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Washington-based Carnegie institute HQ sold to Qatar

April 19, 2021 at 3:45 pm

The Administration Building, Carnegie Institution of Washington is located at 1530 P Street, N.W., in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Beaux-Arts style building was designed by the Carrère and Hastings architectural firm in 1910. The Administration Building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and is designated as a contributing property to the Sixteenth Street Historic District [AgnosticPreachersKid/Wikicommons]

The Carnegie Institution for Science’s D.C. has sold its headquarters to the government of Qatar for an undisclosed price, Doha News reported.

The decision to sell Carnegie’s iconic building to Qatari has created problems between its management and staff.

According to Science Mag’s report, after Carnegie President Eric Isaacs announced on 2 April that the institute had sold the building to Qatar for an undisclosed amount, 140 scientists, students, and staff members wrote to the board of trustees, noting what they called Qatar’s dismal human rights record.

“I am very, very concerned” about the cultural change at Carnegie and the top-down nature of the reorganisation, says Yixian Zheng, the director of Carnegie’s embryology department.

The Qatari government plans to use the building to house its embassy as it lies 1.5 kilometres from the White House, according to Washington Business Journal. 

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