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104-591: Robert Somers Brookings (January 22, 1850 – November 15, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist, known for his involvement with Washington University in St. Louis and his founding of the Brookings Institution . Brookings was born in Cecil County, Maryland , near Baltimore , where he grew up, to Richard and Mary Eliza (Carter) Brookings. His father died when Robert was only two and money

208-801: A music rehearsal room on the second floor. Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution , often stylized as Brookings , is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences , primarily in economics (and tax policy ), metropolitan policy, governance , foreign policy , global economy , and economic development . Brookings has five research programs: Economic Studies, Foreign Policy, Governance Studies, Global Economy and Development, and Brookings Metro. It also operated three international centers: in Doha , Qatar (Brookings Doha Center); Beijing , China (Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy); and New Delhi , India (Brookings India). In 2020 and 2021,

312-662: A better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision-makers in the Middle East". The center was launched in May 2002 "with a special address by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to a select audience of policymakers in Washington, D.C." The center was originally named after American- Israeli film and television producer Haim Saban . Saban, according to

416-497: A building to the Washington University School of Law and one as a headquarters for the Brookings Institution . Brookings married Isabel Valle January (1876–1965) of San Remo, Italy , in 1927 at an Episcopal Church. He died on November 15, 1932, in Washington, D.C. He is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Brookings was awarded honorary degrees from Yale University , Harvard University ,

520-561: A dozen Washington, D.C.-based research groups and think tanks to have received payments from foreign governments while encouraging American government officials to support policies aligned with those foreign governments' agendas. The Times published documents showing that Brookings accepted grants from Norway with specific policy requests and helped it gain access to U.S. government officials, as well as other "deliverables". In June 2014, Norway agreed to make an additional $ 4 million donation to Brookings. Several legal specialists who examined

624-633: A founding member of the University Athletic Association . As of 2023, 26 Nobel laureates , 11 Pulitzer Prize winners, four United States Poet Laureates , and six MacArthur Fellows have been affiliated with the university as faculty or alumni. Washington University alumni also include 16 university presidents, 21 members of the United States Congress , 30 Rhodes Scholars , seven Marshall Scholars and two Churchill Scholars . Washington University

728-452: A greater number of applicants from across the nation. By 1964, over two-thirds of incoming students came from outside the St. Louis area. In 1971, the board of trustees appointed Chancellor William Henry Danforth , who guided the university through the social and financial crises of the 1970s, strengthened the School of Medicine , and improved the often tense ties between the university and

832-530: A major gift from former U.S. Congressman Richard Gephardt . Major activities of the Gephardt Institute include the hosting of speakers series, internship and career placement services, granting of money to faculty and students for community-based teaching and learning, supporting co-curricular activities with the community service office, and a summer stipend program, where the university financially supports students who take uncompensated internships in

936-689: A member of the Association of American Universities since 1923 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In 2021, the National Science Foundation ranked Washington University 25th among academic institutions in the United States for research and development expenditures. The university's athletic teams, Washington University Bears , play in NCAA Division III as

1040-520: A millionaire by the time he was 30 years old and was a vice-president at the company. In 1895, Brookings constructed Cupples Station. Noticing that companies were paying to ship freight from railroads in the middle of St. Louis to warehouses along the river, Brookings decided to locate warehouses directly on the railroad, so trains could load and unload inside the warehouses themselves. Cupples Station had 18 warehouses designed by William Eames and Thomas Young . A separate endeavor from Cupples & Marston,

1144-504: A nonsectarian university. Under pressure from Eliot, the board of trustees created a task force charged with naming the university, headed by Samuel Treat . Several months later Treat's committee proposed naming the university the Washington Institute , after the nation's first president George Washington . In 1854, the board of trustees changed the name to "Washington Institute" in honor of George Washington and because

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1248-466: A plan to firebomb the headquarters and steal classified files, but it was canceled because the Nixon administration refused to pay for a fire engine as a getaway vehicle. Yet throughout the 1970s, Brookings was offered more federal research contracts than it could handle. In 1976, after Gordon died, Gilbert Y. Steiner , director of the governmental studies program, was appointed the fourth president of

1352-404: A row of Collegiate Gothic quadrangles inspired by Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The cornerstone of the first building, Busch Hall, was laid on October 20, 1900. The construction of Brookings Hall , Ridgley, and Cupples began shortly thereafter. The university delayed occupying these buildings until 1905 to accommodate the 1904 World's Fair and 1904 Summer Olympics , which allowed

