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The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and
philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from " basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scienti ...
and arts funding organization based at 420
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the
Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...
, the foundation was ranked as the 39th largest U.S. foundation by total giving as of 2015. By the end of 2016, assets were tallied at $4.1 billion (unchanged from 2015), with annual grants of $173 million. According to the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
, the foundation provided US$103.8 million for development in 2019. The foundation has given more than $14 billion in current dollars. The foundation was started by
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Senior") and son " Junior", and their primary business advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, on May 14, 1913, when its charter was granted by
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. The foundation has had an international reach since the 1930s and major influence on global
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
s. The
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
is modeled on the International Health Division of the foundation, which sent doctors abroad to study and treat human subjects. The
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
and
National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
are also modeled on the work funded by Rockefeller. It has also been a supporter of and influence on the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
. In 2020 the foundation pledged that it would divest from fossil fuel, notable since the endowment was largely funded by Standard Oil. The foundation also has a controversial past, including support of
eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
in the 1930s, as well as several scandals arising from their international field work. In 2021 the foundation's president committed to reckoning with their history, and to centering equity and inclusion.


History

John D. Rockefeller Sr. first conceived the idea of the foundation in 1901. In 1906, Rockefeller's business and philanthropic advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, encouraged him toward "permanent corporate philanthropies for the good of Mankind" so that his heirs should not "dissipate their inheritances or become intoxicated with power." In 1909 Rockefeller signed over 73,000 shares of his
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
company worth $50 million, to his son, Gates and Harold Fowler McCormick as the third inaugural trustee, in the first installment of a projected $100 million endowment. The nascent foundation applied for a federal charter in the
US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...
in 1910, with at one stage Junior even secretly meeting with President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, through the aegis of Senator Nelson Aldrich, to hammer out concessions. However, because of the ongoing (1911) antitrust suit against Standard Oil at the time, along with deep suspicion in some quarters of undue Rockefeller influence on the spending of the endowment, the result was that Senior and Gates withdrew the bill from Congress in order to seek a state charter from New York. On May 14, 1913, New York Governor William Sulzer approved a charter for the foundation with Junior becoming the first president. With its large-scale endowment, a large part of Senior's fortune was insulated from inheritance taxes. The first secretary of the foundation was Jerome Davis Greene, the former secretary of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, who wrote a "memorandum on principles and policies" for an early meeting of the trustees that established a rough framework for the foundation's work. It was initially located within the
family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer w ...
at
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
's headquarters at
26 Broadway 26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, structure was designed in the Renai ...
, later (in 1933) shifting to the
GE Building 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...
(then
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...
), along with the newly named family office, ''Room 5600'', at
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
; later it moved to the Time-Life Building in the center, before shifting to its current
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...
address. In 1914, the trustees set up a new Department of Industrial Relations, inviting
William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...
to head it. He became a close and key advisor to Junior through the Ludlow Massacre, turning around his attitude to unions; however the foundation's involvement in IR was criticized for advancing the family's business interests. The foundation henceforth confined itself to funding responsible organizations involved in this and other controversial fields, which were beyond the control of the foundation itself. Junior became the foundation chairman in 1917. Through the ''Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial'' (LSRM), established by Senior in 1918 and named after his wife, the Rockefeller fortune was for the first time directed to supporting research by social scientists. During its first few years of work, the LSRM awarded funds primarily to social workers, with its funding decisions guided primarily by Junior. In 1922, Beardsley Ruml was hired to direct the LSRM, and he most decisively shifted the focus of Rockefeller philanthropy into the
social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
s, stimulating the founding of university research centers, and creating the
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a ...
. In January 1929, LSRM funds were folded into the Rockefeller Foundation, in a major reorganization. The Rockefeller family helped lead the foundation in its early years, but later limited itself to one or two representatives, to maintain the foundation's independence and avoid charges of undue family influence. These representatives have included the former president
John D. Rockefeller III John Davison Rockefeller III (March 21, 1906 – July 10, 1978) was an American philanthropist. Rockefeller was the eldest son and second child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller as well as a grandson of Standard Oil co-founde ...
, and then his son
John D. Rockefeller, IV John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Virgi ...
, who gave up the trusteeship in 1981. In 1989,
David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
's daughter, Peggy Dulany, was appointed to the board for a five-year term. In October 2006, David Rockefeller Jr. joined the board of trustees, re-establishing the direct family link and becoming the sixth family member to serve on the board. C. Douglas Dillon, the
United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal ...
under both Presidents John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, served as chairman of the foundation. Stock in the family's oil companies had been a major part of the foundation's assets, beginning with
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
and later with its corporate descendants, including
Exxon Mobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30 ...
. In December 2020, the foundation pledged to dump their fossil fuel holdings. With a $5 billion endowment, the Rockefeller Foundation was "the largest US foundation to embrace the rapidly growing divestment movement." CNN writer Matt Egan noted, "This divestment is especially symbolic because the Rockefeller Foundation was founded by oil money."


