In December 1998, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham College, and the Pittsburgh Public Schools received a grant from Yale University with which to establish the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute.  That grant which was part of a larger grant that had been awarded to Yale by the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund was matched locally by funds provided by the Buhl Foundation through The Frick Educational Fund, The Grable Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, and the Hillman Foundation.  Funds to continue the project beyond the demonstration period have been provided by the Alcoa Foundation, The Maurice Falk Medical Fund, The Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and The Wean Foundation as well as by the School District with funds from its National Science Foundation and Department of Education Teaching American History grants. 
     Following the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute model, teachers suggest topics; the college and university professors lead the seminars for the teachers; and the teachers-the Institute Fellows-are treated as members of the college/university community.  While participating in seminars, Fellows prepare curriculum units or other documents that draw on the content of the seminar and then use their units or other documents in teaching their classes during the following school year.  To increase the impact of the seminars on the district, the teacher-developed units and other documents are available to other teachers on the institute’s website and in hard copy.       

Dr. Helen S. Faison, former Chair of Education at Chatham College and former Acting Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, serves as the Institute's Director.