1456-430: A salesman position, known as a drummer. After four years of experience with Cupples & Marston, Robert and his brother started their own firm. Cupples agreed to make Robert a partner instead of losing him to a new company. By 1872, the two brothers were partners in the firm, and it prospered under their management. Brookings traveled the country for the company and Cupples dominated the woodenware trade. Brookings became

1560-685: A series of renovations. Today, the basement level houses the West Campus Library, the University Archives, the Modern Graphic History Library, and conference space. The ground level still remains a retail space. The upper floors house consolidated capital gifts, portions of university advancement, and information systems offices from across the Danforth and Medical School campuses. There is also

1664-533: A single decision of consequence American peace process advisers made, or one we didn’t, that was directly tied to some lobbyist’s call, letter, or pressure tactic.” In a September 17, 2014, article in Tablet , Lee Smith criticized the center for accepting substantial donations from the Qatari government, "a foreign government that, in addition to its well-documented role as a funder of Sunni terror outfits throughout

1768-572: A student group, the Student Committee for the Admission of Negroes (SCAN), was founded and began advocating for full racial integration. In 1951, then-vice chancellor Leslie Buchan argued that full desegregation would isolate the university from the community and potentially lead to incidents on campus. The following year, in May 1952, the board of trustees passed a resolution desegregating the university's undergraduate divisions. During

1872-663: Is aimed at producing research, analysis, and outreach that address three core issues: the future of war, the future of U.S. defense needs and priorities, and the future of the US defense system. The Initiative draws on the knowledge from regional centers, including the Center on the United States and Europe, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, the Thornton China Center, and the Center for Middle East Policy , allowing

1976-836: Is bordered by the Forest Park section of St. Louis and Clayton and University City, Missouri . A large portion of the Danforth Campus is recognized as the Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District , which achieved National Historic Landmark status on February 27, 1987. The Barry Flanagan bronze statue, " Thinker on a Rock ," widely known, simply, as "The Bunny", is currently on permanent loan to Washington University and features prominently near Olin Library, Graham Chapel and Mallinckrodt. Founded with

2080-589: Is composed of 53 trustees and more than three dozen honorary trustees, including Kenneth Duberstein , a former chief of staff to Ronald Reagan. Aside from political figures, the board of trustees includes leaders in business and industry, including Haim Saban , Robert Bass , Hanzade Doğan Boyner , Paul L. Cejas , W. Edmund Clark , Abby Joseph Cohen , Betsy Cohen , Susan Crown , Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. , Jason Cummins , Paul Desmarais Jr. , Kenneth M. Duberstein , Glenn Hutchins , and Philip H. Knight (chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc ). Since its incorporation as

2184-417: Is controlled by a board of trustees that, by charter, appoints its own members. During the three years following its inception, the university had three different names. The board first approved "Eliot Seminary", but William Eliot was uncomfortable with naming a university after himself and objected to the establishment of a seminary which would implicitly be charged with teaching a religious faith. He favored

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2288-419: Is if its underlying thesis is correct: that a domestic political lobby drives U.S. policy in the Middle East. If that were true, then the ruckus raised by The Israeli Lobby would establish the book as a classic. But it isn’t true. Domestic politics and lobbying do matter when it comes to matters of tone and timing, but as Aaron David Miller , a veteran American peace-process diplomat, puts it...: “I can’t remember

2392-421: Is indeed a cabal.... And this cabal includes anyone that has anything positive to say about Israel… And what does this cabal do? It ‘distorts’ American foreign policy, it ‘bends’ it, all these words are used to suggest that this cabal is doing something anti-American.” Another fellow wrote that the authors' book "will pale in comparison [to other academic works] because the only way it can become an esteemed classic

2496-588: Is the largest innovation hub in the midwest , home to offices of Square , Microsoft , Aon , Boeing , and Centene . The innovation hub has generated more than 3,800 tech jobs in 14 years. In 2005, Washington University founded the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, an international network of premier research universities, with an initial endowment gift of $ 10 million from John F. McDonnell . The academy, which selects scholars from 35 partnered universities around

2600-676: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation , the Hutchins Family Foundation, JPMorgan Chase , the LEGO Foundation, David Rubenstein , State of Qatar , and John L. Thornton . Funding details as of 2017: Revenue and support as of 2017: $ 117,336,000 Expenses as of 2017: $ 97,986,000 A 2014 investigation by The New York Times found Brookings to be among more than

2704-629: The Carnegie Corporation to establish the Institute of Economics. In 1928, Brookings contributed his own money to start a graduate school of economics and government. In 1928, the three organizations were combined to form the Brookings Institution , which was influential with the U.S. federal government 's budget processes in the 1920s and, several decades later, with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 . The Institution remains one of