Public health

Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
, health aid, and
medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from " basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scienti ...
are the most prominent areas of work of the foundation. On December 5, 1913, the Board made its first grant of $100,000 to the
American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desig ...
to purchase property for its headquarters in Washington, D.C.Rockfound.org
history, 1913–1919
The foundation established the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and
Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's firs ...
, two of the first such institutions in the United States,Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
History
/ref>Harvard School of Public Health
History
/ref> and established the
School of Hygiene A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
at the University of Toronto in 1927, and the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...
in the United Kingdom;. they spent more than $25 million in developing other public health schools in the US and in 21 foreign countries. In 1913, it also began a 20-year support program of the ''Bureau of Social Hygiene'', whose mission was research and education on birth control, maternal health and sex education. In 1914, the foundation set up the China Medical Board, which established the first public health university in China, the
Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College (), founded in 1906, is a selective public medical college based in Dongcheng, Beijing, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Double First Class University Plan university. The school is tied to the Peking Un ...
, in 1921; this was subsequently nationalized when the Communists took over the country in 1949. In the same year it began a program of international fellowships to train scholars at many of the world's universities at the post-doctoral level. The Foundation also maintained a close relationship with
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 (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
(also known as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research) with many faculty holding overlapping positions between the institutions. The Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of
Hookworm Hookworms are intestinal, blood-feeding, parasitic roundworms that cause types of infection known as helminthiases. Hookworm infection is found in many parts of the world, and is common in areas with poor access to adequate water, sanitation ...
Disease was a Rockefeller-funded campaign from 1909 to 1914 to study and treat hookworm disease in 11 Southern states. Hookworm was known as the "germ of laziness." In 1913, the foundation expanded its work with the Sanitary Commission abroad and set up the International Health Division (also known as International Health Board), which began the foundation's first international public health activities. The International Health Division conducted campaigns in public health and sanitation against
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...
,
yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
, and hookworm in areas throughout Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean including
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...
,
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, and
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, totaling fifty-two countries on six continents and twenty-nine islands. The first director was Wickliffe Rose, followed by
F.F. Russell Brigadier General Frederick Fuller Russell (1870 in Auburn, New York, USA – December 29, 1960) was a U.S. Army physician who perfected a typhoid vaccine in 1909. In 1911, a typhoid vaccination program was carried out to have the entire U.S. A ...
in 1923, Wilbur Sawyer in 1935, and
George Strode George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...
in 1944. A number of notable physicians and field scientists worked on the international campaigns, including
Lewis Hackett Lewis Wendell Hackett (14 December 1884 - Washington, 28 April 1962) was an American physician who worked in Italy, Albania and South America to combat malaria. Life Hackett graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1913. The following year he be ...
,
Hideyo Noguchi , also known as , was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who in 1911 discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease. Early life Noguchi Hideyo whose childhood name was Seisaku Noguchi was born to a family of farme ...
,
Juan Guiteras Juan Guitéras y Gener (or Juan Guiteras) (January 4, 1852 – October 28, 1925), was a Cuban physician and pathologist specializing in yellow fever. Guiteras studied medicine at the University of Havana, and moved to the United States in 1873 to ...
,
George C. Payne George C. Payne (also known as G.C. Payne) was an American tropical physician and director for the International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation for Mexico and Trinidad in the 1920s. He also worked as a physician for the state health boa ...
, Livingston Farrand,
Cornelius P. Rhoads Cornelius Packard "Dusty" Rhoads (June 9, 1898 – August 13, 1959) was an American pathologist, oncologist, and hospital administrator who was involved in a racist scandal and subsequent whitewashing in the 1930s. Beginning in 1940, he served a ...
, and
William Bosworth Castle William Bosworth Castle (October 21, 1897 – August 9, 1990) was an American physician and physiologist who transformed hematology from a "descriptive art to a dynamic interdisciplinary science." Life Castle was born to William E. Castle and his ...
. The
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
, seen as a successor to the IHD, was formed in 1948, and the IHD was subsumed by the larger Rockefeller Foundation in 1951, discontinuing its overseas work. While the Rockefeller doctors working in tropical locales such as Mexico emphasized scientific neutrality, they had political and economic aims to promote the value of
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
to improve American relations with the host country. Although they claimed the banner of public health and humanitarian medicine, they often engaged with politics and business interests. Rhoads was involved in a racism whitewashing scandal in the 1930s during which he joked about injecting cancer cells into Puerto Rican patients, inspiring Puerto Rican nationalist and anti-colonialist leader
Pedro Albizu Campos Pedro Albizu Campos (September 12, 1891Luis Fortuño Janeiro. ''Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963).'' p. 290. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. – April 21, 1965) was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and the leading fi ...
. Noguchi was also involved in an
unethical human experimentation Unethical human experimentation is human experimentation that violates the principles of medical ethics. Such practices have included denying patients the right to informed consent, using pseudoscientific frameworks such as race science, and tor ...
scandal.
Susan Lederer Susan E. Lederer (born 1955) is an American historian of science. She is the Robert Turell Professor of Medical History and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Lederer focuses on medicine and American society in the 20th-century. Th ...
, Elizabeth Fee, and
Jay Katz Jacob "Jay" Katz (October 20, 1922 – November 17, 2008) was an American physician and Yale Law School professor whose career was devoted to addressing complex issues of medical ethics and other ethical problems involving the overlaps of et ...
are among the modern scholars who have researched this period. Researchers with the foundation including Noguchi developed the vaccine to prevent
yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
.
National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. It ...
Rhoads later became a significant cancer researcher and director of
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...
, though his eponymous award for oncological excellence was renamed after the scandal reemerged. During the late-1920s, the Rockefeller Foundation created the Medical Sciences Division, which emerged from the former Division of Medical Education. The division was led by Dr. Richard M. Pearce until his death in 1930, to which Alan Gregg succeeded him until 1945. During this period, the Division of Medical Sciences made contributions to research across several fields of psychiatry. In 1935 the foundation granted $100000 to the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Chicago. This grant was renewed in 1938, with payments extending into the early-1940s. This division funded women's contraception and the human reproductive system in general, but also was involved in funding controversial
eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
research. Other funding went into
endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field ...
departments in American universities, human heredity, mammalian biology, human physiology and anatomy,
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
, and the studies of human sexual behavior by Dr.
Alfred Kinsey Alfred Charles Kinsey (; June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) was an American sexologist, biologist, and professor of entomology and zoology who, in 1947, founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Insti ...
. In the interwar years, the foundation funded public health, nursing, and social work in Eastern and Central Europe. In 1950, the foundation expanded their international program of virus research, establishing field laboratories in
Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
, India,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
,
Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in ...
, Brazil,
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
, South Africa,
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
, Egypt,
Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its ...
, Nigeria, and
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the secon ...
, Colombia, among others. The foundation funded research into the identification of human viruses, techniques for virus identification, and
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
-borne viruses.
Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the l ...
,
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...
and the Rockefeller Foundation are currently the subject of a $1 billion lawsuit from Guatemala for "roles in a 1940s U.S. government experiment that infected hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis". A previous suit against the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
government was dismissed in 2011 for the
Guatemala syphilis experiments The Guatemala syphilis experiments were United States-led human experiments conducted in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948. The experiments were led by physician John Charles Cutler, who also participated in the late stages of the Tuskegee syphilis e ...
when a judge determined that the U.S. government could not be held liable for actions committed outside of the U.S. An experiment was conducted by Vanderbilt University in the 1940s where they gave 800 pregnant women radioactive iron,Pacchioli, David, (March 1996
"Subjected to Science"
, ''Research/Penn State'', Vol. 17, no. 1
751 of which were pills, without their consent. In a 1969 article published in the ''
American Journal of Epidemiology The American Journal of Epidemiology (''AJE'') is a peer-reviewed journal for empirical research findings, opinion pieces, and methodological developments in the field of epidemiological research. The current editor-in-chief is Dr. Enrique Schist ...
'', it was estimated that three children had died from the experiment.


