Henry Luce Foundation is a grantmaker established by Henry Luce, the founder of Time magazine. It has awarded more than 6,000 grants to support a wide range of causes like women’s STEM education and the intersections between religion, gender, and sexuality.

Background

The Henry Luce Foundation is a grantmaker based in New York that supports a network of people who seek to safeguard the cultural legacies of various communities. The organization supports individuals and groups that promote fairness, inclusivity, and mutual trust within and between communities. ¹

Henry Luce Foundation was established by Henry R. Luce in 1936, thirteen years following his founding of Time magazine. The foundation was established in tribute to his parents, who had served as missionary educators in China. The initial board consisted of family members and colleagues from Time, Inc., though Henry himself did not hold a position on the board. ²

Following Henry’s passing in 1967, the foundation became a significant recipient of his estate, leading it to expand its operations nationally and globally. An additional endowment was received in 1988 from the estate of his wife, former U.S. Representative and Eisenhower administration U.S. Ambassador to Italy Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT), to help establish the Clare Boothe Luce Program. ³ Boothe Luce gave more than $60 million to encourage “women to enter, study, graduate and teach in the natural sciences, in engineering, in computer science and in mathematics.” ⁴

Grants

Since its establishment, the Henry Luce Foundation has given more than 6,000 grants, totaling more than $1 billion. From 1936 to 1966, the foundation’s grants fell into three categories: Asian affairs, theology and ethics, and public affairs and policy. ⁵

After the donation from Clare Boothe Luce’s estate, the foundation has become the nation’s single largest private source of funding in higher education for women in science, mathematics, and engineering. Since 1989, it has given more than $228 million to 210 colleges and universities for women’s STEM programs. ⁶

Boston University, Seton Hall University, Georgetown University, and the University of Notre Dame are among the thirteen institutions that were explicitly designated in Claire Boothe Luce’s will to continuously receive financial support from the original endowment. ⁷

The foundation granted a $250,000, three-year award to Adriano Udani at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and colleagues associated with the Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America. The grant supported asylum-seekers in the United States and opposed surveillance strategies like weekly home visits, monthly check-ins, and the utilization of ankle monitors. ⁸

In July 2022, the nonprofit unveiled 39 grants, amounting to $12.75 million. The grants were allocated to programs focused on nurturing future leaders through leadership development initiatives. ⁹ The grant also covered educational initiatives that address academic freedom constraints within colleges and universities, supported by PEN America. ¹⁰

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation established a partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation that concentrates on electronic pandemic surveillance and its potential consequences for democratic principles. ¹¹

In 2020, the foundation gave $3.1 million in emergency pandemic grants to aid fields and communities that the foundation had long supported. In December 2021, it gave $250,000 to Monique Moultrie, a religious studies scholar at Georgia State University, to develop digital and physical archives to highlight Black women leaders’ contributions to religious communities and activism in the United States. ¹²

In August 2023, the foundation provided $100,000 to support Queer Trans Religion in launching a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The journal is designed to provide both readers and authors with access to academic research that explores the intersections of religion, gender, and sexuality. ¹³

People

Michael Gilligan is president emeritus of the Henry Luce Foundation. He was elected president in December 2002. ¹⁴

Mariko Silver has worked as the president and CEO of the foundation since 2019. During the Obama administration, she served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ¹⁵

Brian F. Murphy was named vice president and CFO of the foundation in February 2023. ¹⁶

Mina Camacho has been a part of the foundation staff since 1991. For two decades, she held the role of executive assistant to the foundation’s president. Since 2013, she has been the foundation’s grants administrator. ¹⁷

Debra Knopman is co-chair of the foundation’s board. She is an adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation and serves as a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. ¹⁸

1. “Equity and Mutual Understanding.” Equity and Mutual Understanding | The Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/work/equity-mutual-understanding/.
2. “History.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/about/history/.
3. “Clare Boothe Luce Program.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://apppack-app-hluce-org-publics3bucket-f75rrnjmvl61.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/filer_public/53/f2/53f24492-fa54-4164-99f6-169ea0385ffa/institutions_brochure_2019_03_pages.pdf.
4. “History.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/about/history/.
5. “History.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/about/history/.
6. “Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/programs/clare-boothe-luce-program/.
7. “Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM.” Clare Boothe Luce Program | The Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 31, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/programs/clare-boothe-luce-program/.
8.  “Adriano Udani Receives $250k Henry Luce Foundation Grant to Support Asylum Seekers.” UMSL Daily. December 21, 2021. https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2021/12/15/adriano-udani-henry-luce-foundation-grant/.
9. “$12m to Fund Community-Engaged Collaborations, Leadership Development, and Educational Resources.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/news/articles/12m-fund-community-engaged-collaborations-leadership-development-and-educational-resources/.
10. “Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/programs/clare-boothe-luce-program/
11. “Luce Foundation Makes $3M in Emergency Grants to Support Communities and Organizations Affected by COVID-19.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/news/articles/luce-foundation-makes-3m-emergency-grants-support-communities-and-organizations-affected-covid-19/.
12. “Researcher Wins $250,000 Grant to Collect and Promote Achievements of Black Women Religious Activists.” Georgia State News Hub. February 14, 2022. https://news.gsu.edu/2021/12/08/researcher-wins-250000-grant-to-collect-and-promote-achievements-of-black-women-religious-activists/.
13. “New Journal on Religion, Gender, and Sexuality.” University of California at Riverside. August 23, 2023. https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2023/08/21/new-journal-religion-gender-and-sexuality.
14. “Staff.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/about/staff/.
15. “Mariko Silver.” Linkedin. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariko-silver-1451401.
16. “Brian Murphy Joins the Foundation as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.” Henry Luce Foundation. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.hluce.org/news/articles/brian-murphy-joins-foundation-vice-president-and-chief-financial-officer/.
17. “Mina Camacho.” Linkedin. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-camacho-0b2968156.
18. “Debra Knopman.” Linkedin. Accessed October 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-knopman-95a5b196.