Kelly Crace Named Executive Director of the Contemplative Sciences Center

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - The University of Virginia announced today the selection of Kelly Crace as executive director of UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center. Crace will officially begin his new post on January 8, 2025.

 

Crace currently serves as associate vice president for health and wellness and director of the Center for Mindfulness and Authentic Excellence (CMAX) at William & Mary. Previously, he directed college mental health centers at both William & Mary and Duke University. 

 

A licensed psychologist, Crace is the co-author of Authentic Excellence: Flourishing & Resilience in a Relentless World and the Life Values Inventory, a tool designed to help individuals and organizations clarify their values and serve as a blueprint for effective decision-making and optimal functioning. He has published and presented in the areas of values, flourishing, resilience, life role development and transition, and organizational development, and has conducted more than 3,000 seminars for organizations.

 

A search committee co-chaired by Deputy Provost Brie Gertler and CSC Advisory Board Chair Jeffrey Walker sought a leader who could advance CSC’s strategic mission of combining contemplation, connection, and research to enhance flourishing. 

 

“We are thrilled that Kelly will lead the Contemplative Sciences Center at this pivotal moment,” Gertler said. “We were looking for someone with a demonstrated commitment and a significant track record in promoting contemplative practices and advancing research on flourishing. We found all of this in Kelly, and I am delighted that he is bringing his expertise and experience to UVA.”

 

Created with a gift from Sonia and Paul Jones in 2012, UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center provides opportunities for students and others in the UVA community to learn about and engage in contemplative practices; partners with researchers at UVA and beyond to facilitate, generate, and disseminate research in the contemplative sciences; and works on the global scale to promote understanding of the value of contemplative practices. 

 

“Kelly’s experience throughout his career fits perfectly with the CSC’s focus on positively influencing the well-being and mental health of students and the entire UVA community,” Walker said. “My fellow advisory board members and I look forward to welcoming him to Grounds in January and to supporting this important work.”

 

Over more than a decade, the CSC has collaborated with UVA partners to offer academic courses and contemplative practice classes; sponsor a year-long citizen leaders fellowship program for international students, transfer students, and student-athletes; and develop a K-5 curriculum for the Compassionate Schools Project with UVA’s School of Education and Human Development, among other programs. 

 

The CSC is the home of the peer-reviewed, open-access Journal of Contemplative Studies (JCS), which publishes original research and scholarship on topics related to contemplative science with a focus on humanistic studies and transdisciplinary scholarship. 

 

In addition, CSC staff partner with colleagues from Stanford University and the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder on the Dalai Lama Global Fellowship program, a one-year fellowship program for emerging changemakers around the world who aim to cultivate leadership practices rooted in awareness, compassion, and integrity.

 

With the appointment of a new executive director and the recent completion of its new building, the Contemplative Commons, the CSC is poised to begin an exciting new chapter. The Contemplative Commons is a 57,000 square foot building in the heart of UVA Grounds designed for immersive, experiential learning and innovative research. Adjacent to the Dell Pond on Emmet Street, it incorporates outdoor spaces including contemplative gardens and a tree-lined courtyard. A grand opening will take place in April 2025.

 

The Contemplative Commons will be a hub for lectures, conferences, and other academic programs coordinated by CSC’s Director of Research and a faculty Research Advisory Board through the CSC’s Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab (CIRCL). CIRCL is building an interdisciplinary network of UVA research faculty and connecting these researchers to national and international networks.

 

“I’m excited about this remarkable opportunity to lead the Contemplative Sciences Center team at UVA. The CSC is an incredible resource for the University community and for everyone who is interested in contemplative practices and human flourishing,” Crace said. “I am particularly looking forward to growing partnerships with colleagues from across the UVA community, and to welcoming them into the new Contemplative Commons in the spring.”