Eugenics and World War II

John D. Rockefeller Jr. was an outspoken supporter of eugenics. Even as late as 1951, John D. Rockefeller III and
John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly ...
, who was chairman of the foundation at the time, established the
Population Council The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its res ...
to advance
family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...
, birth control, and
population control Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from ...
, and goals of the eugenics movement. The Rockefeller Foundation, along with the Carnegie Institution, was the primary financier for the Eugenics Record Office, until 1939. The foundation also provided grants to
Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth contr ...
and
Alexis Carrel Alexis Carrel (; 28 June 1873 – 5 November 1944) was a French surgeon and biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 for pioneering vascular suturing techniques. He invented the first perfusion pump with Char ...
, who supported birth control,
compulsory sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done throug ...
and
eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
. Sanger went to Japan in 1922 and influenced the birth control movement there. By 1926, Rockefeller had donated over $400,000, which would be almost $4 million adjusted for inflation in 2003, to hundreds of German researchers, including
Ernst Rüdin Ernst Rüdin (19 April 1874 – 22 October 1952) was a Swiss-born German psychiatrist, geneticist, eugenicist and Nazi, rising to prominence under Emil Kraepelin and assuming the directorship at the German Institute for Psychiatric R ...
and
Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer (16 July 1896 – 8 August 1969) was a German human biologist and geneticist, who was the Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Münster until he retired in 1965. A member of the Dutch noble Verschuer ...
, through funding the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, (also known as the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research) which conducted eugenics experiments in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and influenced the development of Nazi racial scientific ideology. Rockefeller spent almost $3 million between 1925 and 1935, and also funded other German eugenicists, Herman Poll, Alfred Grotjahn,
Eugen Fischer Eugen Fischer (5 July 1874 – 9 July 1967) was a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, ...
, and
Hans Nachsteim Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...
, continuing even after Hitler's ascent to power in 1933; Rüdin's work influenced
compulsory sterilisation in Nazi Germany Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring (german: Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) or "Sterilisation Law" was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, (and made active in January 1934) which allowed the c ...
.
Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = '' SS''-''Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , commands = , s ...
worked as an assistant in Verschuer's lab, though Rockefeller executives did not know of Mengele and stopped funding that specific research before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
started in 1939. The Rockefeller Foundation continued funding German eugenics research even after it was clear that it was being used to rationalize discrimination against
Jewish people Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and other groups, after the
Nuremberg laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and Racism, racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag (Nazi Germany), Reichstag convened during ...
in
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...
. In 1936, Rockefeller fulfilled pledges of $655,000 to Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, even though several distinguished Jewish scientists had been dropped from the institute at the time. The Rockefeller Foundation did not alert the world about the racist implications of
Nazi ideology Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
, but furthered and funded eugenic research through the 1930s. Even into the 1950s, Rockefeller continued to provide some funding for research borne out of German eugenics. The foundation also funded the relocation of scholars threatened by the Nazis to America in the 1930s, known as the Refugee Scholar Program and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars. Some of the notable figures relocated or saved, among a total of 303 scholars, were
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
,
Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthro ...
and
Leó Szilárd Leo Szilard (; hu, Szilárd Leó, pronounced ; born Leó Spitz; February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) was a Hungarian-German-American physicist and inventor. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear ...
. The foundation helped
The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
provide a haven for scholars threatened by the Nazis. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the foundation sent a team to West Germany to investigate how it could become involved in reconstructing the country. They focused on restoring democracy, especially regarding education and scientific research, with the long-term goal of reintegrating Germany into the Western world. The foundation also supported the early initiatives of
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the preside ...
, such as his directorship of Harvard's ''International Seminars'' (funded as well by the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
) and the early foreign policy magazine ''Confluence'', both established by him while he was still a graduate student. In 2021, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, released a statement condemning eugenics and supporting the anti-eugenics movement. He stated that
" ..e commend the Anti-Eugenics Project for their essential work to understand ..the harmful legacies of eugenicist ideologies. ..examine the role that philanthropies played in developing and perpetuating eugenics policies and practices. The Rockefeller Foundation is currently reckoning with our own history in relation to eugenics.  This requires uncovering the facts and confronting uncomfortable truths, ..The Rockefeller Foundation is putting equity and inclusion at the center of all our work: ..confronting the hateful legacies of the past ..we understand that the work we engage in today does not absolve us of yesterday’s mistakes.  ..


