The Ford Foundation was chartered on January 15 th, 1936 by Edsel Ford and two Ford Motor Company executives “to receive and administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare.” During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the leadership of Ford family members and their associates. After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, it became clear that the non-voting stock of the Ford Motor Company they bequeathed to the Ford Foundation would create the largest philanthropy in the world. In response, the foundation’s board of trustees, led by the chairman, Henry Ford II, commissioned studies to chart the institution’s future