John III was the next Rockefeller manager for all family undertakings of social relevance. Since 1929, in total he sat on twenty boards of various institutions, most of which were family-related. The more notable of these were: •
Rockefeller University – then the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (established by Senior); •
Colonial Williamsburg (John Jr., Abby); •
Riverside Church (John Jr.); •
International House of New York (John Jr.); • General Education Board – later the
International Education Board (Senior); •
China Medical Board (John Sr., John Jr.); • Bureau of Social Hygiene (John Jr.); • Industrial Relations Counselors (John Jr.). John III was at one time a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations, the
Foreign Policy Association and the
Institute of Pacific Relations, as well as being on the board of directors of
Princeton University. In late 1950, he accompanied
secretary of state John Foster Dulles and
Douglas MacArthur on a trip to Japan to conclude a peace treaty, during which time he consulted with many Japanese leaders in practically every important sphere of that country's life. He was a prominent third-generation family philanthropist in his own right and founder of the
Asia Society, the major institution he established in 1956 to foster greater cooperation between Asia and the United States. He also founded the
Population Council in 1952, and a reconstituted
Japan Society. In addition, he set up the United Negro College Fund for the ongoing education of African Americans, carrying on the family tradition in this area with his grandfather's funding of the education of black women at
Spelman College in Atlanta. He was on his father's Advisory Committee in the
family office, Room 5600. He was also president of the family's principal philanthropy run by family members, the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, from its inception in 1940 to 1956. In 1929, he joined the family's renowned
Rockefeller Foundation; elected to the board in 1931 he subsequently became chairman of this major philanthropic organization for twenty years and was responsible for changing the focus of the institution. The principal philanthropic institution he created was the JDR III Fund in 1963, its major program being the Asian Cultural Program, created in 1967 to encourage East-West cultural exchange. The Fund was wound-up upon his death in 1979, but the Cultural Program continued as the Asian Cultural Council, which has provided grant assistance to more than 4,000 Asians and Americans in the area of the arts. Funding for its programs is derived from a combination of endowment income and contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations in the United States and Asia. In the mid-1950s, John III assumed the leadership of the Exploratory Committee for a Musical Arts Center, a committee of civic leaders who were working to create what would become
Lincoln Center. He was the key figure in the fund-raising efforts and in forging a consensus among the civic leaders and others who were essential to its success. The Center itself was built over a period from 1959 to 1969. He was its second president, commencing in 1956, and he became its chairman in 1961. He was chairman until 1970 when he was duly elected honorary chairman. In the late 1960s, Rockefeller III was responsible for the creation of the Commission on Foundations and Private Philanthropy (usually known as the Peterson Commission, headed by
Peter G. Peterson) and the Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs (usually known as the Filer Commission). He established the Rockefeller Public Service Awards in 1958. In 1959, he received
The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York". In 1976, he received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by
Jefferson Awards. Rockefeller III was chairman of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, which was created to provide recommendations to the United States government regarding population growth and its social consequences. The Commission was established by Congress in 1970 and submitted its final recommendations in 1972. ==Posthumous honors==