Our new name does not signal a shift in the mission of the Center, which remains essentially unchanged from its beginnings in 2001: to expand social well-being in the world. We do this by studying the social and biological roots of positive emotions and behaviors, and by distributing relevant findings to practitioners and members of the general public who can apply them to their personal and professional lives. You might be interested in learning more about our History.

Our name change is motivated by feedback we have received from people about our Center's identity. Over the last five years, we have found that the word "peace" leads people to believe the core of our work is political in nature, is related to peace and conflict studies, or even that we might be a yoga studio! We have also found the old name to be too long and cumbersome.

Instead, our new name builds on the success of our magazine Greater Good. Highlighting the name Greater Good emphasizes our intention to increase social well-being in the world. We also want to communicate that all we do is based on science — scholarly research of the social and biological roots of positive emotions. The term "Science Center" indicates our desire to bring these scientific findings to practitioners and members of the general public in a way that is both accessible and engaging.