Laurance Rockefeller
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Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and conservationist. Rockefeller was the third son and fourth child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. As a trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, he provided venture capital for
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
,
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and many other successful start-ups. Rockefeller was known for his involvement in wilderness preservation, ecology and the protection of wildlife. His crusade was the establishing of a conservation ethic, and he was declared America's leading conservationist by Lady Bird Johnson.


Early life and marriage

Rockefeller was born in New York City, as the fourth child of John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. His siblings were Abby, John III, Nelson, Winthrop, and
David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
. He graduated from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 1932 and attended
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
for two years, until he decided he did not want to be a lawyer. On August 22, 1934, in Woodstock, Vermont, Laurance married childhood friend Mary French, whose mother, Mary Montagu Billings French, was a friend of Laurance's mother. When brother Nelson attended
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, he shared a room with Mary's brother. Mary was granddaughter of Frederick H. Billings, a president of Northern Pacific Railway. Laurance and Mary had three daughters and a son. They are Laura Rockefeller Chasin, Marion Rockefeller Weber, Dr. Lucy R. Waletzky, and Laurance S. "Larry" Rockefeller Jr. He had eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.


Business, philanthropy, interests

In 1937, he inherited his grandfather's seat on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. He served as founding trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for forty-two years, from its inception in 1940 to 1982; during this time he also served as president (1958–1968) and later its chairman (1968–1980) for twenty-two years, longer than any other leader in the Fund's history. He was also a founding trustee of the Rockefeller Family Fund from 1967 to 1977. He was a leading figure in the pioneering field of
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
, founding a joint partnership with all five brothers and their only sister, Babs, in 1946. In 1969 this became the successful Venrock Associates, which provided important early funding for
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
and
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...
, amongst many other start-up technology companies, including many other firms involved in healthcare. Over the years his investment interests spread into the fields of aerospace, electronics, high temperature physics, composite materials, optics, lasers, data processing, thermionics, instrumentation and nuclear power. The family also had longstanding philanthropic ties, among them the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
,
Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...
, and
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
. Rockefeller's major interest was in aviation; after the War, he became friendly with Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who had triumphed in many dogfights over Europe. Rockefeller had learned to fly, and found Rickenbacker's vivid accounts of an approaching boom in commercial air travel to be persuasive. Within a decade after Rockefeller's considerable investment, Eastern Airlines had become the most profitable airline to emerge after World War II. He became its largest shareholder. He also funded the pivotal post-WWII military contractor McDonnell Aircraft Corp. In 1966, Rockefeller was considered by President Lyndon B. Johnson for the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, then a newly-formed agency. The position instead went to Robert C. Weaver, the first
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
Cabinet member in American history. Rockefeller was a longtime friend and associate of
DeWitt Wallace William Roy DeWitt Wallace ( ; November 12, 1889 – March 30, 1981), publishing as DeWitt Wallace, was an American magazine publisher. Wallace co-founded ''Reader's Digest'' with his wife Lila Bell Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922. ...
, who with his wife in 1922 co-founded ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
''. Wallace, who was a major funder of the family's Colonial Williamsburg, appointed Laurance as an outside director in the company. He wanted to ensure that it preserved its patriotic mission of informing and educating the public, along with support for national parks, one of Rockefeller's primary interests. Through his resort management company, Rockresorts, Inc., Rockefeller opened environmentally focused hotels at Caneel Bay on Saint John, United States Virgin Islands (1956; a favorite resort today for celebrities), some property of which was later turned over to the Virgin Islands National Park; in
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, on Virgin Gorda in the
British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...
, and Hawaii, contributing to the movement now known as eco-tourism. The last of these, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, was established in 1965 on the Kohala Coast of the island of Hawaii. Its most noted general manager was Adi Kohler, who later wrote the story of the construction of the famous hotel in his book "Mr. Mauna Kea" published by McKenna Publishing Group. While sailing past Virgin Gorda, Rockefeller spotted an idyllic half-mile crescent bay with what he dubbed "wilderness beach". In 1958 planning and land acquisition began for what would become Little Dix Bay. The resort opened in 1964 and on January 18, 2014, Little Dix Bay celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 1993, the resort became part of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts but remains true to Rockefeller's vision of natural harmony and balance while offering an escape from the ordinary. Elsewhere in the US Virgin Islands Rockresorts developed the Carambola Resort on St. Croix on an incredible stretch of beach that was also famous for being the setting for the closing scene of the movie Trading Places. Rockefeller funded the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at a critical juncture of its early development. He also funded William Irwin Thompson's Lindisfarne Association, a
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
and retreat. He had a major involvement in the New York Zoological Society, along with support from other family members and philanthropies; he was a long-time trustee (1935–1986), president (1968–1971) and chairman (1971–1985). In 1983, Laurance Rockefeller donated the primary funds to create The Mirror Theater Ltd, a New York-based theater company founded by Sabra Jones. The Mirror Theater Ltd is known for producing the 1983 Broadway play ''Alice in Wonderland'' at the Virginia Theatre and for the many plays performed by its Mirror Repertory Company. Rockefeller also funded research of the
PEAR Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...
lab, dealing with consciousness-based physical phenomena. He also had an interest, gained via his mother Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, in
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and Asian cultural affairs. He funded the research of Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. John E. Mack, author of ''Passport to the Cosmos''. He also was reported to have supported the work of Dr. Steven M. Greer of the Disclosure Project. Rockefeller was also a patron to Roger A. Weir, specifically in relation to Weir's research on Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Rockefeller opposed the harsh punishments of the War on Drugs, including the " Rockefeller Drug Laws" that his older brother, Nelson, championed. He wrote to the New York Times in June 2002, "Overly harsh laws and punishments have reduced faith in government, which is essential to the functioning of a democracy."


