Wenner-Gren Foundation

About Us It’s somewhat of an accident that the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research exists. In 1941, Axel Wenner-Gren, founder of the Electro-Lux Corporation (and one of the richest men in the world), created the Viking Fund to resolve tax issues raised by the sale of a boat in Florida. The fund’s original mission was to promote advancements in science, charity, literature, education, and religion. Paul Fejos, a Hungarian avant-garde filmmaker, convinced Wenner-Gren to use the fund to support anthropological work. Renamed in 1951, the Wenner-Gren Foundation quickly became a key actor in this discipline. In the early years, the Foundation pursued its aims through focused research and funding programs and by hosting a series of influential conferences and meetings. In 1959, the Foundation founded Current Anthropology, which became one of anthropology’s flagship journals. As anthropology grew and changed, so did the Foundation. It developed a strong identity emphasizing the internationalism and broad-based nature of anthropology, featuring programs for archaeologists and sociocultural, biological, and linguistic anthropologists around the globe. Today more than ever, the Foundation is committed to enabling the field of anthropology to flourish in its full diversity. We advance anthropological knowledge, amplify its impact, foster inclusivity, and address the precariousness of anthropology as a career and a field of study. In concert with our board of trustees, the Foundation relies on an advisory council comprised of six international anthropologists who provide guidance on the Foundation’s programs and policies. We also depend on more than 60 reviewers to offer constructive feedback to all grant applicants and ensure that the research we fund is of the highest quality.