The Rockefeller Foundation

On April 24, 1913, the New York State Legislature passed without objection a bill incorporating The Rockefeller Foundation, stating its purpose as “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” On May 14, New York Governor William Sulzer signed the bill, and the foundation was chartered under New York State law. The first trustees named in the bill included John D. Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller Jr.John D. Rockefeller Jr.John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960) was an American philanthropist and the only son of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller. He devoted most of his life to philanthropy and public affairs, giving away about $537 million in total; he led the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, built Rockefeller Center in New York and paid for the land for the United Nations headquarters in New York. In 1914 the Ludlow Massacre at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, controlled by his family, brought him nationwide criticism.Open the full entry, Frederick T. Gates, Harry Pratt Judson, Simon Flexner, Starr J. Murphy, Jerome D. Greene, Wickliffe Rose, and Charles O. Heydt.⁠[1][2][2]

The foundation describes its founding purpose as using science and technology to solve humanity’s most intractable problems at their root, rather than using charity to relieve the symptoms.⁠[3]

On May 22, 1913, the board held its first meeting in Room 1409 at 26 Broadway in New York City, where it accepted the charter, adopted a constitution and bylaws, and elected John D. Rockefeller Jr., then 39, as president and Jerome D. Greene as secretary. Although John D. Rockefeller himself was a trustee, he attended neither this nor any later board meeting, sending only a letter expressing his confidence.⁠[2][1][2][1][2]

At the same meeting, the foundation received its first funds: securities with a face value of $3.2 million that Rockefeller had previously placed in trust. He subsequently donated further securities on June 4 and June 27, 1913, and March 6, 1914, bringing the foundation’s funds to $100 million. By the foundation’s count, his gifts to the foundation totaled $182,851,480.90 by 1927.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][1]

Early discussions at the foundation concluded that advancing public health through medical research and education was the most likely to have lasting impact. On June 27, 1913, the board decided to create the International Health Commission (later the International Health Board), appropriating $25,000 to extend abroad the hookworm-control experience gained in the American South since 1909; this was the foundation’s first funding for work outside the United States.⁠[2][2][1][1][2]

On December 5, 1913, the board made its first grant, providing $100,000 to the American Red Cross to purchase headquarters property in Washington and to build a memorial to the American women who cared for the sick and wounded during the Civil War.⁠[1][1]

In 1914, the foundation established the China Medical Board to develop a modern medical system in China; that same year it began an international fellowship program funding scholars to pursue postdoctoral research at the world’s leading universities.⁠[1][1]

In 1915, the foundation launched its most concentrated public health campaign, targeting yellow fever. Over the next 30 years, it sent scientists to Africa and Latin America to conduct research and test new methods; six of them died in the course of the work.⁠[1][1]

In 1917, Peking Union Medical College, founded by the foundation, admitted premedical students in temporary facilities; adviser Simon Flexner hoped it would become “the Johns Hopkins of China.” That same year, John D. Rockefeller Jr. became chairman of the board (until 1940), and George E. Vincent became president (until 1929).⁠[1][1]

By the end of World War I, the foundation had spent more than $22 million on war relief, shipping food to countries including Belgium, Poland, Serbia, and Armenia and even chartering its own ships. In 1918, the foundation made public health education one of its main areas of focus, establishing and funding the first school of public health at Johns Hopkins University.⁠[1][1]

In 1928, the foundation underwent a comprehensive reorganization, consolidating its work into five divisions—international health, medical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities—and absorbing the work of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, which formally launched its social science program.⁠[1][1]

Over more than two decades beginning in 1933, the foundation spent $1.5 million to help 300 scientists and scholars fleeing Nazi Germany resettle in friendly countries, many of them at American universities.⁠[1]

In 1935, the foundation’s New York laboratories developed a vaccine against yellow fever; over the following 16 years, the foundation spent nearly $14 million on yellow fever control.⁠[1][1]

In 1943, the foundation partnered with Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture to launch an agricultural program there centered on research and development to increase the yields of food crops.⁠[1]

In 1951, Max Theiler of the foundation’s New York virus laboratory received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his yellow fever vaccine research, “for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it.”⁠[1][4]

In 1952, John D. Rockefeller IIIJohn D. Rockefeller IIIJohn D. Rockefeller III (1906–1978) was an American philanthropist and the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. He founded the Population Council and the Asia Society, served as the first president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and for decades promoted cultural exchange between the United States and Asia and the study of population issues.Open the full entry became chairman of the board, serving until 1971, and Dean Rusk became president, serving until 1961.⁠[1]

In 1956, the foundation funded the first conference on artificial intelligence, held at Dartmouth; according to the foundation’s timeline, it was the first time the words “artificial” and “intelligence” were used together.⁠[1]

