Russell Sage Foundation (RSF), New York

The Russell Sage Foundation was established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for "the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States." RSF funds social science research that extends the methods, data, and theories of the social scien he methods, data, and theories of the social sciences as a means of better documenting and understanding the nation’s most pressing social, political, and economic problems. The foundation supports visiting scholars in residence and publishes books and a journal under its own imprint. It also funds researchers at other institutions and supports programs intended to develop new generations of social scientists. RSF funds research projects in four principal programs—Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; the Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality—and in a number of special initiatives. RSF also hosts working groups that develop and cultivate original social science research in new or understudied fields. RSF also provides support for early-career scholars and welcomes applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences, and/or employed at under-resourced universities. The foundation’s Visiting Scholar Program, first established over thirty years ago, is a unique opportunity for social scientists to pursue research projects that investigate essential questions on social, economic, and political life in the United States while in residence at RSF. The program fosters the exchange of ideas in a vibrant interdisciplinary environment and promotes collaborations between researchers. The foundation has also established shorter term residencies for Visiting Researchers and Visiting Journalists who work alongside RSF’s visiting scholars on projects related to the foundation’s principal research areas. Under its own imprint, the foundation publishes books that derive from the work of its grantees and visiting scholars. RSF publications have been the recipients of prominent book awards in the social sciences and are regularly featured in the media. In 2015 the foundation launched a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, that brings together original empirical research articles by both established and emerging scholars. Read more about RSF’s publications or purchase books. One of the oldest American foundations, the Russell Sage Foundation was established in 1907 for "the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States" by a gift of $10 million from Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828–1918), widow of railroad magnate and financier Russell Sage. Mrs. Sage directed the foundation to pursue its mission through a broad set of activities, including "research, publication, education, the establishment and maintenance of charitable or benevolent activities, agencies and institutions, and the aid of any such activities, agencies, or institutions already in existence." The Russell Sage Foundation building is an architecturally distinguished seven-story structure originally designed by Philip Johnson. A renovated adjacent townhouse provides additional scholar offices. Together, the buildings provide excellent facilities for individual research and collegial activities. Services include computer and library facilities, conference rooms, and a dining area. Each Visiting Scholar has an individual office with administrative and other support services. Subsidized housing near the Foundation is also provided for scholars from outside the New York area. Located at 112 East 64th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, the Foundation is near a variety of educational, research, and philanthropic institutions. Hunter College of the City University of New York is four blocks north of Russell Sage, and the Rockefeller University four blocks east. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Manhattan campus of Fordham University are directly across Central Park. ...view more