The Rockefeller Foundation history

When Doctor Katherine Bement Davis was named general secretary of the Bureau in 1917, her appointment transformed the organization to take into deeper account women’s sexuality.

The Fund expanded the Rockefeller family tradition of support for International House, an organization founded in 1924 that sought to provide positive cultural exchange for international students through social events and residential facilities.

New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened in 1929 through the efforts of three women, including Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, mother of the five founding RBF trustees.

In 1932 the natural science division came under the direction of Warren Weaver, who focused funding on "vital processes," leading to the development of new disciplines, among them molecular biology.

1935: The foundation's Virus Laboratory develops a vaccine for yellow fever.

The joint development of a yellow fever vaccine by the foundation's field staff and laboratory investigators in 1937 culminated two decades of worldwide health activities.

The Fund’s relationship with the The National Urban League began in 1941, when the organization specialized in industrial relations.

In 1942, when Sanger’s Birth Control Federation of America joined the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the RBF began its own support for the organization.

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) began in 1944 as an interracial organization for the joint benefit of twenty-seven private African American colleges.

The RBF began supporting Memorial Hospital in 1946, just as the Sloan Kettering Institute, dedicated to biomedical research on cancer, was established next door.

In 1950, Dana S. Creel was appointed director of the RBF, and later became its first president.

The RBF supported the New York Public Library (NYPL) with annual grants as early as 1952.

Founded in 1953 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the aim of The Agricultural Development Council was to strengthen the professional capacity of Asian countries to deal with the economic and human problems of agricultural and rural development.

The Fund’s long-term support for the Society began in 1956, its inaugural year.

In 1957, the Fund established the Ramon Magsaysay Awards to honor the late President of the Philippines, who died in a plane crash in March 1957.

In 1958, a gift from the Fund helped the Palisades Interstate Park Commission expand the Palisades Interstate Park on the Hudson River northwest of New York City.

In 1959, the Fund launched its West Africa program to provide technical assistance to Ghana and Nigeria for economic development.

In 1961, the Fund began to address the incomplete inclusion of women in American life, particularly in higher education.

The RBF supported the creation of Lincoln Center with a gift of $2.5 million in 1962.

In 1963, in fact, the foundation lent support not only to recruit African American students for colleges but to enhance the level of education and training available at historically black colleges and universities.

The GEB eventually paid out $325 million before dissolving in 1965.

The Fund was instrumental in the 1966 creation of the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR), and supported the Committee from that point forward.

In 1968, the Fund developed an umbrella organizing mechanism for addressing the complex problems of race in the inner city.

Beginning in 1969, the Fund targeted its support to the Society’s Nature Centers Division for educational outreach including publications, training centers, workshops for the general public, and environmental curricula for elementary and secondary schools.

The RBF made grants to the Center for Community Change through the Fund’s Southern program beginning in 1972, providing technical assistance to agricultural development groups in the United States South.

Established in 1974 to preserve and make accessible the records of the Rockefeller family, its philanthropic institutions, and other organizations the family has created, the RAC has grown to become the premier research facility for the history of philanthropy.

In 1978, the Fund made a $15 million capital grant to RU to help assure its ultimate independence from Rockefeller family support.

Developed by a review committee chaired by David Rockefeller, Jr., One World was unveiled in 1983.

In agricultural studies, the foundation supported genetic engineering tests of cereal plants and in 1986 researchers developed a pioneering method of regenerating rice plants from rice protoplasts.

1990: The Energy Foundation, formed to study sustainable energy sources, is created in a joint venture with other foundations.

In 1992, Abby M. O’Neill succeeded David Rockefeller, Jr., as chair of the board of trustees, becoming the second chairperson drawn from the “cousins,” or fourth generation, and the first woman to serve in this capacity at the RBF.

Beginning in 1995, the RBF and the Pew Charitable Trusts collaborated on reforming United States fishery management in response to the overfishing of almost every monitored species in United States waters.

In 1998, the Fund supported a region-wide initiative to improve the nearly 600 miles of New York-New Jersey waterfront and the possibilities for restoration, redevelopment, and public access.

The New York-based organization provides grants and fellowships as well as support for conferences; the foundation disbursed more than $170 million in 1999.

In 2000 it reorganized to concentrate more on poverty and involving the poor in the grant-making process, with four divisions focused on culture, working communities, food security, and health equity.

In 2002, the RBF joined more than 100 other foundations in an amicus brief supporting a federal lawsuit brought by the Brennan Center, Dobbins v.

The RBF has supported BIRN since 2006.

Founded in 2007 with RBF support, the Institute for Advanced Studies (GAP) is an independent, Kosovo-based think tank that aims to bridge the gaps between the Kosovar government and the public on economic, political, and social issues.

In 2011, the RBF began supporting Just Vision, an organization that addresses the lack of media coverage of Palestinian and Israeli civilians doing nonviolent work to end the Occupation of the West Bank.

In 2018, it joined Kykuit as part of The Pocantico Center.