Support of 

 Basic Research 

 from PRIVATE 

 PHILANTHROPY 



ROBERT S. MORISON 



The Rockefeller Foundation 



iVlY TASK is to discuss the role of private 

 philanthropy in the support and encouragement of basic re- 

 search. One may be allowed to assume that all of us know what 

 basic research is, how to distinguish it from its confusing next- 

 door neighbor, applied research, and how it snobbishly sets it- 

 self apart from its so very distant cousins "development" and 

 "technology.'' 



Much less, if anything, has been said so far about private 

 philanthropy, so I propose to give you my own definition. For 

 the purposes of this talk, private philanthropy will mean the 

 giving of money by private individuals to divers good causes 

 out of a love for man. The phrase "money given by individuals" 

 will include money given directly by individuals, or indirectly 

 through foundations, but the major emphasis will be on the 

 latter. Foundations include both the classical sort in which a 

 single person or family dedicates a large personal fortune to the 

 welfare of mankind, and the modern type developed to mobil- 



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