2808-570: The Center for International Policy 's Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative of the top 50 think tanks on the University of Pennsylvania 's Global Go-To Think Tanks rating index found that between 2014 and 2018, Brookings received the third-highest amount of funding from outside the United States compared to other think tanks, with a total of more than $ 27 million. In 2022, Brookings president John R. Allen resigned amid an FBI probe into lobbying on behalf of Qatar. The main building of

2912-553: The Commission on Presidential Debates to host more presidential and vice presidential debates than any other institution in history. The campus was the venue for four Presidential debates, and one Vice-Presidential debate: the inaugural 1992 Presidential debate on October 11, 1992, the third 2000 Presidential debate on October 17, the second 2004 Presidential debate on October 8, the sole 2008 Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on October 2, and

3016-645: The Delmar Loop . The university acquired the building and adjacent property in 2004, formerly home to the Angelica Uniform Factory. Several university administrative departments are located at the North Campus location, including offices for Quadrangle Housing, Accounting and Treasury Services, Parking and Transportation Services, Army ROTC , and Network Technology Services. The North Campus location also provides off-site storage space for

3120-687: The Performing Arts Department. The West Campus is located about one mile (1.6 km) to the west of the Danforth Campus in Clayton, Missouri , and primarily consists of a four-story former department store building housing mostly administrative space. The West Campus building was home to the Clayton branch of the Famous-Barr department store until 1990, when the university acquired the property and adjacent parking and began

3224-668: The Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation and reorganized Brookings around the Economic Studies, Government Studies, and Foreign Policy Programs. In 1957, Brookings moved from Jackson Avenue to a new research center near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. In 1967, Kermit Gordon assumed Brookings' presidency. He began a series of studies of program choices for the federal budget in 1969 titled "Setting National Priorities". He also expanded

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3328-695: The United Nations , the Marshall Plan , and the Congressional Budget Office , as well as to the development of influential policies for deregulation , broad-based tax reform , welfare reform , and foreign aid . The annual think tank index published by Foreign Policy ranks it the number one think tank in the U.S. and the Global Go To Think Tank Index believes it is the number one such tank in

3432-719: The University of Missouri and Washington University. Washington University in St. Louis Washington University comprises eight undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, including Arts and Sciences , George Warren Brown School , Olin Business School , Washington University School of Medicine , McKelvey School of Engineering , Washington University School of Law , School of Continuing & Professional Studies, and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts . Washington University enrolls approximately 16,550 students across its campuses from all 50 states and more than 110 countries. Washington University has been

3536-615: The "WashU Pledge", a financial aid program allowing full-time Missouri and southern Illinois students who are Pell Grant-eligible or from families with annual incomes of $ 75,000 or less to attend the university cost-free. In October 2021, Washington University announced it would invest an additional $ 1 billion in financial aid for students. The university practices need-blind admissions and meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated needs. The new financial aid initiative, called Gateway to Success, included $ 800 million in endowed funding to support need-blind undergraduate admissions, meaning

3640-894: The "nation's pre-eminent liberal think tank". Newsweek has called it centrist and Politico has used the term "center-left". The media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , which describes itself as 'a progressive group', has called Brookings "centrist", "conservative", and "center-right". Matthew Yglesias , a former writer and editor at The Atlantic , and Glenn Greenwald at Salon have argued that Brookings foreign policy scholars were overly supportive of Bush administration policies abroad . Brookings scholars have served in Republican and Democratic administrations, including Mark McClellan , Ron Haskins and Martin Indyk . Brookings's board of trustees

3744-446: The 1890s the university was on the brink of financial collapse until Robert Sommers Brookings , president of the board of trustees, undertook the task of rebuilding the university's finances and acquiring land for a new campus. Brookings was instrumental in raising money for the university, since Eliot, the primary fundraiser for the university, had died. In 1896, Holmes Smith, professor of Drawing and History of Art, designed what became

3848-419: The 1980s, Brookings faced an increasingly competitive and ideologically charged intellectual environment. The need to reduce the federal budget deficit became a major research theme, as did problems with national security and government inefficiency. Bruce MacLaury, Brookings's fifth president, also established the Center for Public Policy Education to develop workshop conferences and public forums to broaden

3952-555: The 1980s. From 1983 to 1987, the "Alliance for Washington University" campaign raised $ 630.5 million, which was then the most successful fund-raising effort in national history. From 1998 to 2004, the "Campaign for Washington University" raised $ 1.55 billion, which was applied to additional scholarships, professorships, and research initiatives. In 2002, Washington University co-founded the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis's Midtown neighborhood . Cortex

