The Arizona Astrobiology Center (AABC) was launched in October with LPL Regents Professor Dante Lauretta as Director. AABC brings together more than 40 faculty members from 4 colleges and 13 disciplines to conduct cutting-edge research, train diverse future leaders and encourage collaborative dialogue with communities about the existence, origin and evolution of life in the universe. Part of what the center will explore – in addition to life's origins and existence on other worlds – is what such discoveries might mean to different cultures and traditions around the world. The center also seeks to share these grand ideas through public engagement efforts.