In 1959, the foundation received the gift of the Villa Serbelloni on Lake Como in Italy. Set in 50 acres of grounds, the villa became the foundation’s Bellagio Study and Conference Center, hosting international conferences and resident scholars.⁠[1][1]

In 1960, the International Rice Research Institute was established in the Philippines, the first in what later became a system of 16 international agricultural research centers.⁠[1]

In 1970, foundation agricultural scientist Norman E. Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing agricultural modernization in developing countries, work widely known as the “Green Revolution.” Working in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, he bred dwarf wheat varieties adapted to local conditions.⁠[1][1][5][5]

In 1972, the foundation’s archives in New York City were opened to the public; two years later, the Rockefeller Archive Center began operating in Sleepy Hollow, New York.⁠[1][1]

In 2005, Judith Rodin became president, the first woman to hold the position in the foundation’s history.⁠[1]

In 2013, the foundation celebrated its centennial under the theme “Innovation for the Next 100 Years,” and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed May 14 “Rockefeller Foundation Day”; that same year, the foundation launched 100 Resilient Cities, a program helping cities around the world meet physical, social, and economic challenges.⁠[1][1][1]

In 2017, Rajiv J. ShahRajiv ShahRajiv Shah is an American development policy official and philanthropic leader who served as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2010 to 2015 and has been the 13th president of The Rockefeller Foundation since 2017.Open the full entry became the foundation’s 13th president.⁠[1]

In 2018, retired Admiral James StavridisJames StavridisJames Stavridis is a retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral who commanded U.S. Southern Command and, from 2009 to 2013, served as NATO’s 16th Supreme Allied Commander and commander of U.S. European Command. After retiring, he became dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; he is now a partner and vice chairman of the Carlyle Group and chair of the board of The Rockefeller Foundation, and is active as an author and commentator.Open the full entry joined the board of trustees, and in June 2021 he became its chair.⁠[6]

In 2019, the foundation opened an office in Washington, D.C., focused on advancing public policies that help achieve its goals.⁠[7]

In 2020, the foundation committed $1 billion to a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest single commitment in its 108-year history; the foundation said at the time that it had disbursed more than $22 billion in total since its founding. Beginning that year, it also started divesting its endowment of more than $6 billion from fossil fuels.⁠[1][1][8]

In 2021, at the UN climate conference COP26, the foundation helped launch the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, which aims to mobilize $100 billion in public and private capital to provide reliable renewable electricity to 1 billion people without power. The foundation, the Ikea Foundation, and the Bezos Earth Fund each committed $500 million. That same year, the foundation’s $700 million Series 2020 taxable bonds received “Aaa/AAA” ratings from Moody’s and S&P.⁠[1][1][8][1]

On July 26, 2022, the foundation announced that it would make addressing climate change the core of all its work, including its operations and investments. In an open letter, President Shah acknowledged the “irony” that founder Rockefeller had made his fortune supplying the United States with carbon-based energy; he said that institutions that had benefited more from fossil-fuel-driven development bear greater responsibility.⁠[8][8][8]

In 2023, the foundation committed more than $1 billion to advance climate solutions and mobilized the entire institution to address climate change.⁠[1][1]

In 2024, the foundation announced a Latin America and Caribbean regional office in Bogotá, Colombia, its first office in the region in two decades; that same year it launched Big Bets for America to deepen its work in the United States.⁠[1][1][1]

In 2025, at the Nutrition for Growth Summit, the foundation committed $100 million, with a five-year plan to provide 100 million children worldwide with more nutritious, locally produced school meals.⁠[1]

The foundation is governed by a board of trustees of no fewer than 12 members, with the president serving as an ex officio trustee; the board oversees program and grant-making strategy, the budget, and investments, and its committees include executive, investment, budget and compensation, audit, and trustee nominating committees. As of October 2026, the chair of the board is James Stavridis and the president is Rajiv J. Shah.⁠[6][6][6][9]

New York City has been the foundation’s global headquarters for more than a century; as of October 2026, it also has an office in Washington, D.C., a conference center in Bellagio, Italy, and regional headquarters in Nairobi, Bangkok, and Bogotá for Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, respectively. The foundation is legally independent, with its own resources, board, and mission, and does not control other institutions that also bear the Rockefeller name.⁠[7][7][7][10]

The Rockefeller Foundation: Official website: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

X: Public account: https://x.com/rockefellerfdn (opens in a new window)⁠[11]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rockefeller-foundation (opens in a new window)⁠[11]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public account: https://www.youtube.com/rockefellerfound (opens in a new window)⁠[11]