Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private graduate-only university in New York City. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". Rockefeller is the oldest biomedical research institute in the United States. The 82-person faculty (tenured and tenure-track, as of ) has 37 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, seven Lasker Award recipients, and five Nobel laureates. As of March 2022, a total of 26 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with  Rockefeller University. The university is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, between 63rd and 68th streets on York Avenue. Richard P. Lifton became the university's eleventh president on September 1, 2016. The Rockefeller University Press publishes the "Journal of Experimental Medicine", the "Journal of Cell Biology", and "The Journal of General Physiology". History. The Rockefeller University was founded in June 1901 as The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research—often called simply The Rockefeller Institute—by John D. Rockefeller, who had founded the University of Chicago in 1889, upon advice by his adviser Frederick T. Gates and action  taken in March 1901 by his son, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Greatly elevating the prestige of American science and medicine, it was America's first biomedical institute, like France's Pasteur Institute (1888) and Germany's Robert Koch Institute (1891). The Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic organization, founded in 1913, is a separate entity, but had close connections mediated by prominent figures holding dual positions. The first director of laboratories was Simon Flexner, who supervised the development of research capacity at the Institute, whose staff made major discoveries in basic research and medicine. While a student at Johns Hopkins University, Flexner  had studied under the Institute's first scientific director, William H. Welch, first dean of Hopkins' medical school and known as the dean of American medicine. Flexner retired in 1935 and was succeeded by Herbert Gasser. He was succeeded in 1953 by Detlev Bronk, who broadened The Rockefeller Institute into a university that began awarding the PhD degree in 1954. In 1965 The Rockefeller Institute's name was changed to The Rockefeller University. For its first six decades, the Institute focused on basic research to develop basic science, on applied research as biomedical engineering, and, since 1910—when The Rockefeller  Hospital opened on its campus as America's first facility for clinical research—on clinical science. The Rockefeller Hospital's first director Rufus Cole retired in 1937 and was succeeded by Thomas Milton Rivers. As director of The Rockefeller Institute's virology laboratory, he established virology as an independent field apart from bacteriology. Rockefeller family. Rockefeller Sr, urged by Rockefeller Jr, his only son, who was enthusiastic about the Institute, visited the University once. Rockefeller Jr's youngest son David would visit with his father. David Rockefeller joined the board of trustees in 1940, was its chairman from 1950 to  1975, chaired the board's executive committee from 1975 to 1995, became honorary chairman and life trustee, and remained active as a philanthropist until his death. Institutional changes. The "Rockefeller Institute Hospital" name was changed to "Rockefeller University Hospital" and "Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research" to "Rockefeller University" during the "more than sixty years" in which "Rockefeller" included "the last surviving member of a Manhattan scientific team that overturned medical dogma in the 1940s and became the first to demonstrate that genes were made of DNA." Archives. The archives of Rockefeller University are at the Rockefeller Archive Center, established in  1974 as part of the university and organized as an independent foundation since 2008. Organization and administration. Governance. To foster an interdisciplinary atmosphere among its laboratories, faculty members are grouped into one or more of ten interconnecting research areas: Academics. Graduate degree programs. Rockefeller University admitted its first graduate students in 1955. Today, approximately 250 graduate students are enrolled in the program, which offers doctoral degrees in the biomedical sciences, chemistry, and biophysics. The university's organization on the basis of laboratories rather than a hierarchical departmental structure extends to the graduate program, where laboratory research is the primary focus  and students can meet degree requirements by participating in any combination of courses. In partnership with neighboring Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, Rockefeller participates in the Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program as well as a Tri-Institutional chemical biology Ph.D. program. Contemporary Research. Rockefeller ranks highly in the CWTS Leiden Ranking, an international ranking of research impact. Current Rockefeller faculty have made significant contributions to recent breakthroughs in biomedical sciences. Michael W. Young was one of several scientists who located genes that regulate the sleep–wake cycle in 1984. In 1994, Jeffrey M. Friedman’s laboratory  discovered leptin, a gene that influences appetite and weight. Charles David Allis helped identify the first enzyme that modifies histones in 1996, providing early evidence that the DNA packaging material plays a crucial role in gene regulation. In 1998, Roderick MacKinnon’s laboratory elucidated the structure and mechanism of a potassium channel, explaining how electrical signals are conveyed across cell membranes. Titia