Development of the United Nations

Although the United States never joined the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...
, the Rockefeller Foundation was involved, and by the 1930s the foundations had changed the League from a "Parliament of Nations" to a modern think tank that used specialized expertise to provide in-depth impartial analysis of international issues. After the war, the foundation was involved in the establishment of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.


Arts

In the arts the Rockefeller Foundation has supported the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada, and the American Shakespeare Festival in
Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Stratford is in the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was settled b ...
,
Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in Washington, D.C., Karamu House in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
, and
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
in New York. The foundation underwrote of
Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
's documentary on
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
When the Levees Broke''. The film has been used as the basis for a curriculum on poverty, developed by the Teachers College at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
for their students. The foundation also owns and operates the Bellagio Center in
Bellagio, Italy Bellagio (; lmo, label=Comasco, Belàs ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located on Lake Como, also known by its Latin-derived name ''Lario'', whose arms form an inverted Y. The t ...
. The center has several buildings, spread across a property, on the peninsula between lakes
Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...
and
Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...
in
Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative Regions ...
. The center is sometimes referred to as the ''Villa Serbelloni'', the property bequeathed to the foundation in 1959 under the presidency of
Dean Rusk David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the ...
(who was later to become U.S. President Kennedy's secretary of state). The Bellagio Center operates both a conference center and a residency program. Numerous
Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ...
, Pulitzer winners,
National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The N ...
recipients,
Prince Mahidol Award The Prince Mahidol Award ( th, รางวัลสมเด็จเจ้าฟ้ามหิดล) is an annual award for outstanding achievements in medicine and public health worldwide. The award is given by the Prince Mahidol Award Found ...
winners and
MacArthur fellows The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
, as well as several acting and former heads of State and Government, have been in residence at Bellagio. The Cultural Innovation Fund is a pilot grant program that is overseen by
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
. The grants are to be used towards art and cultural opportunities in the underserved areas of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
and the
South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was or ...
with three overarching goals. The Rockefeller Foundation supported the art scene in
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
in 1948 and a literacy project with
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
. Rusk was involved with funding the humanities and the social sciences during the Cold War period, including study of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. In July 2022, the Rockefeller Foundation granted $1m to the
Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best kno ...
.


Agriculture

Agriculture was introduced to the Natural Sciences division of the foundation in the major reorganization of 1928. In 1941, the foundation gave a small grant to
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
for maize research, in collaboration with the then new president,
Manuel Ávila Camacho Manuel Ávila Camacho (; 24 April 1897 – 13 October 1955) was a Mexican politician and military leader who served as the President of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. Despite participating in the Mexican Revolution and achieving a high rank, he ca ...
. This was done after the intervention of vice-president Henry Wallace and the involvement of
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
; the primary intention being to stabilise the Mexican Government and derail any possible communist infiltration, in order to protect the Rockefeller family's investments.The story of the Foundation and the Green Revolution – see Mark Dowie, ''American Foundations: An Investigative History'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2001, (pp.105–140) By 1943, this program, under the foundation's ''Mexican Agriculture Project'', had proved such a success with the science of corn propagation and general principles of
agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and s ...
that it was exported to other Latin American countries; in 1956, the program was then taken to India; again with the geopolitical imperative of providing an antidote to communism. It wasn't until 1959 that senior foundation officials succeeded in getting the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the dea ...
(and later
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...
, and later still, the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
) to sign on to the major philanthropic project, known now to the world as the
Green Revolution The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...
. It was originally conceived in 1943 as CIMMYT, the
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known - even in English - by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT for ''Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo'') is a non-profit research-for-development organization that develops im ...
in Mexico. It also provided significant funding for the
International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international Agricultural science, agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI ...
in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. Part of the original program, the funding of the IRRI was later taken over by the Ford Foundation. The
International Rice Research Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international Agricultural science, agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRRI ...
and the
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known - even in English - by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT for ''Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo'') is a non-profit research-for-development organization that develops im ...
are part of a consortium of agricultural research organizations known as
CGIAR CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase foo ...
. Costing around $600 million, over 50 years, the revolution brought new farming technology, increased productivity, expanded crop yields and mass fertilization to many countries throughout the world. Later it funded over $100 million of plant
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
research and trained over four hundred scientists from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It also invested in the production of
transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...
crops, including rice and maize. In 1999, the then president Gordon Conway addressed the
Monsanto Company The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the ...
board of directors, warning of the possible social and environmental dangers of this biotechnology, and requesting them to disavow the use of so-called terminator genes; the company later complied. In the 1990s, the foundation shifted its agriculture work and emphasis to Africa; in 2006, it joined with the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it w ...
in a $150 million effort to fight hunger in the continent through improved agricultural productivity. In an interview marking the 100 year anniversary of the Rockefeller Foundation, Judith Rodin explained to This Is Africa that Rockefeller has been involved in Africa since their beginning in three main areas – health, agriculture and education, though agriculture has been and continues to be their largest investment in Africa.


Urban development

A total of 100 cities across six continents were part of the 100 Resilient Cities program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. In January 2016, the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...
announced winners of its
National Disaster Resilience Competition National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland ...
(NDRC), awarding three 100RC member cities –
New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
;
Norfolk, VA Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Bea ...
; and
New Orleans, LA New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
– with more than $437 million in disaster resilience funding. The grant was the largest ever received by the city of Norfolk. In April 2019, it was announced that the foundation would no longer be funding the 100 Resilient Cities program as a whole. Some elements of the initiative's work, most prominently the funding of several cities' Chief Resilience Officer roles, continues to be managed and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, while other aspects of the program continue in the form of two independent organizations, Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) and the Global Resilient Cities Network (GRCN), founded by former 100RC leadership and staff.


