David Kaiser (philanthropist)

David Walter Kaiser (July 27, 1969 – July 15, 2020) was an American philanthropist and president of the Rockefeller Family Fund, known for his environmental activism.[1] He was a grandson of David Rockefeller and great-great-grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller.[2]

Early life and education

Kaiser was born on July 27, 1969, in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Neva Rockefeller Goodwin and Walter Kaiser. His mother is a daughter of David Rockefeller and a great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller. She is the director of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University and a distinguished fellow at Boston University.[3][4] His father Walter Kaiser, who died in 2016, was a professor of English and comparative literature at Harvard University as well as the director of Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence.[5]

He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1991 with a degree in American history.[2][6]

Career

Kaiser served as president of the Rockefeller Family Fund from 2015 to 2019.[7][8] During his tenure as president, he gained wide attention for funding the investigation of Los Angeles Times and InsideClimate News into ExxonMobil's environmental malpractices and leading the family fund to divest from fossil fuels.[9][10][11] Activist groups, funded by the foundation, also kicked off a campaign #ExxonKnew, accusing that ExxonMobil has knowingly downplayed the threat of climate change.[12] He laid out his case against the company, detailing its practices of financing climate contrarianism and driving partisanship on the issue, in a two-part essay published in The New York Review of Books, where he once worked as an editorial assistant.[2][8][13]

With the family's encouragement and using the evidence provided by the family-funded investigations, a number of states, cities, and individuals sued ExxonMobil for its environmental practices.[2][14][15] The New York Times wrote that John Passacantando, a philanthropy consultant and climate activist, said in an interview that Kaiser had "done more to change the landscape in the climate fight than anything I have seen in 30 years."[2]

Kaiser was also the chairman of Just Detention International from 2007 to 2019, an advocacy group dedicated to end sexual abuse in prison.[16][17] He also served on the board of Winrock International, founded by his granduncles Winthrop Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller III, from 2004 to 2012.[8]

Personal life

Kaiser died of brain cancer on July 15, 2020, at his family home on Mount Desert Island, Maine. He is survived by his wife, Rosemary Corbett, whom he married in 2012,[2] and his sister, Miranda Kaiser, who became president of the Rockefeller Family Fund in 2019.[18]

See also

References
  1. Wiedeman, Reeves (January 7, 2018). "The Rockefellers vs. Exxon, the Company That Made Them the Rockefellers". Intelligencer. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  2. Schwartz, John (July 16, 2020). "David Kaiser, Rockefeller Heir Who Fought Exxon Mobil, Dies at 50". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  3. "Neva Rockefeller Goodwin". Global Philanthropy Forum. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  4. "Neva R. Goodwin | Economics in Context Initiative". Boston University. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  5. "Walter Kaiser dies". Harvard Gazette. January 12, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  6. "Columbia Daily Spectator 8 October 1990 — Columbia Spectator". Columbia Spectator. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. "Rockefeller Family Fund". Rockefeller Family Fund. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. "Winrock International - Winrock Mourns the Passing of David W. Kaiser (1969-2020)". Winrock International. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. "RFF'S DECISION TO DIVEST". Rockefeller Family Fund. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. Jerving, Sarah (October 9, 2015). "What Exxon knew about the Earth's melting Arctic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  11. "Exxon: The Road Not Taken". InsideClimate News. September 15, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  12. Schwartz, John (November 21, 2016). "Exxon Mobil Accuses the Rockefellers of a Climate Conspiracynewspaper=The New York Times". ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  13. Wasserman, Lee; Kaiser, David (December 8, 2016). "The Rockefeller Family Fund vs. Exxon". ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  14. Schwartz, John (August 10, 2017). "Students, Cities and States Take the Climate Fight to Court". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  15. Gillis, Justin; Krauss, Clifford (November 5, 2015). "Exxon Mobil Investigated for Possible Climate Change Lies by New York Attorney General". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  16. "Our Mission". Just Detention International. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  17. "JDI Mourns the Passing of David Kaiser". Just Detention International. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  18. Schudel, Matt (July 21, 2020). "David Kaiser, Rockefeller heir who challenged Exxon, dies at 50". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
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