Smith Richardson Foundation

The Smith Richardson Foundation is a US philanthropic institution established in 1935 by H. Smith Richardson, the founder of the Vicks VapoRub fortune.

In 1973, control of the foundation passed to Randolph Richardson, who was determined that it should defend free-market capitalism. An early move was to pay off the annual debt of his friend Irving Kristol's journal, The Public Interest.

In 1975, on Kristol's recommendation, Richardson appointed Leslie Lenkowsky as chief program officer. Lenkowsky oversaw the funding of a number of books on supply-side economics, notably the 'trilogy' of Jude Wanniski's The Way the World Works, George Gilder's Wealth and Poverty, and Michael Novak's The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism.

People

Trustees

• Peter L. Richardson - Chairman of the Board
• W. Winburne King III
• Dr Arvid R. Nelson
• Adele Richardson Ray
• Lunsford Richardson Jr.
• Stuart S. Richardson
• E. William Stetson III

Officers

• Peter L. Richardson - President, Chairman of the Board
• Dr. Marin Strmecki - Senior Vice President, Director of Programs
• W. Winburne King III - General Counsel
• Ross F. Hemphill - Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
• Dr. Arvid R. Nelson - Secretary
• Karla W. Frank - Assistant Secretary

Governors

Zbigniew Brzezinski | Dr. Christopher DeMuth | Dr. Martin Feldstein | Stephen Goldsmith | Dr. Fred C. Iklé | Dr. Roderick MacFarquhar | General Edward C. Meyer (Ret.) | Dr. Arvid R. Nelson | Dr. June E. O'Neill | Jane B. Preyer | Adele Richardson Ray | Lunsford Richardson, Jr. Peter L. Richardson | Stuart S. Richardson | Dr. Lawrence Sherman | E. William Stetson | R. James Woolsey | Dr. Edward F. Zigler

Program Staff

• Dr. Marin Strmecki - Senior Vice President, Director of Programs
• Dr. Nadia Schadlow - Senior Program Officer, International Security and Foreign Policy
• Mark Steinmeyer - Senior Program Officer, Domestic Public Policy
• Allan Song - Senior Program Officer, International Security and Foreign Policy *Scott Boston - Program Associate, International Security and Foreign Policy
• Fran Boulds - Administrative Associate, Domestic Public Policy
• Paula Landesberg - Administrative Associate, International Security and Foreign Policy
• Lori Rainville - Executive Assistant
• Donna Walsh Executive Assistant & Administrative Services Manager
• Olga Ramous Grants Coordinator
• Dale Stewart Records Coordinator
• Jennifer Hollings Administrative Assistant

Recipients of funding

2002

International Institute for Strategic Studies - $119,425
The Future of Political Islam in Turkey and the Repercussions for U.S. Policy
Gareth Jenkins will research and write a book on Turkey’s Islamist parties. He will conduct interviews and research statements and literature by Islamist parties and leaders in order to understand their future intentions and political strategies.

Aspen Institute Berlin - $260,000, Berlin, Germany
Aspen in Berlin and Aspen’s Strategic Initiative
Jeff Gedmin will lead an effort to improve the quality of the trans-Atlantic security dialogue. He will organize a series of lectures, roundtables, and debates in Berlin, as well as roundtable meetings and fact-finding trips in other parts of Europe.

2003

Moscow School of Political Studies - $48,520, Moscow, Russia
Introduction of U.S. Foreign Policy to Russian Leaders
Lena Nemirovskaya will direct an effort to present U.S. foreign policy positions and concerns to emerging leaders in Russia.

Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation Ltd. - $150,000, Chappaqua, NY
Understanding Islam: Bernard Lewis and a Culture in Crisis
Peter Kunhardt and Phillip Kunhardt will produce a television documentary that explores the ideas and writings of Bernard Lewis in order to examine how Lewis’s views can inform our understanding of Islam and the modern Middle East.

Aspen Institute Berlin - $ 75,000, Berlin, Germany
Aspen in Berlin
Jeffrey Gedmin will direct a lecture and roundtable series to discuss many of the key international security issues affecting the United States and Europe. He will also organize a series of fact-finding trips throughout Europe and the Middle East. The project’s findings will appear in published texts and summaries of the meetings and a bimonthly report.

2004

Aspen Institute Berlin - $ 75,000, Berlin, Germany
Aspen in Berlin
Jeffrey Gedmin will direct a lecture and roundtable series to discuss many of the key international security issues affecting the United States and Europe. He will also organize a series of fact-finding trips throughout Europe and the Middle East. The project’s findings will appear in published texts and summaries of the meetings and a bimonthly report.

2005

King's College London - $149,982, New York, NY [sic.]
The Muslim Brotherhood: Aims and Strategies
Alison Pargeter will examine the strategies and tactics of the Muslim Brotherhood as it operates in Egypt, Sudan, Syria, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Spain in order to assess how it seeks to expand its presence and influence in Europe and the Middle East. The project’s findings will appear in a monograph.

2006

Aspen Institute Berlin - $75,000, Berlin, Germany
The Ugly Americans: How Not to Lose the Global Culture War
Martha Bayles will research and write a book exploring the effect of U.S. popular culture on perceptions of the United States among foreign publics. She will analyze survey and marketing data and interview political and cultural elites in foreign countries in order to assess whether American popular culture creates negative perceptions of American society around the world.

2010

• American Islamic Congress: $105,268
• Center for a New American Security: $245,000
• Center for American Progress: $200,000
• Center Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: $5,000
• Center for Media and Security: $100,000
• Freedom House: $450,000
• Hudson Institute: $396,000
• Manhattan Institute: $225,000
• Middle East Media Research Institute: $5,000
• RAND Corporation: $500,000

2011

• American Enterprise Institute: $755,000
• Center for a New American Security: $400,000
• Center for Media and Security: $75,000
• Freedom House: $135,000
• Hudson Institute: $186,485
• Manhattan Institute: $125,000
• Policy Exchange: $23,000
• Center Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: $8,000
• RAND Corporation: $600,000

2012

• Middle East Institute: $100,000
• RAND Corporation: $987,264
• Washington Institute: $50,000
• Westminster Institute: $23,927
• Center Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: $10,000
• Hudson Institute: $749,495
• Committee for Human Rights in North Korea: $200,000
• Freedom House: $206,250
• American Enterprise Institute: $155,100
• Center for a New American Security: $400,000
• Center for Media and Security: $50,000

2013

• American Enterprise Institute: $550,00
• American Security Project: $270,000
• Center for American Progress: $147,336
• Freedom House: $355,000
• Hudson Institute: $505,000
• Center Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia: $10,000

2014

• American Enterprise Institute: $298,950
• Center for a New American Security: $250,000
• Foundation for Defense of Democracies: $7,500
• Hudson Institute: $596,669
• RAND Corporation: $279,000
• Washington Institute: $100,000

Contact

• Website http://www.srf.org

External Resources

• Right Web Smith Richardson Foundation
• SourceWatch Smith Richardson Foundation

Foundation's Forms 990

• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2011 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 12, 2012.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2010 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 14, 2011.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2009 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 12, 2010.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2008 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 11, 2009.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2007 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 3, 2008.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2006 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 14, 2007.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2005 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 9, 2006.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2004 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 14, 2005.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2003 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, November 15, 2004.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2002 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, May 15, 2003.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2001 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, August 20, 2002.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 2000 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, May 20, 2001.
• Smith Richardson Foundation, 1998 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, May 12, 1999.