Field Museum to stay at the forefront of meteorite research, as well as open new avenues of research in the polar regions, including paleontology, biodiversity studies, and climate change.