Robert Brookings

Robert Somers Brookings (1850-1932) was the millionaire founder of the Brookings Institution, the first public policy institute in the United States. Enjoying close ties with Rockerfeller and Carnegie, Brookings played an important role in the emergence of the political-lobbyist strand of philanthropy which funds much of the right-wing think-thank ecosystem today.


 * Trustee, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1910 - 1932)
 * President, Corporation of Washington University (1897-1928)
 * Partner, Cupples and Mastron (St. Louis)
 * Organized St. Louis World's Fair (1904)
 * Chairman, Price Fixing Committee, War Industries Board
 * Accompanied Carnegie on peace visit to the Kaiser prior to WWI, 1913
 * Consultant to Commission on Economy and Efficiency (Taft Administration)
 * Founder and VC, Institute for Government Research (3-25-1916)
 * Began Institute of Economics (6-1922) (got $1.65 million from the Carnegie Corporation)
 * Incorporated Robert S. Brookings School of Economics and Government (1924)
 * Eponym of Brookings Institution (consolidated in 1927)
 * Chairman, Brookings Institution (7-1-1928)
 * Married Isabel Valle (1927). She pledged $350,000 for Robert Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government (1924)