Population Council

The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization that seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. Established in 1952, the Council is governed by an international board of trustees.

Headquartered in New York, the Population Council has 17 offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and does work in more than 45 countries. With an annual budget of $95.1 million [2009], it employs nearly 575 people from 32 countries with expertise in a wide array of scientific disciplines.

"Since John D. Rockefeller 3rd founded the Population Council in 1952, the world's socioeconomic and demographic landscape has undergone profound and unprecedented changes, and the Council's research agenda has evolved accordingly. HIV/AIDS, urbanization, adolescents, and poverty, gender and youth are just some of the topics that have been added to the Council's longstanding work in biomedical research, contraceptive development, and improving access to high-quality reproductive health services."

The Population Council Board of Trustees is comprised of leaders in the fields of biomedicine, business, economic development, health, the media, philanthropy, and social science.

Past Presidents

 * Frederick Osborn (1952-1959)
 * Frank W. Notestein (1959-1968)
 * Bernard Bereleson (1968-1974)
 * George Zeidenstein (1974-1991)
 * Margaret Catley-Carlson (1991-1999)
 * Linda G. Martin (1999-2004)
 * Peter J. Donaldson (2004-)

Criticism

 * Steve Weissman, "Why The Population Bomb Is a Rockefeller Baby", in Ramparts, Eco-Catastrophe (1970), pp. 27-41.

Funding
The organization receives funding from the government as well as private foundations, corporations, multilateral organizations, and individuals. 


 * "Funding Sources: US government (58%), foundations, corporations, other nongovernmental organizations, and individuals (13%), investment returns(17%), other governments (4%), multilateral organizations (2%), royalities (6%). Accepts contract research. Budget (2009): USD 95.1 million."/

HIV/AIDS 'Reproductive Health'

First Transdermal Contraceptive ATD™ Gel Contains Nestorone®
 * Developing "next-generation" microbicide formulations combining the Council's candidate microbicide Carraguard® with other compounds such as antiretroviral drugs.
 * Antares Pharma and Population Council Announce Preliminary Positive Phase 2 Trial Results
 * Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation](12/02/2005): "$2,116,268 over 3 years to provide evidence-based research for the implementation of effective, affordable, and replicable interventions for the HIV/AIDS program in India."
 * NIH Grant (11/29/2001) Helps Population Council Advance Promising HIV/AIDS Prevention Research: Support for 'Novel Anti-HIV Carrageenan-based Microbicides' Research May Result in More Options for Women to Protect Themselves From Infections.
 * USAID Provides Population Council $65 Million for HIV/AIDS Operations Research] (10/15/2002).

Tobacco
In 1977, the Population Council reported on the health hazards smoking posed to women who were taking birth control pills. Despite this, in the early 1990s the Population Council sought funding from the Council for Tobacco Research, although many of their requests were turned down. 

Senior Management
Accessed December 2009:


 * Peter J. Donaldson - President
 * Mar Aguilar - Director, International Support
 * Wendy Baldwin - Director, Poverty, Gender, and Youth Program
 * Safaa El-Kogali - Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa
 * John Bongaarts - Vice President, Distinguished Scholar
 * Saroj Pachauri - Regional Director, South and East Asia
 * Naomi Rutenberg - Vice President, HIV and AIDS Program
 * James E. Sailer - Vice President, Corporate Affairs Division
 * John W. Townsend - Vice President, Reproductive Health Program
 * Patricia C. Vaughan - General Counsel and Secretary

Trustees

 * Mark A. Walker - Chairman of the Board, Partner, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
 * Darcy Bradbury - The D.E. Shaw Group
 * Howard Cox - Greylock Partners
 * Peter J. Donaldson - President, Population Council
 * Wafaa El-Sadr - [Mailman Sch of Public Health, Columbia Univ] New York, New York
 * Lynn A. Foster - New York, New York
 * Anna Glasier - [Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Univ of Edinburgh] - Edinburgh UK
 * Werner Holzer - Bad Homburg, Germany
 * Henry L. King - Senior Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell
 * Charles D. Klein - Managing Director, American Securities Capital Partners, LLC
 * Anna Mastroianni - [Univ of Washington School of Law] - Seattle, WA
 * Cheikh Mbacke - [Independent Consultant] - Dakar, Senegal
 * Robert B. Millard - Partner, Realm Partners, LLC
 * Jotham Musinguzi - Regional Director, Partners in Population & Development, Kampala, Uganda
 * Anne R. Pebley - [UCLA School of Public Health] - Los Angeles, CA

Contact

New York Headquarters One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza New York, NY 10017 Telephone: (212) 339-0500 Fax: (212) 755-6052 Email: pubinfo@popcouncil.org Homepage: http://www.popcouncil.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * population control
 * reproductive health
 * sustainable development
 * Timeline to global governance
 * United Nations Sustainable Development Program
 * George F. Brown - Former Vice President for international programs
 * George Zeidenstein
 * Mechai Viravaidya - former trustee
 * Barnett F. Baron
 * Ana Langer
 * Kirsten Moore
 * John Townsend - director of reproductive health
 * Justin Rockefeller - former board member
 * Donald J. Abrams - former CFO
 * Marshall C. Balfour
 * Caryl P. Haskins - former trustee
 * Theodore W. Schultz - former trustee
 * Akinlawon Ladipo Mabogunje - former trustee
 * Robert W. Gillespie
 * Torsten N. Wiesel
 * Samuel H. Preston