4056-665: The Benton School building. At first the university paid for the evening classes, but as their popularity grew, their funding was transferred to the St. Louis Public Schools . Eventually the board secured funds for the construction of Academic Hall and a half dozen other buildings. Later the university divided into three departments: the Manual Training School, Smith Academy, and the Mary Institute . In 1867,

4160-527: The Brookings India Office. In October 2017, former general John R. Allen became the eighth president of Brookings. Allen resigned on June 12, 2022, amid an FBI foreign lobbying investigation. As of June 30, 2019, Brookings had an endowment of $ 377.2 million. Brookings as an institution produces an Annual Report. The Brookings Institution Press publishes books and journals from the institution's own research as well as authors outside

4264-473: The Brookings Institution by the board of trustees. As director of the governmental studies program, Steiner brought in numerous scholars whose research ranges from administrative reform to urban policy, not only enhancing the program's visibility and influence in Washington and nationally, but also producing works that have arguably survived as classics in the field of political science. By

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4368-563: The Brookings Institution in 1927, it has been led by accomplished academics and public servants. Brookings has had eleven presidents, including three in acting capacity. The current president is Cecilia Rouse , who replaced acting President Amy Liu, who began serving in January, 2024. In 2002, the Brookings Institution established the Center for Middle East Policy ("CMEP", formerly the Saban Center for Middle East Policy ) "to promote

4472-561: The Brookings-Tsinghua Center (BTC) for Public Policy as a partnership between the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and Tsinghua University 's School of Public Policy and Management in Beijing , China . The Center seeks to produce research in areas of fundamental importance for China's development and for US-China relations. The BTC was directed by Qi Ye until 2019. The 21st Century Defense Initiative (21CDI)

4576-624: The Foreign Policy Studies Program to include research about national security and defense. After Richard Nixon was elected president in the 1968 United States presidential election , the relationship between Brookings and the White House deteriorated. At one point, Nixon aide Charles Colson proposed a firebombing of the institution. G. Gordon Liddy and the White House Plumbers actually made

4680-825: The Institute for Government Research, the Institute of Economics with funds from the Carnegie Corporation , and the Robert Brookings Graduate School affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis . The three were merged into the Brookings Institution on December 8, 1927. During the Great Depression , economists at Brookings embarked on a large-scale study commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to understand its underlying causes. Brookings's first president, Harold G. Moulton , and other Brookings scholars later led an effort to oppose Roosevelt's National Recovery Administration because they thought it impeded economic recovery. With

4784-785: The Institution announced it was separating entirely from its centers in Doha and New Delhi, and transitioning its center in Beijing to an informal partnership with Tsinghua University, known as Brookings-Tsinghua China. The University of Pennsylvania 's Global Go To Think Tank Index Report has named Brookings "Think Tank of the Year" and "Top Think Tank in the World" every year since 2008. In September 2017, The Economist described Brookings as "perhaps America's most prestigious think-tank." Though

4888-549: The Middle East" that led him to fund the center. Some critics have charged that various sources of funding for the center have influenced its outlook, but the center has dismissed such allegations, saying that in all cases the donors respected the center's independence. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt , in their 2006 article wrote: "To be sure, the Saban Centre occasionally hosts Arab scholars and exhibits some diversity of opinion. Saban Center fellows ... often endorse

4992-574: The Middle East, is the main patron of Hamas—which happens to be the mortal enemy of both the State of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party." He suggested that the donations influenced the center's research analysis and Martin Indyk's statements as a State Department official and peace mediator. Brookings responded: "A review of publications and media appearances by our scholars in Doha and in Washington—all of which are available at Brookings.edu—demonstrate

5096-600: The Qatar government in papers". Brookings officials denied any connection between the views of their funders and their scholars' work, citing reports that questioned the Qatari government's education reform efforts and criticized its support of militants in Syria. But Brookings officials reportedly acknowledged that they meet with Qatari government officials regularly. In 2018, The Washington Post reported that Brookings accepted funding from Huawei from 2012 to 2018. A report by

5200-543: The School of Social Work. The university ended racial segregation in its undergraduate divisions in 1952, making it the last local higher education institution to do so. During the 1940s, the university faced criticism from the local African American media, which included a letter-writing campaign by churches, the local Urban League, and legal briefs by the NAACP , seeking to strip the university of its tax-exempt status. In 1949,