People affiliated with the foundation


Board members and trustees

:On January 5, 2017, the board of trustees announced the selection of Dr. Rajiv Shah to serve as the 13th president of the foundation. Shah became the youngest person, at 43, and first Indian-American to serve as president of the foundation. He assumed the position March 1, succeeding Judith Rodin who served as president for nearly twelve years and announced her retirement, at age 71, in June 2016. A former
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
, Rodin was the first woman to head the foundation. Rodin in turn had succeeded
Gordon Conway Sir Gordon Richard Conway (born 6 July 1938) is an agricultural ecologist and former President of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Royal Geographical Society. He is currently Professor of International Development at Imperial College, Lond ...
in 2005. Current staff as of June 1, 2021 include: * Admiral James G. Stavridis (chair), 2018-, retired
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
; Supreme Allied Commander at
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, 2009–2013, Operating Executive,
The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
; chair of the Board of Counselors, McLarty Associates *
Agnes Binagwaho Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan pediatrician and co-founder and the former vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (2017-2022). In 1996, she returned to Rwanda where she provided clinical care in the public sector as well as hel ...
, 2019-, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda *
Mellody Hobson Mellody Hobson (born April 3, 1969) is an American businesswoman who is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, and the chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation. She is the former chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation, having stepped down after nego ...
, 2018-, President,
Ariel Investments Ariel Investments is an investment company located in Chicago, Illinois. It specializes in small and mid-capitalized stocks based in the United States. History Ariel was founded in 1983 by John W. Rogers, Jr., who is chairman and Co-CEO of the co ...
*
Donald Kaberuka Donald P. Kaberuka (born 5 October 1951) is a Rwandan economist and was the president of the African Development Bank from September 2005 until September 2015. Early life and education Kaberuka was born in Byumba, Rwanda. He studied at the Uni ...
, 2015-, former president, African Development Bank Group, Rwanda Minister of Finance and Economic Planning between 1997 and 2005. * Martin L. Leibowitz, 2012-, Vice-chairman,
Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the f ...
Research Department's Global Strategy Team; formerly
TIAA-CREF The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...
(1995 to 2004) and 26 years with
Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street duri ...
* Yifei Li, 2013-, country chair, Man Group China *
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (; born 22 March 1975) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, an expert on African agriculture and nutrition, philanthropy, and social innovation. She has over 25 years of international development experience and is a recognized seria ...
, 2019-, co-founder, Sahel Consulting *
Paul Polman Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman, (born 11 July 1956) is a Dutch businessman and author. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British consumer goods company Unilever. Polman is also the author of ''Net Positive: How Courageous Co ...
, 2019-, chair,
International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization A business entity is an entity that is formed and administered as per corporate law in order ...
, The B Team; Former CEO,
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...
*
Sharon Percy Rockefeller Sharon Lee Percy Rockefeller (born December 10, 1944) is the wife of former West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV and served as that state's First Lady from 1977 to 1985. On November 21, 2019, she was awarded th ...
, 2017-, President & CEO,
WETA-TV WETA-TV (channel 26) is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Washington, D.C. Owned by the Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, it is a sister station to NPR member WETA (FM), WETA ( ...
*
Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by profession and a journalist by trade, ...
, 2020-, Former President of Colombia & Recipient of 2016 Nobel Peace Prize * Dr. Rajiv Shah, 2017-, President of the foundation and ex-officio member of the board; served as a Rockefeller Foundation Trustee, 2015–2017; former administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...
(USAID) from 2010 to 2017. *
Adam Silver Adam Silver (born April 25, 1962) is an American lawyer and sports executive who serves as the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the NBA in 1992 and has held various positions within the l ...
, 2020-, Commissioner,
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
(NB) *
Patty Stonesifer Patricia Q. Stonesifer (born 1956) is the former president and CEO of Martha's Table, a non-profit in Washington, D.C., that provides community-based solutions to poverty. Stonesifer currently advises business, nonprofit and government leaders o ...
, 2019-, former President & CEO, Martha's Table; former CEO and co-chair,
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
* Ravi Venkatesan, 2014-, former chairman,
Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda (BOB or BoB) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. It is the second largest public sector bank in India after State Bank of India, with 132 million customers, a total business of US$218 billion, an ...
; former Chairman
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
India (2004–2011) and
Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
India; Special Representative for Young People and Innovation,
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...


