• Academic Philanthropic Studies Research
• History of Philanthropy in the U.S.


• Sitemap

Philanthropic Organizations

• A - F | G - M | N - Z

Philanthropy In the News

Doing philanthropy the Google way

Index of Global Philanthropy Shows Innovative Private Giving Transforming Aid to Developing Countries

GlobalGiving Launches Myanmar Disaster Relief Fund

Oprah provides ray of hope to Africa

Colin Powell urges corporate philanthropy

G - M

Philanthropic Organizations

• The Gates Foundation
• The Getty Foundation
• The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• High Meadows Foundation
• Lance Armstrong Foundation
• The Lincy Foundation
• The Lynch Foundation
• The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• The Marcus Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Founders: Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon-Bruce

Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907- February 1, 1999) and Ailsa Mellon-Bruce (June 28, 1901-August 25, 1969) ran two different philanthropic institutions, the Old Dominion Foundation and the Avalon Foundation respectively. Paul Mellon founded the Old Dominion Foundation in 1941, while the Avalon Foundation was established a year earlier by his sister Ailsa. Both foundations shared the same interests (arts, improved standards in higher education, and museums) and differ only slightly in other areas of concern.

On June 1960, the two foundations were consolidated and the new organization was named the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in honor of the founders’ late father, former United States Secretary to the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon.

Areas of Interest:

1. Advocating for the total eradication of present-day racism and racial disparities
2. Building and sustaining institutions through grant-making

Notable Projects/Programs:

The Foundation offers the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program and Diversity Initiatives (MMUF), which grant scholarships to promising and bright students who are of color and different ethnicities. Under the program, selected minority students (Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and Native Americans) are aided to pursue PhDs in the core fields of the arts and sciences.

Established in 1988, the number of participating students are increasing progressively. As of March 2006, over 2,500 students have been involved with the program; over 170 of which now hold PhD’s while 500 are presently in graduate schools. Some of the Foundation’s other programs are listed below.

• Scholarly Communications Program – the Foundation grants funding for projects that promote the improvement of scholarly sources, specifically through the employment of scholarly communications to enthuse collaborations among scholars and intellectual institutions.
• Research in Information Technology – the Foundation is dedicated to further advancing the role of information technologies to online and distance learning. The program also promotes the studies in the fields of digital technologies and the research of new approaches in which these technologies can create a positive impact on higher learning (e.g. online libraries, online scholarly communications, etc.)

Last 2006, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a total of $650,000 in prizes to ten non-profit organizations who are in line with the Foundation’s goals in their first Mellon Awards for Technology collaboration. Listed are some of the winners:

• Humboldt State University - $100,000 (for work in the Moodle Course Management)
• Internet Archive - $100,000 (for the development of the Heretrix Web Crawler)
• University of Washington - $100,000 (or the development and support of IMAP/PINE email tools)

More about the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation:

Aside from the MMUF, the Foundation currently makes grants in six primary program areas namely:

• Scholarly Communications
• Research in Information Technology
• Higher Education and Scholarship
• Museums and Art Conservation
• Performing Arts
• Conservation and the Environment