5304-407: The St. Louis community. During his 24-year chancellorship, he established 70 new endowed professorships, constructed dozens of buildings, secured a $ 1.72 billion endowment, and tripled the amount of student scholarships. To better distinguish itself in national media, the university's board of trustees added the phrase "in St. Louis" in 1976. In 1995, Mark S. Wrighton , former provost at MIT ,

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5408-488: The Station revolutionized shipping in St. Louis and served as a model for other cities. Building the station required buying eight blocks of property, which brought the company near bankruptcy. No U.S. banks would loan Brookings the money, but a British bank saved him with a $ 3 million loan. In 1895, Brookings began focusing on charitable and philanthropic endeavors. Brookings retired from business at forty-six. Brookings

5512-540: The U.S. entry into World War II in 1941, Brookings researchers turned their attention to aiding the administration with a series of studies on mobilization. In 1948, Brookings was asked to submit a plan for administering the European Recovery Program. The resulting organization scheme assured that the Marshall Plan was run carefully and on a businesslike basis. In 1952, Robert Calkins succeeded Moulton as Brookings' president. He secured grants from

5616-409: The United States and Stalemate . In addition, books, papers, articles, reports, policy briefs and opinion pieces are produced by Brookings research programs, centers, projects and, for the most part, by experts. Brookings also cooperates with The Lawfare Institute in publishing the online multimedia publication Lawfare . Brookings traces its history to 1916 and has contributed to the creation of

5720-483: The Washington University football team, making the declaration that athletics were to be henceforth played on a "strictly amateur" basis with no athletic scholarships. Under Compton's leadership, enrollment at the university grew dramatically, fueled primarily by World War II veterans' use of their GI Bill benefits. The desegregation of Washington University began in 1947 with the School of Medicine and

5824-500: The audience for research programs. In 1995, Michael Armacost became the sixth president of the Brookings Institution and led an effort to refocus its mission heading into the 21st century. Under his direction, Brookings created several interdisciplinary research centers, such as the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, now the Metropolitan Policy Program led by Bruce J. Katz , which brought attention to

5928-592: The audience for research programs. In 2005, the center was renamed the Brookings Center for Executive Education (BCEE), which was shortened to Brookings Executive Education (BEE) with the launch of a partnership with the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis . The academic partnership is now known as " WashU at Brookings". As of 2017 the Brookings Institution had assets of $ 524.2 million. Its largest contributors include

6032-490: The basis for the modern-day university seal. The seal is made up of elements from the Washington family coat of arms and the symbol of Louis IX , whom the city is named after. Washington University spent its first half century in downtown St. Louis bounded by Washington Ave., Lucas Place, and Locust Street. By the 1890s, owing to the dramatic expansion of the medical school and a new benefactor in Robert Brookings,

6136-542: The building campaign. All three have buildings named after them on the Washington University campus. Brookings rented out many of the new university buildings for the 1904 World's Fair . He also helped Washington University School of Medicine gain prominence and become one of the best in the country. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Brookings to the War Industries Board , and later named him chairman of its Price Fixing Committee. In this role, he

6240-480: The campus of neighboring Fontbonne University when it closes in 2025. In April 2024, Washington University administrators called the police on a pro-Palestinian demonstration and encampment, resulting in more than 80 arrests. Those arrested included Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen . A local professor's ribs and hand were broken during his arrest, leading to his hospitalization. In August 2024,

6344-527: The center and its parent organization, "made a generous initial grant and pledged additional funds to endow the Center." According to a press release from Saban's charitable foundation, Saban "donated $ 13 million for the establishment of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution." Saban, according to the center, ascribed his involvement to his "abiding interest in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and preserving American interests in

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6448-420: The charter was coincidentally passed on Washington's birthday, February 22. Naming the university after the nation's first president, only seven years before the American Civil War and during a time of bitter national division, was no coincidence. During this time of conflict, Americans universally admired George Washington as the father of the United States and a symbol of national unity. The board believed that

6552-535: The complex is the 3,000 sq ft (300 m ) Newman Money Museum exhibiting the collection of American numismatist Eric P. Newman . In October 2006, the Kemper Art Museum moved from its previous location, Steinberg Hall, into a new facility designed by former faculty member Fumihiko Maki . The Kemper Art Museum is located directly across from Steinberg Hall, which was Maki's first commission in 1959. Washington University Medical Center comprises 186 acres (75.3 ha) spread over 18 city blocks, located along

6656-520: The documents told the paper that the language of the transactions "appeared to necessitate Brookings filing as a foreign agent" under the Foreign Agent Registration Act . The government of Qatar was named by The New York Times as "the single biggest foreign donor to Brookings", reportedly contributing $ 14.8 million over a four-year period. A former visiting fellow at a Brookings affiliate in Qatar reportedly said that "he had been told during his job interview that he could not take positions critical of

