The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American
philanthropic nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
. It was established in 1934 by
Alfred P. Sloan Jr., president and chief executive officer of
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
.
The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support original research and broad-based education related to science, technology, and economics. The foundation is an independent entity and has no formal relationship with General Motors.
[About the Foundation]
Sloan Foundation. As of 2022, the Sloan Foundation's assets totaled $2.0 billion.
History
During the initial years of
Alfred P. Sloan's presidency, the foundation devoted its resources almost exclusively to education in economics and business. Grants were made to develop materials to improve high school and college economics teaching; for preparation of and wide distribution of inexpensive pamphlets on the pressing economic and social issues of the day; for weekly radio airing of round table discussions on current topics in economics and related subjects; and for establishing a Tax Institute at the
Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
to interpret new taxes and new trends in
public finance
Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...
for the average citizen.
From 1936 to 1945,
Harold S. Sloan, an economist and Alfred's younger brother, served as director and vice president of the foundation.
The Sloan Foundation also made many civic contributions to the foundation's home city of New York, including grants to
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,
Channel 13,
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
,
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, and the
Fund for the City of New York.
Starting in 2018, Adam Falk, past president of Williams College, assumed the presidency of the foundation.
Programs
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants in seven broad subjects, known within the foundation as major program areas:
* Science,
* Economics,
* STEM Higher Education,
* Digital Information Technology,
* Public Understanding of Science, Technology & Economics,
* Working Longer,
* Energy & Environment.
[
The Sloan Work and Family Researchers Network supports research and education about work-family issues. The foundation also funded the national workplace flexibility campaign as part of the Working Families program led by Kathleen E. Christensen.
The Sloan Research Fellowships are annual awards given to more than 126 young researchers and university faculty, to further studies in ]chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
, computational and evolutionary microbiology, computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
, economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
, mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
, ocean sciences and physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
.
In March 2008, the foundation awarded a $3 million grant to the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
.Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project began in 2000 a ...
, a major astronomical survey that began data collection in 2000.
In 1945, the Sloan Foundation donated $4 million to launch the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, now the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
In 1950, the Sloan Foundation made a gift of more than $5 million to establish a School of Industrial Management, now known as the MIT Sloan School of Management.
In 1955, the Sloan Foundation made a gift to establish the first two-year academic program in healthcare management in the US at Cornell University, initially called the Sloan Institute of Hospital Administration and now known as the Sloan Program in Health Administration.
Presidents
# Alfred P. Sloan Jr. (19341961)
#Everett Case (19621968)
# Nils Y. Wessell (19691979)
# Albert Rees
References
External links
*
Work and Family Researchers Network
Sloan Foundation Grant records
at Williams College Archives & Special Collections
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1934
Boston College
Non-profit organizations based in New York City
1934 establishments in New York (state)
Foundations based in the United States