| Formation | 1953 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John M. Olin |
| Dissolved | November 29, 2005 |
| Type | Conservative grant-makingfoundation |
| Headquarters | Manhattan,New York City, U.S. |
TheJohn M. Olin Foundation was aconservative American grant-makingfoundation established in 1953 byJohn M. Olin, president of theOlin Industries chemical and munitions manufacturing businesses. Unlike most other foundations, it was charged to spend all of its assets within a generation of Olin's death, for fear of mission drift over time and to preservedonor intent. It made its last grant in the summer of 2005 and officially disbanded on November 29, 2005. It had disbursed over $370 million in funding, primarily toconservativethink tanks, media outlets, and law programs at influential universities. It is most notable for its early support and funding of thelaw and economics movement and theFederalist Society. "All in all, the Federalist Society has been one of the best investments the foundation ever made," wrote the Foundation to its trustees in 2003.[1]
According to the official website, "the general purpose of the John M. Olin Foundation is to provide support for projects that reflect or are intended to strengthen the economic, political and cultural institutions upon which the American heritage of constitutional government and private enterprise is based. The Foundation also seeks to promote a general understanding of these institutions by encouraging the thoughtful study of the connections between economic and political freedoms, and the cultural heritage that sustains them."[2]
From 1958 to 1966, the foundation was used to launder money for theCentral Intelligence Agency, which funded covertanti-communist propaganda.[3] The fund was largely inactive until 1969, when John M. Olin was disturbed by theWillard Straight Hall takeover at his alma mater,Cornell University. At the age of 80, he decided that he must pour his time and resources into preserving thefree market system.[4]
The Foundation is most notable for its early support and funding of thelaw and economics movement,[5] a discipline that applies incentive-based thinking andcost-benefit analysis to the field oflegal theory.[citation needed]
Theexecutive director of the Foundation in its early years was conservative activistMichael S. Joyce, who left to head the similarBradley Foundation.[5]William E. Simon, aleverage buyout pioneer who wasUnited States Secretary of the Treasury under PresidentsRichard Nixon andGerald Ford, was president of the Foundation from 1977 until his death in 2000.[6] He frequently discussed the foundation's commitment to supporting the "counter-intelligentsia". Conservative scholarJames Piereson was the last executive director[5] and secretary.
The foundation supported conservative thinkers such asHeather Mac Donald of theManhattan Institute; Mac Donald is the John M. Olin Fellow at this New York City–based institution.[7] In 2005, following longstanding plans,[8] the foundation announced its final grants and closed its doors.[5][6] The foundation closed in the same year as theFranklin W. Olin Foundation, which was established by John Olin's father,Franklin W. Olin. The Franklin W. Olin Foundation also shut down fordonor intent reasons, but the two foundations were entirely independent and unrelated, except for the family connection of their founders.[9]
According to thePhilanthropy Roundtable, the Olin Foundation "dispensed hundreds of millions of dollars to scholars, think tanks, publications, and other organizations" and "shaped the direction and aided the growth of the modern conservative movement that first sprang into visibility in the 1980s."[5] According to theNew York Observer, the Foundation distributed "grants toconservative think tanks and intellectuals—the architects of today's sprawling right-wing movement—for a quarter-century."[6]
There are several dozen John M. Olin Professors at universities and law schools around the world, including:
Heather Mac Donald is a contributing editor ofCity Journal and the John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Her latest book, co-written with Victor Davis Hanson and Steven Malanga, isThe Immigration Solution.
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