Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
An independent American philanthropic foundation supporting research, education, and public understanding in science, technology, engineering, economics, and related fields.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an independent American philanthropic nonprofit established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the former president and chief executive officer of General Motors. Although Sloan’s industrial career shaped the foundation’s early interests in economics, business, management, and public education, the foundation is a separate institution with no formal relationship to General Motors. It is headquartered in New York City and distributes grants to universities, research organizations, cultural and civic institutions, and nonprofit initiatives. The foundation’s work is organized around broad program areas that connect fundamental research with education and public benefit. These areas include science; economics; STEM higher education; digital information technology; public understanding of science, technology, and economics; working longer; and energy and environment. Its support commonly takes the form of research grants, institutional grants, fellowships, educational projects, infrastructure for scholarly communication, and public-facing initiatives. The foundation is particularly associated with support for early-career researchers through the Sloan Research Fellowships, which recognize faculty in fields including chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics. In its early years, the foundation concentrated heavily on economics and business education. It supported the preparation and distribution of accessible teaching materials, public pamphlets on economic and social questions, radio discussions of contemporary economic issues, and the creation of a tax institute at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Over time, its scope broadened substantially. Major institutional legacies include support for the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, now Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; the MIT School of Industrial Management, now the MIT Sloan School of Management; and an early academic program in healthcare administration at Cornell University. The foundation has also funded large-scale scientific infrastructure and public knowledge projects. It has been the primary funder of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a major astronomical survey whose data collection began in 2000. In the digital-information sphere, it provided significant support to the Wikimedia Foundation, including a $3 million grant in 2008 and later grants. Its Working Longer and work-family initiatives have supported research on workplace flexibility, employment across longer working lives, and the relationship between paid work and family responsibilities. Civic and cultural grantmaking has been an additional part of the foundation’s history, especially in New York. Past beneficiaries have included Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Public Library, New York University, Channel 13, and the Fund for the City of New York. As of 2024, the foundation reported assets of approximately $2.2 billion. The organization remains a grantmaking foundation rather than a commercial operating company, and its institutional identity is centered on independent support for research, higher education, scientific communication, and evidence-based public understanding.
History
Alfred P. Sloan Jr. established the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1934 while serving as president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The foundation was created as a philanthropic institution, but its early program was not primarily focused on the natural sciences. During its first period, it concentrated on economics, business, taxation, and public education. It funded materials intended to improve economics teaching in secondary schools and colleges, supported inexpensive pamphlets explaining important economic and social questions, and sponsored radio roundtables on current economic topics. It also helped establish a tax institute at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, designed to interpret changes in taxation and public finance for a general audience. Harold S. Sloan, Alfred’s younger brother and an economist, served as the foundation’s director and vice president from 1936 through 1945. The foundation’s activities gradually expanded beyond economics and business education. In 1945 it provided $4 million to launch the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, an institution that later became part of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In 1950 it gave more than $5 million to establish a School of Industrial Management at MIT; that school is now the MIT Sloan School of Management. In 1955 the foundation funded the creation of an early two-year academic program in healthcare management at Cornell University, initially called the Sloan Institute of Hospital Administration and later known as the Sloan Program in Health Administration. The organization also developed a substantial civic and cultural presence in New York City. Its historical grants included support for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Channel 13, the New York Public Library, New York University, and the Fund for the City of New York. These activities complemented its longer-term role as a national funder of research and educational institutions. In the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the foundation broadened its program portfolio to encompass science, economics, STEM higher education, digital information technology, public understanding of science and economics, working longer, and energy and environment. The Sloan Research Fellowships became a prominent annual mechanism for supporting promising university researchers and early-career faculty across a range of scientific and social-scientific disciplines. The foundation became a principal funder of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a large astronomical mapping and data project that began collecting data in 2000. This support reflected the foundation’s interest not only in scientific discovery but also in research infrastructure and the distribution of knowledge. Its digital-information program also supported the Wikimedia Foundation, with grants reported in 2008, 2011, and 2017. Another continuing strand of the foundation’s work concerns employment, family responsibilities, and longer working lives. Through the Working Longer program and the Sloan Work and Family Researchers Network, it has supported research, education, and exchanges among scholars studying workplace flexibility, work-family policy, and demographic changes affecting careers. The foundation also funded a national workplace-flexibility campaign associated with the Working Families program led by Kathleen E. Christensen. Leadership passed through a succession of presidents after Sloan’s tenure: Everett Case, Nils Y. Wessell, Albert Rees, Ralph E. Gomory, Paul L. Joskow, Adam F. Falk, and Stacie Bloom. By 2024, the foundation’s assets totaled approximately $2.2 billion. It operates as an independent philanthropic nonprofit and has no formal corporate relationship with General Motors, despite its founder’s association with that company.
