John D Rockefeller III

John D. Rockefeller 3rd

1952

  • Population Council founded by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, who becomes its first president and provides $1.4 million in initial funding

1953

  • First eight demography fellowships awarded
  • Population Council provides grant to the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population to help prepare for the first United Nations World Population Conference in Rome, 1954

1954

  • Dudley Kirk appointed demographic director and Warren O. Nelson medical director
  • First fellowships for the study of reproductive physiology awarded
  • Population Council begins financial support to the Population Reference Bureau
  • Ford Foundation grants $600,000 to Council

1955     

  • Government of India requests assistance as it establishes the world's first national family planning program

1956

  • Biomedical research lab (later Center for Biomedical Research), under the supervision of Sheldon J. Segal, established at the Rockefeller Institute (later Rockefeller University)
  • Population Council's annual budget: $500,000

1957

  • Frederick Osborn becomes second president
  • John D. Rockefeller 3rd becomes chairman of the board
  • Population Council helps establish the United Nations regional center for demographic training and research in Bombay, India

1958

  • Population Council helps establish the United Nations regional center for demographic training and research in Santiago, Chile
A study group walks to a village in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

A study group walks to a village in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

1959

  • Frank W. Notestein becomes third president
  • Rockefeller Foundation grant allows expansion of fellowship program
  • Population Council provides technical assistance to Pakistan to establish family planning services
  • During the 1950s and 1960s, Council sponsors knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) studies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ghana, Haiti, Jamaica, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, and Venezuela
  • Financial support provided to US and European institutions including Boston University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, London School of Economics and Political Science, Population Association of America, Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Uppsala