de Lange was part of a team that found how telomeres protect chromosome ends, shedding light on the role of genome instability in cancer in 1999. Robert B. Darnell led research that defined the molecular basis of fragile  X syndrome, the second leading cause of intellectual disability, in 2001. Vincent A. Fischetti was part of a group that developed a powerful agent that can target and wipe out anthrax bacteria in 2002. Charles M. Rice helped produce an infectious form of the hepatitis C virus in laboratory cultures of human cells in 2005, leading directly to three new classes of hepatitis C drugs. Elaine Fuchs helped define the stem cells that can initiate squamous cell carcinoma in 2011, and also characterized the signaling pathways that drive malignancy. In 2013, Leslie B. Vosshall’s laboratory identified a gene in  mosquitoes that is responsible for their attraction to humans and their sensitivity to the insect repellent DEET. Ali Brivanlou’s laboratory developed a method to grow embryos outside the uterus for up to 13 days in 2016, allowing scientists to study the earliest events of human development. In 2020, many Rockefeller scientists shifted the focus of their research in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Michel C. Nussenzweig pioneered a method to isolate and clone antibodies from people who successfully recovered from COVID-19 to design a treatment that prevents people from developing severe disease. Jean-Laurent Casanova identified genetic mutations that  are responsible for a subset of unexpectedly severe cases of COVID-19. Campus and student life. Founder’s Hall was the first building on Rockefeller’s campus, built between 1903 and 1906. It housed the nation's first major biomedical research laboratory and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974. Caspary Auditorium, a 40-foot-high, 90-foot round geodesic dome, was built in 1957 and hosts a variety of concert series and lectures. The completion of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation–David Rockefeller River Campus in 2019, built along the East River over FDR Drive, added two acres to Rockefeller ’s footprint. Rockefeller’s campus houses a childcare center for researchers and other university employees. Graduate students are offered subsidized housing on campus and receive an annual stipend. Student groups include People at Rockefeller Identifying as Sexual/Gender Minorities (PRISM), Women in Science at Rockefeller (WISeR), and the Science and Education Policy Association (SEPA). The student-run publication "Natural Selections" is produced monthly. Promotion of women in science and outreach activities. The Rockefeller University established a Women in Science initiative in 1998 to address the underrepresentation of women in the field. It is founded mainly by female philanthropists. The program  includes scholarships and an entrepreneurship found to help increase the low number of female researchers that commercialize their discoveries. In 2004 Rockefeller's professor Paul Greengard donated the full amount of his Nobel Prize to establish the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize given annually to a woman scientist in the field of biology. Rockefeller also host diverse initiatives to promote science and culture: Parents & Science Initiative, The RockEDU Science Outreach for K-12 students and teachers that includes lab experience and professional development and The Lewis Thomas Prize for writing about science is given annually. In addition, Rockefeller hosts the Peggy Rockefeller  Concerts and in collaboration with Cornell University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center it hosts the Tri-Institutional Noon concert Series. In 2012, Rockefeller began participating in Open House New York's OHNY Weekend. Notable people. Nobel laureates. Award affiliations taken from Alumni. There are more than 1,262 alumni. Individual affiliates. Notable figures to emerge from the institution include Alexis Carrel, Peyton Rous, Hideyo Noguchi, Thomas Milton Rivers, Richard Shope, Thomas Francis Jr, Oswald T. Avery, Frederick Griffith, Colin MacLeod, Maclyn McCarty, Rebecca Lancefield, Wendell Meredith Stanley, René Dubos, Ashton Carter, and Cornelius P. Rhoads. Others attained eminence before being  drawn to the university. Joshua Lederberg, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958, served as president of the university from 1978 to 1990. Paul Nurse, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001, was president from 2003 to 2010. (Before Nurse's tenure, Thomas Sakmar was acting-president from 2002.) Barry Coller, who invented the Abciximab, currently serves as the Vice President for Medical Affairs. In all, as of October 2020, 38 Nobel Prize recipients have been associated with the University. In the mid-1970s, the University attracted a few prominent academicians in the  humanities, such as Saul Kripke. Controversy. Dr. Reginald Archibald, an endocrinologist at the university from 1948 to 1982, allegedly abused dozens or hundreds of boys during his time at the University while studying growth problems in children, including molestation and photographing them naked. Officials at Rockefeller University knew of the legitimacy of the claims for years before notifying the public. The university and hospital issued a statement confirming that Archibald had "engaged in certain inappropriate conduct during patient examinations" and that they "deeply regret[ted]" any "pain and suffering" the former patients felt. New York State passed a law known as  the Child Victims Act, which created a one-year window for civil suits brought by former child victims, allowing them to make cases against the university.