- 2025
Stacie Bloom becomes president
[1]Stacie Bloom assumed the foundation presidency after Adam F. Falk’s tenure.
- 2024
Assets reported at approximately $2.2 billion
[1]Reported foundation assets totaled approximately $2.2 billion at the end of 2024.
- 2008
Major Wikimedia Foundation grant
[1]The foundation awarded the Wikimedia Foundation a $3 million grant to support free digital knowledge.
- 2000
Sloan Digital Sky Survey begins data collection
[1]The Sloan Digital Sky Survey began collecting astronomical data with the foundation as its primary funder.
- 1955
Cornell healthcare-management program established
[1]The foundation funded an early two-year American academic program in healthcare management at Cornell University.
- 1950
MIT industrial management school funded
[1]A gift of more than $5 million helped establish MIT’s School of Industrial Management, now the MIT Sloan School of Management.
- 1945
Support for Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute
[1]The foundation donated $4 million to launch the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, now associated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
- 1936
Harold S. Sloan joins foundation leadership
[1]Economist Harold S. Sloan began serving as the foundation’s director and vice president, roles he held through 1945.
- 1934
Foundation established
[1]Alfred P. Sloan Jr. established the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as an independent philanthropic organization.
Products and positioning
Independent philanthropic foundation supporting original research, higher education, scientific infrastructure, and public understanding in science, technology, economics, and related social issues.
Research fellowship program
Sloan Research Fellowships
Annual fellowships recognizing and supporting promising researchers and university faculty in fields including chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics. The program is one of the foundation’s most visible individual-award initiatives and is intended to give early-career scholars flexible support for continuing research.
Scientific infrastructure funding · 2000
Sloan Digital Sky Survey support
Long-term philanthropic support for a major astronomical survey that maps and measures large portions of the universe. The project began collecting data in 2000 and represents the foundation’s role in enabling shared research infrastructure as well as scientific discovery.
Digital information grantmaking · 2008
Wikimedia Foundation grants
Grant support for the Wikimedia Foundation and its public knowledge mission. The foundation made a $3 million grant in 2008 and additional grants in 2011 and 2017, aligning with its digital information and public-understanding interests.
Research and education network
Work and Family Researchers Network
A network supporting research and education concerning work-family relationships, workplace flexibility, employment policy, and longer working lives. It forms part of the foundation’s Working Longer and work-family grantmaking activities.
Higher-education grantmaking
STEM higher-education grants
Institutional and programmatic grants intended to strengthen higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The work includes support for educational capacity, research environments, and approaches to improving participation and learning in STEM fields.
Marketing campaigns
- National workplace flexibility campaign
United States
A national campaign associated with the foundation’s Working Families program and led by Kathleen E. Christensen, promoting research and public discussion of workplace flexibility and work-family policy.
Outcome. The campaign contributed to the foundation’s broader work on workplace flexibility, working families, and employment across longer working lives.
Brand decisions
2008
Support Wikimedia’s free-knowledge infrastructureOtherBackground
The foundation’s digital information program supported broad public access to information through online knowledge infrastructure.
Action taken
It awarded the Wikimedia Foundation a $3 million grant and later provided additional support.
Aftermath
Further grants were reported in 2011 and 2017.
Grant amount. $3 million (2008)
2000
Become primary funder of the Sloan Digital Sky SurveyStrategyBackground
The foundation pursued large-scale scientific infrastructure capable of generating and sharing data for the research community.
Action taken
It became the primary funder of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as the survey began data collection.
Aftermath
The survey became a major astronomical data and research project.
1950
Establish MIT School of Industrial ManagementOtherBackground
The foundation invested in formal education for industrial and business management.
Action taken
It provided a gift of more than $5 million to establish the school at MIT.
Aftermath
The school became the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Gift amount. More than $5 million (1950)
1945
Fund the Sloan Kettering Cancer InstituteOtherBackground
The foundation expanded beyond its early economics and business focus by supporting the creation of a major cancer-research institution.
Action taken
It donated $4 million to launch the Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute.
Aftermath
The institution later became associated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Grant amount. $4 million (1945)
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