Sloan Foundation

Sloan Foundation, fund established (1934) by automobile executive Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. as a philanthropic institution supporting research in various areas. In its early years it stressed support of U.S. economic education and research. After World War II its emphasis shifted in part to medical research, particularly cancer research. In the late 1960s its activities were expanded to include studies in current social problems, science, and technology. These interests, with the addition of a focus on the economy and its effects on standards of living, continued through the 1990s. The foundation has been a major financial supporter of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, established in 1945. In 1998 its endowment exceeded $1 billion.