The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is a private, nonprofit organization supporting research and conservation programs that encompass all aspects of Egyptian history and culture, from the prehistoric to modern day. For over a century, Americans have been active and productive partners with Egypt in the recovery and preservation of Egypt's cultural heritage. For the past half century, ARCE has filled a critical leadership function within the community of Egyptian and foreign scholars in Egypt who are active in the excavation, exploration, scholarship, and conservation of the country's cultural heritage.

Formed in 1948 by a consortium of American educational and cultural institutions and individuals, ARCE facilitates individual and American institutional research in Egypt. It provides American scholars with a permanent base in Cairo, the nexus of intellectual and cultural life in the Middle East, and facilitates their access to Egyptian and foreign institutional archives situated in the capital and other major population centers. Each year, ARCE supports more than a dozen archaeological teams, sponsored by leading U.S. and Canadian museums and universities, and awards approximately 12-16 fellowships.

New and exciting initiatives have begun in Upper Egypt for the structural monitoring, conservation, and training of Egyptian conservators at the vast Karnak and Luxor Temples. In the fall of 2007, USAID made an additional award to ARCE to record some of the historic monuments of Luxor, to assist in the archaeological component of a groundwater lowering project on the West Bank at Luxor, and to conduct the first-ever field school in salvage archeology techniques for our Egyptian colleagues.