John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960), American philanthropist, utilized the family fortune to establish scores of philanthropic enterprises and participated actively in their management. He also became widely known as an expert in industrial relations.

Born to substantial wealth on Jan. 29, 1874, in Cleveland, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was brought up in a rigorously puritanical atmosphere. The social life of the family centered in the Baptist Church, and young Rockefeller and his four sisters were taught to live upright, religious lives. Educated at Brown University, from which he graduated in 1897, he was shy and serious, determined to carry out what he felt were his duties to his God, his family, and society.

After graduation from college, young Rockefeller--largely to please his father, to whom he was devoted--entered the offices of the family's Standard Oil Company in New York City to prepare himself to administer his father's vast business interests. But...