Past trustees

*
Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...
, 1989–1994 – actor and film director."Rockefeller Foundation Elects 5"
"
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
" 28, May 1989. Retrieved on 4 January 2019.
* Winthrop W. Aldrich 1935–1951 – chairman of the
Chase National Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fi ...
, 1934–1953; Ambassador to the Court of St. James, 1953–1957. * John W. Davis 1922–1939 – J. P. Morgan's private attorney; founding president of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...
. * C. Douglas Dillon 1960–1961 – US Treasury Secretary, 1961–1965; member of the Council on Foreign Relations. * Orvil E. Dryfoos 1960–1963 – publisher of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 1961–1963. * Peggy Dulany, 1989–1994 – Fourth child of David Rockefeller; founder and president of ''Synergos''. *
John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly ...
1935–1952 (chairman) – US Secretary of State, 1953–1959; senior partner,
Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Known as a white-shoe firm, Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a leader in business law, and is known for its impact on international affairs, such a ...
law firm. *
Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfor ...
1914–1917 – president of Harvard, 1869–1909. * John Robert Evans 1982 -1996 (chairman) – president of the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
1972–1978; founding director of the Population, Health and Nutrition Department of the World Bank * Ann M. Fudge, 2006–2015, former chairman and CEO,
Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...
Brands, New York * Frederick Taylor Gates 1913–1923 – John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s principal advisor. * Helene D. Gayle, 2010–2019, president and CEO of
CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...
. *
Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould s ...
1993–2002 – author; professor and curator, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. * Rajat Gupta, 2006–11, former director, Goldman Sachs,
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
, AMR Corporation; Special Advisor to the
UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...
; former managing director,
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
. * Wallace Harrison 1951–1961 – Rockefeller family architect; lead architect for the
UN Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...
complex. *
Thomas J. Healey Thomas J. Healey (born September 14, 1942) is an American businessman and educator. He was a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co., and is Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served in the 1980s as Assista ...
, 2003–2012, partner, Healey Development LLC; teaching course at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
's John F. Kennedy School of Government; formerly with Goldman Sachs and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. * Alice S. Huang, senior faculty associate,
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
. *
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
1917–1921; 1925–1928 – Chief Justice of the United States, 1930–1941. * Robert A. Lovett 1949–1961 – US Secretary of Defense, 1951–1953. *
Monica Lozano Monica Cecilia Lozano (born July 21, 1956) is the president of the College Futures Foundation, based in San Francisco. Previously she was an American newspaper editor, the publisher and CEO of ''La Opinión'' and CEO of its parent company, ImpreMe ...
, 2012–2018, CEO,
ImpreMedia, LLC ImpreMedia, LLC is a media company headquartered on the 7th Floor of 15 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. ImpreMedia's products include Hispanic newspapers, websites, and magazines."Company Overview of ImpreMedia, LLC", Bloombe ...
*
Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
1999–2002 – cellist. *
Strive Masiyiwa Strive Masiyiwa (born 29 January 1961) is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of international technology groups Econet Global and Cassava Technologies. Masiyiwa has pro ...
, 2003–2018,
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
a businessman and cellphone pioneer, founding Econet Wireless. * Jessica T. Mathews, president, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C. * John J. McCloy chairman: 1946–1949; 1953–1958 – prominent US presidential advisor; chairman of the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the dea ...
, 1958–1965; chairman of the council on Foreign Relations. *
Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...
1969–1981 – journalist. * Diana Natalicio, 2004–2014, president, The
University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...
*
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (; born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist, who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. Notably, she is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organiza ...
, 2009–2018, Finance Minister of Nigeria; former managing director of the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
; former Foreign Minister of
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
. *
Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
, 2006–2013, associate justice, retired,
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
* James F. Orr, III, (board chair), president and chief executive officer, LandingPoint Capital, Boston, Massachusetts. *
Richard Parsons Richard Parsons may refer to: * Richard Parsons (diplomat) (1928–2016), British ambassador to Hungary, Spain and Sweden * Richard Parsons (businessman) (born 1948), former chairman of Citigroup and the former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner * Ri ...
, 2007–2021, chairman of the board,
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
Inc. * Surin Pitsuwan, 2010–2012, secretary general of
ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a Political union, political and economic union of 10 member Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental coo ...
(2007–2012) and Thai politician. *
Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, an activist against apartheid, a medical doctor, an academic and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two chil ...
, chairperson, Circle Capital Ventures, Cape Town, South Africa. * David Rockefeller Jr., 2006–2016, chair of foundation board Dec. 2010- ; vice-chairman of ''Rockefeller Family & Associates''; director and former chair, ''Rockefeller & Co., Inc.''; current trustee of 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. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...
. * John D. Rockefeller 1913–1923. * John D. Rockefeller Jr. chairman: 1917–1939. *
John D. Rockefeller III John Davison Rockefeller III (March 21, 1906 – July 10, 1978) was an American philanthropist. Rockefeller was the eldest son and second child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller as well as a grandson of Standard Oil co-founde ...
chairman: 1952–1972. * John D. Rockefeller IV 1976–81. * Judith Rodin, president of the foundation (2005-2016); ex-officio member of the board *
Julius Rosenwald Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions ...
1917–1931 – chairman of
Sears Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
, 1932–1939. * John Rowe
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
, 2007–2019, professor at the
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
Mailman School of Public Health; former chairman and CEO of
Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans ...
Inc. *
Dean Rusk David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the ...
1950–1961 – US Secretary of State, 1961–1969. * Raymond W. Smith, chairman, Rothschild, Inc., New York; chairman of '' Arlington Capital Partners''; chairman of
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
Ventures; and a trustee of the
Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...
. * Frank Stanton 1961–1966? – president of CBS, 1946–1971. *
Arthur Hays Sulzberger Arthur Hays Sulzberger (September 12, 1891December 11, 1968) was the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the st ...
1939–1957 – publisher of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 1935–1961. *
Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended th ...
1975–1979 – chairman, board of governors, Federal Reserve Board; president, New York Federal Reserve Bank. *
Thomas J. Watson Jr. Thomas John Watson Jr. (January 14, 1914 – December 31, 1993) was an American businessman, political figure, Army Air Forces pilot, and philanthropist. The son of IBM Corporation founder Thomas J. Watson, he was the second IBM president (195 ...
1963–1970? – president of IBM, 1952–1971. *
James Wolfensohn Sir James David Wolfensohn (1 December 193325 November 2020) was an Australian-American lawyer, investment banker, and economist who served as the ninth president of the World Bank Group (1995–2005). During his tenure at the World Bank, he i ...
– former president of the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
. * George D. Woods 1961–1967? – president of the World Bank, 1963–1968. * Võ Tòng Xuân, 2002–2010, vice president for academic affairs, Tan Tao University,
Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
; former rector of An Giang University, the second university in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
's
Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...
. * Owen D. Young 1928–1939 – chairman of GE, 1922–1939, 1942–1945.


