Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

The Architect |  The Donor |  The Interior |  The Exterior |  The Ceiling |  The Windows |  Architecture Terms

John D. Rockefeller: University Founder, Donor, and Philanthropist

In his assessment of the University, its founder, John D. Rockefeller stated that it was "the best investment [he] ever made." Over the course of two decades this industrialist and famed philanthropist donated over $35 million to the University of Chicago. In his final gift to the University in 1910, Rockefeller required that $1.5 million of the $10 million be "used for the erection and furnishing of a University Chapel." University Chapel, as it was originally called, would be the only building on campus which Rockefeller explicitly commissioned and would serve as a vital part of University culture and life through its religious services, musical offerings, and special events.

Further, at the Chapel's dedication in 1928, the founder's son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., donated $1 million to the Chapel's endowment in memory of his mother, Laura Spelman Rockefeller. Rockefeller Chapel's carillon is named in her honor.  

For more information, contact:

Lorraine Brochu
Assistant to the Dean for External Affairs
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
5850 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637
(773) 702-7059
lcbrochu@uchicago.edu