According to the author, the setting for their nonprofit education center was close to ideal: Support from a dean who cares deeply about nonprofit organizations; encouragement from the university and its renewed focus on reaching beyond its walls on the eve of its centennial; and a generous gift from alumni who have been affiliated with the university for more than 70 years. While these factors were invaluable as they began the process of starting their academic center, the process itself was complex. Among the many challenges: determining a mission, educating the market in a metropolitan area, creating a plan for sustainability, and earning academic credibility for a nascent field at a century-old research university. The one guiding principle was that the center would be serious about the business of the nonprofit sector. Although they are only two years into developing the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Rice University, their experiences may be useful to other institutions considering nonprofit education. (Contains 5 endnotes.)