Presidents

* John D. Rockefeller Jr. – 11 February 1913 – 6 November 1917 * George E. Vincent – 6 November 1917 – 20 September 1929; member of the John D. Rockefeller/ Frederick T. Gates General Education Board (1914–1929) * Max Mason – 20 September 1929 – 30 May 1936 * Raymond B. Fosdick – 30 May 1936 – 22 August 1948; brother of American clergyman
Harry Emerson Fosdick Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969) was an American pastor. Fosdick became a central figure in the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the most prominen ...
* Chester Barnard – 22 August 1948 – 17 July 1952; Bell System executive and author of landmark 1938 book, ''
The Functions of the Executive ''The Functions of the Executive'' is a book by Chester I. Barnard (1886–1961) that presents a "theory of cooperation and organization" and "a study of the functions and of the methods of operation of executives in formal organizations." It was ...
'' *
Dean Rusk David Dean Rusk (February 9, 1909December 20, 1994) was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the second-longest serving Secretary of State after Cordell Hull from the ...
– 17 July 1952 – 19 January 1961;
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's ...
from 1961 to 1969
J. George Harrar
– 20 January 1961 – 3 October 1972; plant pathologist, "generally regarded as the father of 'the Green Revolution.'" * John Hilton Knowles – 3 October 1972 – 31 December 1979; physician, general director of the
Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United State ...
(1962–1971). * Richard Lyman – 1 January 1980 – 11 January 1988; president of Stanford University (1970–1980). * Peter Goldmark Jr. – 11 January 1988 – 31 December 1997; former executive director of the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
.Teltsch, Kathleen
"Rockefeller Foundation Selects a New President"
''The New York Times'', May 8, 1988. Goldmark was son of
Peter Carl Goldmark Peter Carl Goldmark (born Péter Károly Goldmark; December 2, 1906 – December 7, 1977) was a Hungarian-American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing microgroove 33 rpm phonogra ...
. See Blumenthal, Ralph
"Remembering the Travel Scandal at the Port Authority"
''The New York Times'' City Room blog, June 24, 2008. Both retrieved 2011-01-09.
*
Gordon Conway Sir Gordon Richard Conway (born 6 July 1938) is an agricultural ecologist and former President of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Royal Geographical Society. He is currently Professor of International Development at Imperial College, Lond ...
– 1 January 1998 – 31 December 2004; an agricultural ecologist and former president of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. * Judith Rodin - 1 January 2005 – 1 March 2017; former president of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
, and provost, chair of the Department of Psychology,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. * Rajiv Shah - 1 March 2017 -, distinguished fellow in residence, Georgetown University; previously administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible f ...
(USAID) from 2010 to 2015.


Organizations that received Rockefeller grants

*
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 (state), New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medica ...
*
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...
(CFR) – Especially the notable 1939-45 ''
War and Peace Studies War and Peace Studies was a project carried out by the Council on Foreign Relations between 1939 and 1945 before and during American involvement in World War II. It was intended to advise the U.S. Government on conduct in the war and the subsequent ...
'' that advised the US
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
and the US government on World War II strategy and forward planning *
Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...
(RIIA) in London * Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington – Support of the diplomatic training program *
Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
in Washington – Significant funding of research grants in the fields of economic and social studies *
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
in Washington – Helped finance the training of foreign officials through the ''Economic Development Institute'' *
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
– Grants to the ''Center for International Affairs'' and medical, business and administration Schools *
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
– Substantial funding to the ''Institute of International Studies'' *
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
Office of Population Research The Office of Population Research (OPR) at Princeton University is the oldest population research center in the United States. Founded in 1936, the OPR is a leading demographic research and training center. Recent research activity has primarily f ...
*
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
– Establishment of the ''Russia Institute'' *
University of the Philippines, Los Baños A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', whic ...
– Funded research for the College of Agriculture and built an international house for foreign students *
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
– The Rockefeller Foundation funded the Montreal Neurological Institute, on the request of Dr.
Wilder Penfield Wilder Graves Penfield (January 26, 1891April 5, 1976) was an American-Canadian neurosurgeon. He expanded brain surgery's methods and techniques, including mapping the functions of various regions of the brain such as the cortical homunculu ...
, a Canadian neurosurgeon, who had met David Rockefeller years before *
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
– Funded a project for photographic copies of the complete card catalogues for the world's fifty leading libraries *
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...
at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
– Grant for a building to house five million volumes *
Population Council The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its res ...
of New York – Funded fellowships *
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it today maintains a ...
– Major funding for fellowships and grants-in-aid *
National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
* National Institute of Public Health of Japan (formerly ja) in Tokyo (1938) *
Group of Thirty The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private se ...
– In 1978 the foundation invited
Geoffrey Bell Geoffrey L Bell, who was born in 1939, is an economist, banker, and Executive Secretary of the Washington-based Group of Thirty, a council of private and central bankers. Born in Grimsby, he was educated at the London School of Economics, before ...
to set up this high-powered and influential advisory group on global financial issues, whose former chairman was longtime Rockefeller associate
Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended th ...
, until his death in 2019 *
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...
– funded research and general budget * University of Lyon, France – funded research in natural sciences, social sciences, medicine and the new building of the medical school during the 1920s-1930s * The
Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory The Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory (T.R.V.L.) was established in Port of Spain, in 1953 by the Rockefeller Foundation in co-operation with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. It was originally housed in an old wooden army barracks near the d ...
* The
Results for Development Institute Results for Development (R4D) is a global nonprofit strategy consulting organization." Regions and countries Results for Development is active in more than 55 countries. History Founded in 2008 by David de Ferranti, who served with the World Ba ...
– funded the Center for Health Market Innovations *
Mahidol University Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year. Becoming the Univer ...
in Thailand


See also

*
Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Ma ...
* Association Internationale Africaine *
CGIAR CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security. CGIAR research aims to reduce rural poverty, increase foo ...
*
Eugenics in the United States Eugenics, the set of beliefs and practices which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population, played a significant role in the history and culture of the United States from the late 19th century into the mid-20th century. T ...
*
Industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, a ...
*
Philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
* Philanthropy in the United States *
Rockefeller Brothers Fund The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...
*
Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by broth ...
*
Social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the o ...


