The world's oldest and largest cancer center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has devoted more than a century to patient care as well as to innovative research, making significant contributions to new and better therapies for the treatment of cancer. Founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital by a group that included John J. Astor and his wife, Charlotte, the original building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan began its move to its present location on York Avenue in 1936 when John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated the land upon which, in 1939, Memorial Hospital was constructed. Between 1970 and 1973, a new Memorial Hospital was constructed and this building stands on the site today. In the 1940s, two former General Motors executives, Alfred P. Sloan and Charles F. Kettering, joined forces to establish the Sloan-Kettering Institute (SKI). SKI has since become one of the nation's premier biomedical research institutions. Built adjacent to Memorial Hospital, SKI was formally dedicated in 1948. In 1980, SKI and Memorial Hospital were unified into a single entity, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.