Rockefeller, Laurance

Rockefeller, Laurance (Spelman) (1910–  ) business executive, conservationist; born in New York City. A grandson of the oil magnate, John D. Rockefeller, he graduated from Princeton in 1932, became involved in commercial aviation, and managed several family enterprises, including the Rockefeller Center entertainment and business complex. As director of the nonprofit Jackson Hole Preserve, he oversaw the donation of 33,000 acres of Rockefeller land to the Grand Teton National Park. The preserve also acquired 5,000 unspoiled acres on St. John Island that in 1976 became the Virgin Islands National Park. He headed the Citizens Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality from 1969 to 1973.