References


Further reading

* * * Birn, Anne-Emanuelle. "Philanthrocapitalism, past and present: The Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the setting (s) of the international/global health agenda." ''Hypothesis'' 12.1 (2014): e8
online
* Birn, Anne-Emanuelle, and Elizabeth Fee. "The Rockefeller Foundation and the international health agenda"], ''The Lancet'', (2013) Volume 381, Issue 9878, Pages 1618 - 1619
online
* Brown, E. Richard, ''Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979. * Chernow, Ron, ''Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr.'', London: Warner Books, 1998
online
* Cotton, James. "Rockefeller, Carnegie, and the limits of American hegemony in the emergence of Australian international studies." ''International Relations of the Asia-Pacific'' 12.1 (2012): 161–192. [ * Dowie, Mark, ''American Foundations: An Investigative History'', Boston: The MIT Press, 2001. * Eckl, Julian. "The power of private foundations: Rockefeller and Gates in the struggle against malaria." ''Global Social Policy'' 14.1 (2014): 91–116. * Erdem, Murat, and W. ROSE Kenneth. "American Philanthropy ın Republican Turkey; The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations." ''The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations'' 31 (2000): 131–157
online
* Farley, John. ''To cast out disease: a history of the International Health Division of Rockefeller Foundation (1913-1951)'' (Oxford University Press, 2004). * Fisher, Donald, ''Fundamental Development of the Social Sciences: Rockefeller Philanthropy and the United States Social Science Research Council'', Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 1993. * Fosdick, Raymond B., ''John D. Rockefeller Jr., A Portrait'', New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956. * Fosdick, Raymond B., ''The Story of the Rockefeller Foundation'' (1952
online
* Hauptmann, Emily. "From opposition to accommodation: How Rockefeller Foundation grants redefined relations between political theory and social science in the 1950s." ''American Political Science Review'' 100.4 (2006): 643–649
online
* Jonas, Gerald. ''The Circuit Riders: Rockefeller Money and the Rise of Modern Science''. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1989
online
* Kay, Lily, ''The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. * Laurence, Peter L. "The death and life of urban design: Jane Jacobs, The Rockefeller Foundation and the new research in urbanism, 1955–1965." ''Journal of Urban Design'' 11.2 (2006): 145–172
online
* Lawrence, Christopher. ''Rockefeller Money, the Laboratory and Medicine in Edinburgh 1919–1930: New Science in an Old Country'', Rochester Studies in Medical History, University of Rochester Press, 2005. * Mathers, Kathryn Frances. ''Shared journey: The Rockefeller Foundation, human capital, and development in Africa'' (2013
online
* Nielsen, Waldemar, ''The Big Foundations'', New York: Cambridge University Press, 1973
online
* Nielsen, Waldemar A., ''The Golden Donors'', E. P. Dutton, 1985. Called Foundation "unimaginative ... lacking leadership....slouching toward senility.
online
* Ninkovich, Frank. "The Rockefeller Foundation, China, and Cultural Change." ''Journal of American History'' 70.4 (1984): 799–820
online
* Palmer, Steven,
Launching Global Health: The Caribbean Odyssey of the Rockefeller Foundation
', Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010. * Perkins, John H. "The Rockefeller Foundation and the green revolution, 1941–1956." ''Agriculture and Human Values'' 7.3 (1990): 6–18
online
* Sachse, Carola. ''What Research, to What End? The Rockefeller Foundation and the Max Planck Gesellschaft in the Early Cold War'' (2009
online
* Shaplen, Robert, ''Toward the Well-Being of Mankind: Fifty Years of the Rockefeller Foundation'', New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964. * * Theiler, Max and Downs, W. G., ''The Arthropod-Borne Viruses of Vertebrates: An Account of The Rockefeller Foundation Virus Program, 1951–1970''. (1973) Yale University Press. New Haven and London. . * Uy, Michael Sy. ''Ask the Experts: How Ford, Rockefeller, and the NEA Changed American Music'', (Oxford University Press, 2020) 270pp. * Wood, Andrew Grant. "Sanitizing the State: The Rockefeller International Health Board and the Yellow Fever Campaign in Veracruz." ''Americas'' 6#1 Spring 2010 · * Youde, Jeremy. "The Rockefeller and Gates Foundations in global health governance." ''Global Society'' 27.2 (2013): 139–158
online

Rockefeller Foundation 990

100 Years: The International Health Board
The Rockefeller Foundation/Rockefeller Archive Center.


External links

*
CFR Website – Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996
The history of the council by Peter Grose, a council member – mentions financial support from the Rockefeller foundation.
Foundation Center: Top 50 US Foundations by total giving


* ttps://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis-the-California-2549771.php SFGate.com: "Eugenics and the Nazis: the California Connection"
Press for Conversion! magazine, Issue # 53: "Facing the Corporate Roots of American Fascism," Bryan Sanders, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, March 2004Rockefeller Foundation website
including
timeline

Hookworm and malaria research in Malaya, Java, and the Fiji Islands; report of Uncinariasis commission to the Orient, 1915–1917
The Rockefeller foundation, International health board. New York 1920 * {{Coord, 40.75083, -73.98333, display=title Rockefeller family Institutions founded by the Rockefeller family 1913 establishments in New York (state) Eugenics organizations