The appointment of Ian Solomon, currently the dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, follows an extensive search that began in the summer of 2025 when Stephen Heintz announced plans to retire after 25 years as RBF president and CEO.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund Board of Trustees announced it would confer upon Stephen Heintz the title of president emeritus—a distinction that has never before been granted in the organization's history. 

Ian H. Solomon, the dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, will become RBF’s eighth president and CEO this September.