CLAS's offices are found in the Center for International Studies on the 4th floor of Wesley Posvar Hall, Pitt's largest academic building.

Litchfield cited Latin America's “important economic, social and political ties with the United States” in advocating for the establishment of a Center.

[6] With a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the Ford Foundation awarded in 1964, Litchfield hired political scientist Cole Blasier to direct the founding of the center.

The collection was created and primarily built by Eduardo Lozano, a librarian, artist, poet, and author from Argentina who directed the Latin American Library from its creation until his death in 2006.

[14] In 2002, a Latin American inspired reading room, housing a portion of the Lozano Collection, was dedicated in the university's Hillman Library.

[15] Composed of arches and columns with windows on three sides, the room was designed by Peruvian-American architect Victor Beltran to be reminiscent of a Spanish courtyard.

[citation needed] The graduate program at CLAS is aimed at doctoral or master's students who want to incorporate a specialization in Latin America into their studies.

[17] The center also published two in-house newsletters, CLASicos and Las Noticias, and in concert with the University of Pittsburgh Press, its faculty and staff are often involved in helping to produce scholarly publications and journals covering a range of Latin American topics.

[18] In addition, the center also hosts the website Panoramas which provides an on-line venue for a dialogue and academic discussion of Latin American and Caribbean issues.