Growth of the Board

For the Fund’s first ten years, its board was comprised of only the five Rockefeller brothers. In 1951, the RBF elected its first non-family trustees, Dr. Detlev W. Bronk and Wallace K. Harrison. Bronk was the former president of Johns Hopkins University and president of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University). Harrison was senior partner in the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz, director of planning for the United Nations headquarters, and president of the American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA).

In 1954, the brothers’ only sister, Abby “Babs” Rockefeller Mauzé, joined the board. In 1958, her daughter Abby M. O’Neill became the first trustee drawn from the fourth, or “cousins” generation. Board leadership also changed when Nelson Rockefeller assumed the role of president in 1956, replacing John D. Rockefeller 3^rd. Nelson was, in turn, succeeded as president by Laurance Rockefeller in 1958.