The Global Agenda for American Engineering Proceedings of a Symposium (1996) / Chapter Skim
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The Role of Foundations in the Support of International Science and Technology
The Role of Foundations in the Support of International Science and Technology
Pages 35-46
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From page 35... ...
Gerry's long experience in academia, private industry, and government has given him a perspective that has been enormously valuable to those of us working with the day-to-day operations of the NRC. But he also has a deep understanding of the increasingly global nature of the problems we confront as a society and of the imperative for cooperative international approaches to solving these problems.
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From page 36... ...
This is true whether we are speaking of arms control and disarmament, the preservation of global biodiversity, world food production, or fair and productive access to the dazzling array of new information and communication tools. In addition, the resolution of these issues requires concerted international action.
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From page 37... ...
I should emphasize that I do not intend to give an encyclopedic view of foundation funding related to international science and technology. To make my task manageable, I will confine my presentation to the activities of American private foundations.
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From page 38... ...
In 1960, in conjunction with The Rockefeller Foundation, Ford gave $6.9 million to help establish the International Rice Research Institute, and it provided over $10 million to increase food production in India. In the 1960s, Ford grants established the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Affairs, which has been heavily involved ever since in technical assistance and education in developing countries, especially in the area of agriculture.
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From page 39... ...
MacArthur provides some $1.5 million annually in science-related grants for researchers working in the former Soviet Union, including support for their travel to scientific meetings abroad. MacArthur also makes grants to formerly Soviet scientific institutions for environmental projects.
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From page 40... ...
Future ISF activities apparently depend considerably on whether Western governments and the governments of the former Soviet states are willing to provide matching funds. The work of the Pew Charitable Trusts in international science and technology is relatively modest.
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From page 41... ...
CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUNDATION SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY What are foundations able to do that is noteworthy and distinguishes their giving from other donors, such as international development banks or national aid agencies? This is an important question, because the magnitude of the international problems we face is immense, especially for the two-thirds of the world's population located in developing countries.
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From page 42... ...
Already inadequate transport networks are deteriorating rapidly in many countries. Electric power has yet to reach 2 billion people, and in many countries unreliable power constrains output.
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From page 43... ...
The centers were an outgrowth of the green revolution, itself a product of funding provided by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations to establish the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. The centers have had a major impact on food production throughout the world.
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From page 44... ...
The World Bank was interested in helping but had no mechanism for funding the multinational planning effort that would have to be the first step. Our grant of several hundred thousand dollars enabled a collaborative planning process to take place, and the resulting conservation project received tens of millions of dollars in funding through the World Bank's Global Environmental Facility.
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From page 45... ...
In forming consortia, foundations will need to ally themselves with nonfoundation donors, such as aid agencies and multinational banks. There will also be more collaboration with industrial groups in areas such as vaccine development, crop biotechnology, reproductive biology, and energy production and use.
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From page 46... ...
1994. World Development Report 1994: infrastructure for Development.
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