UFOs

In later life, Rockefeller became interested in UFOs. In 1993, along with his niece, Anne Bartley, the stepdaughter of Winthrop Rockefeller and the then-president of the ''Rockefeller Family Fund'', he established the ''UFO Disclosure Initiative to the Clinton White House''. They asked for all UFO information held by the government, including from the CIA and the
US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
, to be declassified and released to the public. The first and most important test case where declassification had to apply, according to Rockefeller, was the Roswell UFO incident. In September 1994, the Air Force categorically denied the incident was UFO-related. Rockefeller briefed Clinton on the results of his initiative in 1995. Clinton did produce an Executive Order in late 1994 to declassify numerous documents in the National Archives, but this did not specifically refer to UFO-related files.


Crop Pictograms

Laurence Rockefeller funded the UK's largest crop circle (pictograms) survey.


Conservation

He was noted for his involvement in conservation ( Lady Bird Johnson in 1967 labeled him "America's leading conservationist") and the protection of wildlife and was chairman of the ''Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission''. He was also a recipient of the Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award. He served on dozens of federal, state and local commissions and advised every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower on issues involving recreation, wilderness preservation and ecology. He founded the American Conservation Association and supported many other environmental groups. He funded the expansion of Grand Teton National Park and was instrumental in establishing and enlarging
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
s in Wyoming, California, the Virgin Islands, Vermont, Maine and Hawaii. In his home state, New York, he expended further cash and influence to help establish parklands and urban open spaces. There, as an active member of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, he helped create a chain of parks that blocked the advance of
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
. In September 1991, he was awarded the
Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...
for contributions to conservation and historic preservation. Awarded by President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
, it was the first time in the Medal's history (since 1777) that it had been awarded for outdoor issues, effectively naming Rockefeller as "Mr Conservation", who more than any other American had put this issue on the public agenda. Rockefeller said at the award presentation that nothing was more important to him than "the creation of a conservation ethic in America". In 1992 Rockefeller and his wife Mary donated their Woodstock, Vermont, summer home and farm to the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, creating a national park dedicated to the history of conservation, now called the
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park The George Perkins Marsh Boyhood Home, also known as the Marsh-Billings House or Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Mansion, is the architectural centerpiece of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, a National Historical Park in Woodstock ( ...
. In 2001, Rockefeller transferred ownership of his landmark 1106-acre (4.5 km2) '' JY Ranch'' to the Grand Teton National Park in
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
. It was accepted by Vice President
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
on behalf of the Federal government (see External Links below).


Affiliations

A partial list of Rockefeller's more notable conservation-related memberships:Robin Winks, ''Laurance S. Rockefeller'', Appendix, pp. 207–211) *American Conservation Association, Inc. – Founder, President and Trustee *
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
– Life Member * The Conservation Foundation – Founding Member and Trustee, board of directors * Environmental Defense Fund – Member *Greenacre Foundation – Trustee * Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc. – President * National Audubon Society – Life Member (Recipient, Audubon Medal, 1964) *
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...
– Board of Trustees * National Park Foundation – Vice chairman, board member Emeritus * National Trust for Historic Preservation – Life Member * National Wildlife Federation – Member *The Nature Conservancy – Member * New York Zoological Society – Trustee, Chairman *Palisades Interstate Park Commission – President * Save the Redwoods League – Life Member * The Wildlife Conservation Society – Chairman * World Wildlife Fund – Member


Personal life

Mary Rockefeller died in 1997, at the age of 86. Following his wife Mary's death, Rockefeller returned to New York. He died in his sleep of natural cause by pulmonary fibrosis on July 11, 2004, at the age of 94. Laurance Rockefeller was survived by his four children. He was interred next to his wife at the Rockefeller Family Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.


See also

*
Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family ( ) is an American Industrial sector, industrial, political, and List of banking families, banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the History of the petroleum industry in th ...
* David Rockefeller * Rockefeller Brothers Fund *
Venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
*
Private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
*
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...


References


Further reading

*''Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation'', by Robin W. Winks, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997. *''Memoirs'', David Rockefeller, New York: Random House, 2002. *''From the Captain to the Colonel: An Informal History of Eastern Airlines'', Robert J. Serling, New York: Dial Press, 1980.


External links


Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
* ttp://www.rockarch.org/ The Rockefeller Archive CenterBiographical details from the family archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockefeller, Laurance 1910 births 2004 deaths American conservationists American financiers American investors Philanthropists from New York City Congressional Gold Medal recipients Deaths from respiratory failure Businesspeople from Manhattan Princeton University alumni Private equity and venture capital investors Rockefeller family Winthrop family American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Scotch-Irish descent Wildlife Conservation Society people Harvard Law School alumni Activists from New York (state) Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients