1970
In 1970, Research Corporation’s Board of Directors commissioned a study of the grants efforts from the inception of the Foundation’s first formal grants program in 1946 until 1970. Carl Borgmann, formerly director of the science and engineering program at The Ford Foundation, was selected to evaluate the grants programs.
In his report of that evaluation, Borgmann concluded:
“Research Corporation has behaved more like the theoretically perfect foundation than most. It has taken unusual chances and sought to fill the needs difficult to meet. While maintaining a constant strategy, it has experimented with tactics. Under a policy established prior to any Cottrell grants, it has sought the empty niches of higher education in the sciences. From the first grants in 1946 until today, the bulk of its funds have gone to support the young, unproven faculty member of the less-renowned graduate colleges of America and of a wide mixture of well-known and little-known public and private liberal arts colleges….
“Considering the modest funds that were made available for grants, Research Corporation’s behavior has almost been quixotic. Few windmills were so large as to be safe from its lance. It worked in the foothills of American higher education, not on the usual foundation activity of piling more onto the peaks. There are many foothills. When one scatters a little on several it may be hard to see the difference made….
“Research Corporation’s efforts since 1945 have produced no miracles that one knows about. On the other hand, America has a bit better balanced system of science education than is likely to have been true had it not existed. Mistakes in judgment have undoubtedly occurred. It is most unlikely that they will not occur again, but the frequency has been relatively low considering the difficult choices faced.
“It is believed that the continuous contact with the field maintained by the Regional Representatives, the long tenure of an able New York staff, and the wisdom brought to bear by the dedicated and always well-qualified Advisory Committee on Grants account for the high level of ‘good’ grants. Given the relatively small amount of funds with which to work (or maybe because of their size) it is difficult to believe that the benefits per dollar granted are not higher than have been achieved by most other similar institutions.”