6760-417: The eastern edge of Forest Park within the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis . The campus is home to the Washington University School of Medicine and its associated teaching hospitals, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital . Many of the buildings are connected via a series of skyways and corridors. The School's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also serve as

6864-491: The establishment of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. In July 2007, Brookings announced the creation of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform to be directed by senior fellow Mark McClellan , and in October 2007 the creation of the Brookings Doha Center directed by fellow Hady Amr in Qatar . During this period the funding of Brookings by foreign governments and corporations came under public scrutiny (see Funding controversies below). In 2011, Talbott inaugurated

6968-534: The federal government in 1963. It is used by the university as a biological field station and research/education center. In 2010, the Living Learning Center was named one of the first two buildings accredited nationwide as a "living building" under the Living Building Challenge, opened to serve as a biological research station and classroom for summer students. Washington University's North Campus and West Campus principally house administrative functions that are not student focused. North Campus lies in St. Louis City near

7072-446: The field of public service. The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, established in 1881, is one of the oldest teaching museums in the country. The collection includes works from 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American and European artists, including George Caleb Bingham , Thomas Cole , Pablo Picasso , Max Ernst , Alexander Calder , Jackson Pollock , Rembrandt , Robert Rauschenberg , Barbara Kruger , and Christian Boltanski . Also in

7176-470: The idea of a two-state settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. But Saban Center publications never question US support for Israel and rarely, if ever, offer significant criticism of key Israeli policies." Some Saban Center fellows have responded by criticizing the authors' scholarship and expansive definition of "Israel lobby." Martin Indyk stated that their "notion of a loosely aligned group of people that all happen to be working assiduously for Israel

7280-444: The ideological direction of the nation" and rather tend "to be staffed by researchers with strong academic credentials". Along with the Council on Foreign Relations and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , Brookings is generally considered one of the most influential policy institutes in the U.S. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Brookings describes itself as independent and nonpartisan. A 2005 UCLA study concluded it

7384-455: The integration of regional knowledge. P. W. Singer , author of Wired for War , serves as Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative, and Michael O'Hanlon serves as Director of Research. Senior Fellow Stephen P. Cohen and Vanda Felbab-Brown are also affiliated with 21CDI. Under MacLaury's leadership in the 1980s, the Center for Public Policy Education (CPPE) was formed to develop workshop conferences and public forums to broaden

7488-518: The land was thought to resemble the Acropolis and inspired the nickname of "Hilltop" campus, renamed the Danforth campus in 2006 to honor former chancellor William H. Danforth . In 1899, the university opened a national design contest for the new campus. The renowned Philadelphia firm Cope & Stewardson (the same architects who designed a large part of the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University ) won unanimously with its plan for

7592-422: The latter half of the 20th century, Washington University transitioned from a commuter college to a world-renowned institution. In 1957, planning began for the construction of the "South 40", a complex of modern residential halls which primarily house freshmen and some sophomore students. With additional on-campus housing, the university, which had been predominantly attended by commuter students, began attracting

7696-555: The leading think tanks in the United States. The organization's influence was so great in 1973 that President Nixon 's administration plotted to burn it down. Brookings wrote three books: Industrial Ownership (1925), Economic Democracy (1929), and The Way Forward (1932). Brookings was a bachelor until he was 77 years old. He built three mansions in St. Louis and also had a country estate. In 1927, surprising his friends, he eloped with 51-year-old Isabel January. January and Brookings had known each other for years, and she contributed

7800-787: The medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, which are part of BJC HealthCare. Washington University and BJC have taken on many joint venture projects, such as the Center for Advanced Medicine, completed in December 2001. In 2019, Washington University was awarded a $ 7.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to create the Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control to address disparities in cancer care in parts of Missouri and Illinois. In 2022, Washington University's Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences

7904-533: The national level." The organization was founded on 13 March 1916 and began operations on 1 October 1916. Its stated mission is to "provide innovative and practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: strengthen American democracy; foster the economic and social welfare, security, and opportunity of all Americans; and secure a more open, safe, prosperous, and cooperative international system." The Institution's founder, philanthropist Robert S. Brookings (1850–1932), originally created three organizations:

8008-604: The organization. The books and journals it publishes include Brookings Papers on Economic Activity , Brookings Review (1982–2003, ISSN   0745-1253 ), America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy , Globalphobia: Confronting Fears about Open Trade , India: Emerging Power , Through Their Eyes , Taking the High Road , Masses in Flight , US Public Policy Regarding Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment in

