Rockefeller University

Tax-deductible

New York, NY501(c)(3)Since 1901Colleges & UniversitiesEIN 13-1624158

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The Rockefeller University (the University) is a world renowned center for research (see schedule O) and graduate education in the biomedical sciences, chemistry, bioinformatics, and physics. The University's 82 laboratories conduct both clinical and basic research and study a diverse range of biological and biomedical problems with the mission of improving the understanding of life for the benefit of humanity. Laboratories are loosely clustered in nine research areas covering a wide spectrum of disciplines in the life sciences, including neuroscience, immunology, genetics, structural biology and bioinformatics. The University does not charge tuition. Its revenues are derived primarily from investment income, government grants and contracts, and private gifts and grants.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
84¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$13.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
0 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average deficit $55.4M a year · 11% of revenue · last 6 filings
Concern: a surplus in 0 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
84%
of spending
Looks good: 84% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$13.7M
to officers and key staff · 3% of spending
Top officer’s pay higher than 89% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 3% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
1 mo
of spending, in cash
Fine: 1.4 months of spending in cash; 1 to 3.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
6
named funders · $327K
Looks good: 6 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$1.5B
36% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 36% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
45
of 46 voting members
Looks good: 45 of 46 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$458.4M
-9% vs prior year
Spent
$504.4M
To programs
84%
Net assets
$2.6B
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$458.4M
FY2025▼ -9%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$455.4M
FY2021$530.3M
FY2022$535.3M
FY2023$514.6M
FY2024$501.0M
FY2025$458.4M
Expenses
$504.4M
FY2025▼ -12%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$549.3M
FY2021$585.0M
FY2022$596.1M
FY2023$521.2M
FY2024$571.3M
FY2025$504.4M
Net assets
$2.6B
FY2025▲ +3%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$2.5B
FY2021$3.0B
FY2022$2.7B
FY2023$2.6B
FY2024$2.5B
FY2025$2.6B

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending June 2025) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 1938.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

84 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 84% · $424.0M Management & general 14% · $70.0M Fundraising 2% · $10.4M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

69 people listed on the 990; $13.7M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Chief Investment Officer
$1,928,555Pt VII · Sec A
$1,308,593Pt VII · Sec A
Director, Investments (thru 10/24)
$926,322Pt VII · Sec A
SVP, Development
$803,309Pt VII · Sec A
VP & Physician-In-Chief
$716,817Pt VII · Sec A
Executive Vice President
$706,920Pt VII · Sec A
VP, Academic Affairs (thru 8/31/23)
$660,410Pt VII · Sec A
VP & General Counsel
$659,343Pt VII · Sec A

Paula Volent’s $1.9M as Chief Investment Officer is at the 89th percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Paula Volent$1,928,555—————
Paula Volent—$1,806,255$1,630,953$396,604——
Amy Falls———$200,194—$1,452,137
Amy Falls Till 42021————$1,439,048—
Richard P Lifton MD PHD$1,308,593—————
Richard P Lifton MD PHD—$1,271,737$1,221,729$1,231,319$1,170,198$1,165,464
Betty Y Chen - Managing$926,322—————
Thomas Lenehan—————$913,988

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
  • Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II10 listed

Programs and updates

Conducts advanced biomedical and scientific research while providing tuition-free graduate education to improve human health and understand life sciences.

Provided by the organization

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3 program services account for $383.0M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

Research Education

73 laboratories (and 15 emeritus laboratories) including 82 faculty members, 211 post-doctoral scholars, 263 graduate students and weill medical college of cornell university medical students.

$362.1Mprogram expense
02

Hospital

Consists of 40 beds and serves as a clinical research center for outpatients and inpatients. The rockefeller university hospital exists solely to conduct clinical research. The specialized personnel and other resources available at the hospital facilitate clinical research for both the investigator and the research participant.

$17.4Mprogram expense
03

Library contains 648,432 volumes (of which 370,028 are on-line) and 8,383 on-line subscriptions and is maintained on an open stock policy. The library strives to advance knowledge by supporting our university's world class research community with technology, innovation, and collaboration in the field of science information and…

$3.4Mprogram expense

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Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
See all 6 funders →
Grants paid · 6 grants · $37.3M · 2019–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$10,585,013
Unitemized GrantFY2024$3,506,984
Unitemized GrantFY2020$7,635,503
Unitemized GrantFY2020$3,914,355
Unitemized GrantFY2019$7,128,097
Unitemized GrantFY2019$4,553,147

