Jan 01 1971The Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) is established to develop improved food crop varieties for the developing world. Beginning with four research centers funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, CGIAR expands to 16 centers supported by 39 international donors.
Jan 01 1970The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, a Foundation agricultural scientist, for his pivotal role in modernizing agriculture in the developing world. This effort becomes popularly known as the Green Revolution, a term coined two years earlier by William S. Gaud, former director of United States Aid for International Development (USAID).
Jan 01 1968Family planning units for university research and teaching are established at Baylor University, Cornell University, the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina, Case Western Reserve University, Tulane University and the University of Washington in the US, and abroad at the University of Chile, the Universidad del Valle in Colombia, and Hacettepe University in Turkey.
Jan 01 1968A shift in direction of the Equal Opportunity program leads to Foundation support of projects dealing with problems in the inner city—studies on the nature and causes of urban ghettos; the training of minority leaders and the improvement of elementary and secondary schools through the training of black educators to be principals and superintendents.
Jan 01 1967The Foundation supports new dance companies (Eliot Feld Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater, Agnes de Mille Dance Theater) and experimental theaters (Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, La Mama Experimental Theater and the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater).
Jan 01 1967The Foundation begins funding the work of experimental composer Nam June Paik with a $550 grant to cover basic living expenses and the cost of art materials. At the time, Paik is experimenting with new forms combining video, music and performance work that plays a leading role in the emerging field of video art.
Jan 01 1967The Foundation gives a pioneering grant to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to expand beyond litigation and develop a division that supports the basic rights of the poor and victims of discrimination.
Jan 01 1966The Foundation initiates support for an economic demography program in Mexico that by 1974 leads to official government policy to reduce population growth. Support to other Latin American countries follows.
Jan 01 1966The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is established with Rockefeller support in Mexico, a focal point for the growing international effort to improve basic food crops in the developing world.
Jan 01 1965The Foundation supports novice playwright Sam Shepard with a $5,500 grant allowing him to write full time. At that point, only one of his plays had been produced. That grant was followed by $6,800 two years later, allowing him to write and visit drama centers in Europe.