8112-426: The role of these events in contributing to a national understanding of important issues. Wrighton also highlighted their impact in bringing national and international attention to the St. Louis region, positioning it as one of America's great metropolitan areas. Contrary to the majority opinion of the student body, the university opted not to host a 2020 presidential debate. The university's 169-acre Danforth Campus

8216-427: The same article discussed threats to its institutional credibility via troubling donor relationships. Brookings states that its staff "represent diverse points of view" and describes itself as nonpartisan. Media outlets have variously described Brookings as centrist , conservative , liberal , center-right , and center-left . An academic analysis of congressional records from 1993 to 2002 found that Brookings

8320-401: The same independence of thinking and objective, fact-based analysis about Qatar as on every other topic of our research. Our agreements with Qatar specifically protect the independence of our scholarship in all respects." Smith thanked the think tank for its response, but said it did "not satisfactorily address the key issues [his] article raises." In 2006, the Brookings Institution established

8424-418: The second 2016 Presidential debate on October 9. The university was scheduled to host a debate in 1996, but that debate was cancelled when the number of scheduled debates was scaled back to two. Following the 2004 debate, Chancellor Wrighton initially expressed skepticism about hosting another debate but later changed his view. He acknowledged the unique educational opportunities for students and emphasized

8528-454: The strengths of cities and metropolitan areas; and the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, which brings together specialists from different Asian countries to examine regional problems. In 2002, Strobe Talbott became president of Brookings. Shortly thereafter, Brookings launched the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and the John L. Thornton China Center. In 2006, Brookings announced

8632-515: The university began offering free Metro passes—the U Pass—to all full-time students, benefits-eligible faculty and staff, and full-time employees of qualified service providers. In June 2019, Andrew D. Martin , former dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan , was elected the university's 15th chancellor. On the day of his inauguration, Martin announced

8736-405: The university began to move west. The university board of directors began a process to find suitable ground and hired the landscape architecture firm Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot of Boston. A committee of Robert S. Brookings, Henry Ware Eliot , and William Huse found a site of 103 acres (41.7 ha) just beyond Forest Park , located west of the city limits in St. Louis County . The elevation of

8840-462: The university in cash and property. Brookings helped transform the small school into a leading university with national prominence. He secured funding for one hundred acres that would become the university's Hilltop Campus. The university's administration building, Brookings Hall , is named for him. By 1899, the university's endowment was stable. Brookings' friends, including William K. Bixby , Adolphus Busch , and Edward Mallinckrodt , assisted with

8944-485: The university opened the first private nonsectarian law school west of the Mississippi River . By 1882, Washington University had expanded to numerous departments, which were housed in various buildings across St. Louis. Medical classes were first held at Washington University in 1891 after the St. Louis Medical College decided to affiliate with the university, establishing the School of Medicine . However, by

9048-553: The university rebranded, officially adopting the name "WashU" for marketing and communications, but not formal use, phasing out the use of other names such as "WUSTL," "Washington University," and "WU." These changes were made citing ongoing efforts to form a more cohesive brand, attain name recognition on par with peer institutions, and reduce confusion with similarly-named universities as well as those in Washington or Washington, D.C. Washington University has been selected by

9152-455: The university should be a force of unity in a strongly divided Missouri. In 1856, the university amended its name to "Washington University". Although chartered as a university, for many years Washington University functioned primarily as a night school located on 17th Street and Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. Owing to limited financial resources, Washington University initially used public buildings. Classes began on October 22, 1854, at

9256-408: The university to construct ten buildings instead of the seven originally planned. This original cluster of buildings set a precedent for the development of the Danforth Campus; Cope and Stewardson's original plan and its choice of building materials have, with few exceptions, guided the construction and expansion of the Danforth Campus to the present day. By 1915, construction of a new medical complex

9360-481: The university will not consider an applicant's financial situation when making admissions decisions while still meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted undergraduates. Another $ 200 million will be designated for financial aid for graduate and professional students in the university's Brown School, the School of Law and the School of Medicine, as well as in business, engineering, art and architecture, and Arts & Sciences. In 2022, Washington University

9464-467: The world, was created to develop a cohort of future leaders, strengthen ties with top foreign universities, and promote global awareness and social responsibility. In Fall 2006, the St. Louis Metro opened the Cross–County extension of its light rail MetroLink system. Three of the nine new stations directly serve the university ( Skinker , University City-Big Bend , and Forsyth ). On July 1, 2006,

