$2,500,000 Fund for Promotion of Aeronautics Established by Daniel Guggenheim

Establishment of a Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronauties, with $2,500,000 at its disposal, was announced in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover from Mr. Guggenheim. The money is to go for civil aviation exclusively, under the supervision of trustees, who shall be “men of eminence and competence.”

Mr. Guggenheim, who manifested his keen interest in the development of aviation last June by founding a school of aeronautics at New York University with a gift of $500,000, notified Mr. Hoover that incorporation papers covering his new gift will be filed with the Secretary of State in Albany.

Aviation, Mr. Guggenheim said, is going through a period of experimentation, preparing to emerge from infancy. He therefore announced that his fund is not expected to operate permanently, but is intended to bridge over a possible ten-year gap until aviation can go ahead “on its own.”

Four general purposes are set forth for the fund. It is established to promote aeronautical education in both institutions of learning and among the general public; to assist in the extension of fundamental aeronautical science; to assist in the development of commercial aircraft and aircraft equipment, and to further the application of aircraft in business, industry and other economic and social activities of the nation.

Trustees of the fund are asked to:

Restrict the work to civil activities; avoid duplication of effort with other aeronautical organizations; avoid work which is properly a government function; plan work carefully to concentrate effort and to carry any investigation or project through to a definite conclusion; maintain a simple, inexpensive directing organization, depending on outside established agencies, wherever possible, to carry out the aims of the fund.