“An Investment in Leadership”: Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships and the Globalization of Public Health Knowledge, 1915-1940

Abstract

The Rockefeller Foundation, the largest philanthropy in the first half of the 20th century, initiated a global program of fellowships to train public health officials. The majority of the fellows were brought to universities in the United States to study science-based medicine for one or more years, followed by field work at research stations funded by the Foundation. Fellows returned to their home countries to serve in public health institutions, and took with them the Foundation’s American-style strategies for promoting and implementing public health programs. The public health fellowship program deeply influenced global public health in the 20th century.