Richard Lounsbery Foundation


The Richard Lounsbery Foundation is a philanthropic organization in Washington D.C. It was founded in 1959, with a goal to enhance national strengths in science and technology and foster strong Franco-American cooperation. To this day, the Foundation has stayed true to its roots while expanding to promote science among youth and to support components of US policy issues pertaining to science. The Foundation supports research projects, science education, key scientific policy issues, and others.

History

The foundation was set up with Richard Lounsbery's family's wealth in 1959 and has had charitable status since 1960. In 1967, after Richard Lounsbery's death, Vera Lounsbery, Richard Lounsbery's wife, and the family attorney Alan F. McHenry to establish clear goals of the foundation. Mr. McHenry became the first president of the foundation in 1980. McHenry's son, Richard, currently serves on the foundation's board of directors.

Presidents

Board of Directors

Mission

The Richard Lounsbery Foundation supports programs through seed money or partial support, to enhance national strengths in science and technology. The main areas are: Science and technology, elementary and secondary science and math education, historical studies and contemporary assessments in physical and biomedical science, start-up assistance of research projects. It "aims to achieve high impact by funding novel projects and forward-looking leaders."
The foundation takes a special interest in cooperative activities between French and American scholars. It may have been the first philanthropic organization to fund the Wikimedia Foundation. Lounsbery's early role as a benefactor of Wikimedia is recognized for 2005 to 2008 at
and for 2008 to 2009 at .
A prospective Lounsbery grant in late 2004 accelerated Wikimedia to get US Internal Revenue Service approval as an educational foundation in April 2005.
The foundation has been listed as a conservative funder of colleges in the United States. Its largest and most frequent grantees include the American Museum of Natural History, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Philosophical Society, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Awards & Grants

Awards supported by the foundation include: