Laurance Rockefeller Laurance Rockefeller Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American philanthropist, businessman, financier, and major conservationist. He was a prominent third-generation member of the Rockefeller family, being the fourth child of John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. His siblings were Abby, John III, Nelson, Winthrop, and David. Rockefeller was born in New York City. He graduated from Princeton University (1932) and attended Harvard Law School for two years, until he decided he did not want to be a lawyer. On August 22, 1934, in Woodstock, Vermont, Laurance married childhood friend Mary French,
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