35 Facts About Laurance Rockefeller

Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and conservationist.

Laurance Rockefeller was known for his involvement in wilderness preservation, ecology and the protection of wildlife.

Laurance Rockefeller's crusade was the establishing of a conservation ethic, and he was declared America's leading conservationist by Lady Bird Johnson.

Laurance Rockefeller was born in New York City, as the fourth child of John Davison Laurance Rockefeller Jr.

Laurance Rockefeller's siblings were Abby, John III, Nelson, Winthrop, and David.

Laurance Rockefeller graduated from Princeton University in 1932 and attended Harvard Law School for two years, until he decided he did not want to be a lawyer.

Laurance Rockefeller served as founding trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for forty-two years, from its inception in 1940 to 1982; during this time he served as president and later its chairman for twenty-two years, longer than any other leader in the Fund's history.

Laurance Rockefeller was a founding trustee of the Rockefeller Family Fund from 1967 to 1977.

Laurance Rockefeller was a leading figure in the pioneering field of venture capital, founding a joint partnership with all five brothers and their only sister, Babs, in 1946.

Laurance Rockefeller had learned to fly, and found Rickenbacker's vivid accounts of an approaching boom in commercial air travel to be persuasive.

Laurance Rockefeller funded the pivotal post-WWII military contractor McDonnell Aircraft Corp.

In 1966, Rockefeller was considered by President Lyndon B Johnson for the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, then a newly-formed agency.

Laurance Rockefeller was a longtime friend and associate of DeWitt Wallace, who with his wife in 1922 co-founded Reader's Digest.

Laurance Rockefeller wanted to ensure that it preserved its patriotic mission of informing and educating the public, along with support for national parks, one of Rockefeller's primary interests.

Laurance Rockefeller funded the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at a critical juncture of its early development.

Laurance Rockefeller funded William Irwin Thompson's Lindisfarne Association, a think tank and retreat.

Laurance Rockefeller had a major involvement in the New York Zoological Society, along with support from other family members and philanthropies; he was a long-time trustee, president and chairman.

In 1983, Laurance Rockefeller donated the primary funds to create The Mirror Theater Ltd, a New York-based theater company founded by Sabra Jones.

Laurance Rockefeller funded research of the PEAR lab, dealing with consciousness-based physical phenomena.

Laurance Rockefeller had an interest, gained via his mother Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, in Buddhism and Asian cultural affairs.

Laurance Rockefeller funded the research of Harvard Medical School Professor Dr John E Mack, author of Passport to the Cosmos.

Laurance Rockefeller was reported to have supported the work of Dr Steven M Greer of the Disclosure Project.

Laurance Rockefeller opposed the harsh punishments of the War on Drugs, including the "Laurance Rockefeller Drug Laws" that his older brother, Nelson, championed.

The first and most important test case where declassification had to apply, according to Laurance Rockefeller, was the Roswell UFO incident.

Laurance Rockefeller briefed Clinton on the results of his initiative in 1995.

Laurence Laurance Rockefeller funded the UK's largest crop circle survey.

Laurance Rockefeller was noted for his involvement in conservation and the protection of wildlife and was chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission.

Laurance Rockefeller was a recipient of the Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award.

Laurance Rockefeller served on dozens of federal, state and local commissions and advised every president since Dwight D Eisenhower on issues involving recreation, wilderness preservation and ecology.

Laurance Rockefeller founded the American Conservation Association and supported many other environmental groups.

Laurance Rockefeller funded the expansion of Grand Teton National Park and was instrumental in establishing and enlarging national parks in Wyoming, California, the Virgin Islands, Vermont, Maine and Hawaii.

Laurance Rockefeller said at the award presentation that nothing was more important to him than "the creation of a conservation ethic in America".

In 2001, Laurance Rockefeller transferred ownership of his landmark 1106-acre JY Ranch to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Laurance Rockefeller died in his sleep of natural cause by pulmonary fibrosis on July 11,2004, at the age of 94.

Laurance Rockefeller was interred next to his wife at the Rockefeller Family Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.