News and Updates
Learn more about the history of the foundation, its staff, and read news and press releases.
Browse through grants awarded in the past year or search through our grant archive.
The Understanding Human Cognition program supports research and scholarship at the intersections of neuroscience, cognition & behavior.
The Understanding Dynamic & Multi-scale Systems program supports important and difficult questions facing society in ecology, climate, health, and institutional management.
Special Initiatives Awards represent projects closely related to JSMF programmatic interests that allow JSMF to pursue unusual opportunities.
The James S. McDonnell Foundation is a St. Louis, Missouri based private philanthropic institution established in 1950 by aerospace pioneer James S. McDonnell to “improve the quality of life.” It does so by contributing to the generation of new knowledge through support of research and scholarship, and by encouraging knowledge-based solutions to important societal issues, especially in the St. Louis region.
James Smith McDonnell (April 9, 1899-August 22, 1980) was an aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. "Mr. Mac" believed that science and technology give us unprecedented power to shape the future and oblige us to direct our intellectural, social, and cultural development responsibly. Read more »
Grantee administrators or researchers responsible for a JSMF funded grant will find this section useful in understanding the funding policies, allowable budget items, and reporting requirements. Read more »