The Rockefeller Foundation Names David Rockefeller, Jr. as Board Chair

NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation have elected DAVID ROCKEFELLER, Jr., a Director and former Chairman of Rockefeller Financial, as its next Board Chair.  He succeeds James F. Orr, III, President and CEO of LandingPoint Capital who has served as Board Chair for the past decade.

"It has been deeply satisfying to have served as the Board Chair of the Foundation this past decade. I am delighted that it is David who will step into this role given the particular significance of the upcoming Centennial celebration.  His nonprofit experience coupled with his deep integrity makes him a most compelling Board Chair," said Mr. Orr.

"Jim Orr has led the Rockefeller Foundation Board steadily and nobly through the dawn of the new millennium, which brought new and exciting social challenges," said Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin. "David Rockefeller, Jr. is an acknowledged advocate for private philanthropy. Since 2006, he has contributed an extraordinary understanding and respect for the nonprofit world to the board, and helped elevate our work to effect positive change throughout the world.  We welcome David's vision and commitment to his great grandfather's edict to promote the well being of humanity, and are humbled by the significance of David's role in ushering us through our centennial as the third Rockefeller to serve as Board Chair – the first back in 1917 and the last nearly 40 years ago."

David Rockefeller, Jr. will be the 12th Board Chair of the Foundation and will be at the helm as the Foundation celebrates its 100th year in 2013. Mr. Rockefeller, Jr.  has been an active trustee of the Foundation since 2006, having served on a number of board committees, including investment, trusteeship, audit and most recently serving as the Board representative to the Foundation's Centennial Committee.

"Jim Orr has served with great distinction as Chairman, and I am honored that my fellow trustees have asked me to succeed him as Foundation Chairman. I am also happy to have succeeded my cousin, Jay Rockefeller, and sister, Peggy Dulany, as Foundation trustee. Our family is enormously proud of the Rockefeller Foundation's century of independent grant-making that has helped make the world a better place for its most vulnerable citizens and earned this Foundation a special place in the public trust," said Mr. Rockefeller, Jr.

Mr. Rockefeller, Jr.'s commitment to nonprofits has spanned the areas of the environment, philanthropy, arts and public education. He is a past vice chair of the National Park Foundation, where he reported directly to the Secretary of the Interior.  He served as a member of the Pew Oceans Commission that issued a comprehensive report on the health of U.S. marine waters in June 2003. His commitment to ensuring that the government and communities embrace and implement the recommendations of the Pew Commission —and his passion for sailing and the sea—fueled the formation of Sailors for the Sea, a "new voice for ocean conservation."

Mr. Rockefeller, Jr. is an advisor and former vice chair of the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and a founder of the Alaska Fund for the Future, an organization dedicated to preserving the Alaskan natural environment and its native cultures. As a sailor, he has raced and cruised for more than 40 years in waters throughout the world.

Mr. Rockefeller, Jr. is the former chair of the North American Nominating Committee for the Praemium Imperiale, the Japanese prize for outstanding international achievement in the arts. In addition, he is a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, the Asian Cultural Council, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He chaired Arts, Education and Americans, which produced the book, Coming to Our Senses: The Significance of the Arts for American Education. He is also a founding trustee of The Cantata Singers in Boston and performed with them as a chorister four decades.

Mr. Rockefeller, Jr. is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His former foundation affiliations have included service as Trustee and Chairman of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, President of the Rockefeller Family Fund, and a Trustee of the Boston Foundation.

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation fosters innovative solutions to many of the world's most pressing challenges, affirming its mission, since 1913, to "promote the well-being" of humanity. Today, the Foundation works to ensure that more people can tap into the benefits of globalization while strengthening resilience to its risks. Foundation initiatives include efforts to mobilize an agricultural revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa, bolster economic security for American workers, inform equitable, sustainable transportation policies in the United States, ensure access to affordable and high-quality health systems in developing countries, accelerate the impact investing industry's evolution, and develop strategies and services that help vulnerable communities cope with the impacts of climate change.  For more information, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation