Simon Flexner, born in 1863, one of the nation's leading experts in pathology and bacteriology, was most renowned for his research on cerebrospinal meningitis, polio and infantile paralysis. Arguably though, Flexner's stewardship of the Rockefeller Institute was his greatest contribution to medical and scientific research. His rise in the medical community began in the late nineteenth century in Louisville, Kentucky, where despite not having completed even the seventh grade, Flexner taught himself basic bacteriology by conducting experiments at home using a microscope borrowed from the pharmacy where he served as an apprentice. Granted a medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1889, he went on to a pathology fellowship at the newly opened John Hopkins School of Medicine. Within two short years of leaving Louisville, Flexner received an assistant of pathology appointment at Johns Hopkins. It was a quick ascent and the beginning of a long and brilliant career that included a prestigious appointment at the University of Pennsylvania and then a directorship at the new Rockefeller Institute where he realized his lifelong dream of creating a dynamic and productive research laboratory. The Rockefeller Institute became instantly famous worldwide as the preeminent research facility for virology and under Flexner's direction produced invaluable contributions in pathology, bacteriology, and immunology. This collection does not reflect the early phases of Flexner's career at Johns Hopkins but does document an early interest in meningitis and other infectious diseases with science-related correspondence, laboratory notebooks, and administrative correspondence with the New York City and State Departments of Health. There is abundant material on Flexner's directorship of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, including Flexner's search for staff, an involved process which is detailed in correspondence with the scientists, many of whom became quite famous. Also included is material relating to the other institutions and Rockefeller philanthropies with which Flexner was involved. (Among the most significant correspondence, however, may be that which documents the support of the General Education Board and the Rockefeller Foundation in the development and subsequent reorganization of medical schools following brother Abraham Flexner's scathing report on medical education in the United States and Canada). This collection would be of great interest to anyone interested in the history of bacteriology, histology, and immunology or the general history of modern medicine and philanthropy.

William Jacob Robbins (1890-1978, APS 1941) was a botanist and physiologist. From 1937 to 1957 he was director of the New York Botanical Garden. His research focused on culture methods of plants in relation to biochemistry and nutrition, especially on the synthetic abilities of fungi. His studies paralleled the scientific agenda of the Rockefeller Foundation, an agency with which he was closely associated for years as adviser and trustee. He was perhaps the most influential botanist in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the early postwar era, and a principal participant in the plans for the global reconstruction of science. Robbins served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1956 to 1959.

Correspondence, notebooks, research data related to Cole's career as the first director at the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, 1908-1937. His research of pneumonia was conducted when the disease was epidemic. Personal correspondence reflect Cole's life as a medical resident at Johns Hopkins, 1899-1908. Documented are his memberships in leading medical organizations throughout his career, including the Association of American Physicians and the New York Academy of Medicine. This collection showcases the evolving changes in the medical profession from practicing physician to clinician.

Victor George Heiser, who was a preeminent public health physician, created a rich archive of material documenting all phases of his career, especially the international health work of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1915-1934. There are voluminous, detailed, and interesting diaries for the whole course of his adult life (1890-1972). There are notebooks reflecting on his early training and work (1890-1907), and lectures he attended at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia (1897).

One of the four horsemen of the evolutionary synthesis of the 1940s, Theodosius Dobzhansky played a crucial role in bridging the gap between theoretical and empirical approaches in genetics and in promoting the Neo-Darwinian synthesis. His contributions to the biological species concept and to an understanding the evolutionary dynamics of wild populations of Drosophila were fundamental to the development of modern population genetics and evolutionary thought. The Dobzhansky Papers are a remnant of the correspondence and writings of the geneticist and evolutionary biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky. The correspondence (7.5 linear feet) provides insight into Dobzhansky's scientific, philosophical, and social views, particularly during the last decade of his life. Equally valuable are the 54 notebooks (ca.1917-1975) which comprise an almost uninterrupted self-commentary on Dobzhansky's career, replete with typescripts of personal letters and short essays sent to colleagues and friends. The collection also contains two unbound volumes of annotated "reminiscences" from the Columbia Oral History Project, 1962; two bound volumes of papers dedicated to him on his 70th birthday; and 1.5 linear feet of photographs.

An administrator and humanist, Henry Allen Moe (1894-1975) was the first director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was a president of the American Philosophical Society from 1959 to 1970. The Moe Papers are a vast and rich resource documenting all phases of Moe's career, but are also a major source of information on twentieth-century philanthropic organizations. As the first Secretary, then Administrator, and finally President of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (ca. 1925-1963), Moe made contact with the influential and the aspiring in the worlds of banking, finance, the arts, and sciences. This collection is particularly strong in correspondence and information relating to Latin America, much of it generated through Moe's oversight of the Guggenheim's Latin America Fund and by Moe's otherwise keen interest in the region. This material is diverse, ranging from material on agriculture (see Escuela Agricola Panamericana, 15 boxes) and Peruvian archaeology (see Alfred Kroeber's detailed report) to many folders of correspondence and grant reports from artists, writers, and politicians of South and Central America. Moe served as trustee, officer, and committee member of over thirty private foundations, many of which are well represented in the collection by yearly reports and grant applications, among other types of records.