David Rockefeller Western nations. Rockefeller donated $100 million to Harvard University in 2008. "The New York Times" estimated in November 2006 that his total charitable donations amount to $900 million over his lifetime, a figure that was substantiated by a monograph on the family's overall benefactions, entitled "The Chronicle of Philanthropy". He published "Memoirs" in 2002, the only time a member of the Rockefeller family has written an autobiography. Rockefeller was a noted internationalist. Rockefeller's will requires his estate, once assets are liquidated, to donate over $700 million to various non-profits, including Rockefeller University, the Museum of Modern Art and Harvard. The
Founder's Hall (Rockefeller University) business, from which he retired in 1897. His efforts at philanthropy were formally guided from 1891 by Frederick T. Gates, a Baptist minister who had previously (1889) recommended to Rockefeller that he establish the University of Chicago. Much of Rockefeller's early philanthropy was on a comparatively small scale, and it was soon clear that larger-scale endeavors needed to be organized to properly guide his charitable giving. Gates suggested to Rockefeller that he establish a medical research institute that would be on a par with major European institutions of the period. In June 1902, Rockefeller made a commitment of $1 million