9568-518: The world. Moreover, in spite of an overall decline in the number of times information or opinions developed by think tanks are cited by U.S. media, of the 200 most prominent think tanks in the U.S., the Brookings Institution's research remains the most frequently cited. In a 1997 survey of congressional staff and journalists, Brookings ranked as the most influential and first in credibility among 27 think tanks considered. Yet "Brookings and its researchers are not so concerned, in their work, in affecting

9672-521: Was "centrist" because it was referenced as an authority almost equally by both conservative and liberal politicians in congressional records from 1993 to 2002. The New York Times has called Brookings liberal, liberal-centrist, and centrist. The Washington Post has called Brookings centrist, liberal, and center-left. The Los Angeles Times called Brookings liberal-leaning and centrist before opining that it did not believe such labels mattered. In 1977, Time magazine called Brookings

9776-615: Was awarded a five-year $ 61 million grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health , to focus on precision medicine, health equity, and diversity. Tyson Research Center is a 1,966.5-acre (3.07 sq mi; 795.81 ha) field station located west of St. Louis on the Meramec River . Washington University obtained Tyson as surplus property from

9880-459: Was cited by conservative politicians almost as often as by liberal politicians, earning a score of 53 on a 1–100 scale, with 100 representing the most liberal score. The same study found Brookings to be the most frequently cited think tank by U.S. media and politicians. Brookings was founded in 1916 as the Institute for Government Research (IGR), with the mission of becoming "the first private organization devoted to analyzing public policy issues at

9984-495: Was completed on Kings Highway in what is now St. Louis's Central West End. In 1918, Washington University admitted its first women medical students. During World War II , as part of the Manhattan Project , a cyclotron at Washington University was used to produce small quantities of the newly discovered element plutonium via neutron bombardment of uranium nitrate hexahydrate . The plutonium produced there in 1942

10088-580: Was conceived by 17 St. Louis business, political, and religious leaders concerned by the lack of institutions of higher learning in the Midwest . Missouri State Senator Wayman Crow and Unitarian minister William Greenleaf Eliot , grandfather of the poet T. S. Eliot , led the effort. The university's first chancellor was Joseph Gibson Hoyt . Crow secured the university charter from the Missouri General Assembly in 1853, and Eliot

10192-405: Was elected the university's 14th Chancellor. During Chancellor Wrighton's tenure undergraduate applications to Washington University more than doubled. Since 1995, the university has added more than 190 endowed professorships, revamped its Arts & Sciences curriculum, and completed more than 30 new buildings. Washington University's reputation was enhanced by two major fundraising efforts since

10296-400: Was interested in education; he toyed with funding his own university, but decided to work with Washington University , which was under financial strain at the time. In November 1895, Brookings was appointed chairman of the board of trustees of Washington University, where he remained a board member for the rest of his life. He donated over $ 5 million ($ 82 million in 2017 dollars) to

10400-467: Was named president of the board of trustees. Early on, Eliot solicited support from members of the local business community, including John O'Fallon , but Eliot failed to secure a permanent endowment. Washington University is unusual among major American universities in not having had a prior financial endowment. The institution had no backing of a religious organization, single wealthy patron, or earmarked government support. To this day, Washington University

10504-544: Was one of 10 universities picked to join the Kessler Scholars Collaborative, which provides support for selected first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible STEM students. The program aims to recruit 20 fully-funded Kessler scholars per year and provide additional opportunities to close the wealth gap . Also, in 2022, Washington University developed a needle-free nasal vaccine to combat COVID-19. In March 2024, Washington University agreed to purchase

10608-427: Was scarce. After one year of school, Brookings dropped out. At age 17, in 1867, he moved to St. Louis , where he joined his brother Harry as an employee of Cupples & Marston, a wholesale dealer of household goods. Robert worked as a clerk and also moonlighted as a bookkeeper. He earned $ 25 a month as a clerk and $ 10 a month as a bookkeeper. Robert practiced sales techniques and convinced Samuel Cupples to give him

10712-486: Was shipped to the Metallurgical Laboratory Compton had established at the University of Chicago where Glenn Seaborg 's team used it for extraction, purification, and characterization studies of the exotic substance. After working for 22 years at the University of Chicago , Compton returned to St. Louis in 1946 to serve as Washington University's ninth chancellor. Compton reestablished

10816-683: Was the liaison between the U.S. government and many different industries. The board's role was to unify efforts to supply and distribute goods and food for the military. Brookings was awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal , the French Legion of Honor , and the Order of the Crown of Italy for his wartime work. In 1916, Brookings was appointed the first board chairman of the Institute for Government Research, an independent organization dedicated to political study. Brookings later secured funds from

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