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$458.4M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$216.5M
Investment incomeLn 3$169.2M
Other incomeLn 4–11$38.7M
Money outPt IX
$504.4M
Ln 25
Programscol B$424.0M
Managementcol C$70.0M
Fundraisingcol D$10.4M
Owns and owesPt X
$2.6B
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$60.7M
Total assetsLn 16$4.1B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.5B
PeoplePt VI, VII
69
listed · VII A
PaidVII A20
Voting boardVI 1a46
IndependentVI 1b45
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$216.5M
Government grantsLn 1e$96.8M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$10.7M
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$3.3M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$34.1M
Investment incomeLn 3$169.2M
Other incomeLn 4–11$38.7M
Gains on assetsLn 7$165.9M
Total revenueLn 12$458.4M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$53K
SavingsLn 2$60.6M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$60.7M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$2.77B
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$1.04B
Other assetsLn 15$24.1M
Total assetsLn 16$4.1B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.5B
Net assetsLn 32$2.6B
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 51,717
VolunteersI 60
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$67.0M$60.7M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$2.58B$2.77B
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$1.08B$1.04B
Total assetsLn 16$4.03B$4.13B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.48B$1.50B
Net assetsLn 32$2.54B$2.63B
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$14.1M$14.1M
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$9.1M$2.8M$5.6M$700K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$138.2M$120.3M$13.3M$4.6M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$13.3M$10.2M$2.4M$728K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$47.1M$40.4M$5.2M$1.5M
Payroll taxesLn 10$9.4M$7.8M$1.3M$330K
Legal feesLn 11b$3.0M$3.0M
Accounting feesLn 11c$563K$84K$479K
Investment management feesLn 11f$1.3M$1.3M
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$34.8M$33.2M$1.2M$403K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$645K$347K$235K$63K
Office expensesLn 13$65.5M$63.8M$1.2M$532K
Information technologyLn 14$2.9M$2.8M$11K$99
RoyaltiesLn 15$12.5M$12.5M
OccupancyLn 16$15.2M$14.5M$421K$329K
TravelLn 17$1.2M$1.1M$60K$5K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$1.8M$1.7M$90K$8K
InterestLn 20$46.2M$33.3M$12.8M
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$54.7M$49.6M$4.0M$1.2M
InsuranceLn 23$5.2M$1.3M$4.0M
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$27.8M$14.4M$13.4M
Total functional expensesLn 25$504.4M$424.0M$70.0M$10.4M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $458.4M$504.4M−$46.0M$2.6B 990 PDF
FY2024 $501.0M$571.3M−$70.3M$2.5B 990 PDF
FY2023 $514.6M$521.2M−$6.6M$2.6B 990 PDF
FY2022 $535.3M$596.1M−$60.7M$2.7B 990 PDF
FY2021 $530.3M$585.0M−$54.7M$3.0B 990 PDF
FY2020 $455.4M$549.3M−$93.9M$2.5B 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2025 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $458,410,394 across 13 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $1,371,530 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1c Fundraising events$3,268,278
VIII-1e Government grants$96,807,687
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$116,463,663
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$10,665,715
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$216,539,628
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $34,061,855$34,061,855
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $3,299,499$3,299,499
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $26,461,023$26,461,023
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossUnrelated business $512,064 · Excluded from tax $9,416,647$9,928,711
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsUnrelated business $6,985,105 · Excluded from tax $158,871,215$165,856,320
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$393,847−$393,847
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax $1,285,675$1,285,675
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $34,061,855 · Unrelated business $7,497,169 · Excluded from tax $200,311,742$458,410,394
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $504,447,980 across 21 lines filed
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $14,091,997$14,091,997
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $2,756,120 · Management $5,620,333 · Fundraising $699,600$9,076,053
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $120,274,841 · Management $13,259,971 · Fundraising $4,640,919$138,175,731
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $10,201,282 · Management $2,400,796 · Fundraising $727,809$13,329,887
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $40,408,185 · Management $5,205,276 · Fundraising $1,494,553$47,108,014
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $7,753,329 · Management $1,324,362 · Fundraising $330,110$9,407,801
IX-11b Legal feesManagement $2,977,648$2,977,648
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $84,405 · Management $478,766$563,171
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $1,266,958$1,266,958
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $33,220,303 · Management $1,222,862 · Fundraising $403,280$34,846,445
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $346,733 · Management $235,312 · Fundraising $62,590$644,635
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $63,779,869 · Management $1,215,048 · Fundraising $531,505$65,526,422
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $2,848,067 · Management $10,866 · Fundraising $99$2,859,032
IX-15 RoyaltiesPrograms $12,497,706$12,497,706
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $14,472,359 · Management $420,519 · Fundraising $328,928$15,221,806
IX-17 TravelPrograms $1,105,703 · Management $60,007 · Fundraising $5,331$1,171,041
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $1,658,555 · Management $90,010 · Fundraising $7,997$1,756,562
IX-20 InterestPrograms $33,323,271 · Management $12,846,347$46,169,618
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $49,552,213 · Management $3,977,582 · Fundraising $1,178,348$54,708,143
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $1,262,658 · Management $3,966,277$5,228,935
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $14,371,044 · Management $13,449,331$27,820,375
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $424,008,640 · Management $70,028,271 · Fundraising $10,411,069$504,447,980
Part X · Balance sheet $4,127,223,897 assets, 22 lines filed
Asset lines not itemized here account for $38,819,687; see the IRS return.
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $49,893$52,855
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $66,907,034$60,610,738
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $218,373,980$174,230,816
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $8,974,436$7,121,944
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $1,314,349$1,268,637
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $5,461,337$5,730,475
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $1,076,321,722$1,043,290,786
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $1,339,281,778$1,436,763,742
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $1,242,548,399$1,332,287,140
X-13 Program-related investmentsStart of year $2,781,814$2,909,325
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $23,106,377$24,137,752
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $4,025,810,239$4,127,223,897
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $55,632,564$51,620,628
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $23,552,159$19,973,980
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $783,331,335$780,868,344
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $100,000,000$100,000,000
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $321,725,925$295,821,604
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $1,484,586,983$1,498,629,556
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $67,826,252−$1,365,026
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $2,473,397,004$2,629,959,367
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $2,541,223,256$2,628,594,341
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $4,025,810,239$4,127,223,897
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,628,594,341 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$458,410,394
XI-2 Total expenses$504,447,980
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$46,037,586
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$2,541,223,256
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$139,060,287
XI-9 Other changes in net assets−$5,651,616
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$2,628,594,341

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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