ROBERT E. WILSON 



the American Chemical Society or securities which involved 

 practically the whole ownership of Universal Oil Products 

 Company. This company was engaged in developing and licens- 

 ing refining processes to the oil industry, and the income from 

 this fund gradually increased until in 1958 it contributed 

 approximately $970,000 in over 100 grants for basic research. 

 Early in 1959 the U.O.P. securities were sold to the public and 

 are being replaced by a more diversified list of securities whose 

 total value will be about $70,000,000, which should furnish an 

 annual budget for basic research of about $2,500,000 at the 

 outset. This will probably be a continuing fund. It makes grants 

 mainly to educational institutions on a project basis, and takes 

 precautions to avoid duplication of effort with the A.P.I, fund. 



While most of the industry's support of basic research 

 outside its own laboratories is thus channeled through the A.P.I, 

 and the Petroleum Piesearch Fund, on the basis of inquiries 

 from the twelve largest companies in the industry I estimate 

 that in 1958 at least $900,000 additional went directly from the 

 industry to university laboratories for the support of basic re- 

 search. This does not include the financing of fellowships for 

 graduate students. 



The foregoing figures, totaling over $2,800,000 in 1958, 

 are reasonably definite and verifiable as representing our indus- 

 try's support of basic research outside its own laboratories, but 

 the attempt to assemble similar definite figures for the support 

 of basic research in those laboratories proved difficult, though 

 J have replies to inquiries from the twelve largest research 

 organizations in the industry. The differences between the 

 figures for basic work reported by the different organizations 

 were almost unbelievable to one who is generally familiar with 

 the caliber of work being carried out by them and the publica- 

 tions resulting therefrom. Also, the figures given me for 1958 



210 



