Laurance Rockefeller Jr.

Last updated
Laurance Rockefeller Jr.
Born
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller Jr.

1944 (age 7879)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Harvard College
Columbia Law School [1]
OccupationEnvironmental lawyer
SpouseWendy Gordon
Children2
Parent(s) Laurance Rockefeller
Mary French
Relatives Rockefeller family

Laurance "Larry" Spelman Rockefeller Jr., (born 1944) is an American environmental lawyer. He worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council for 25 years. Rockefeller is now a trustee of the organization. [2] He stated that his family all shared an interest in environmental matters. "If we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves, enlist the help of others, apply our resources and get the job done," he said. [3]

Contents

Family background

Rockefeller's parents were Laurance Rockefeller (1910–2004) and Mary French (1910–1997). He has three older sisters, Marion, Laura, and Lucy, and is a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family. His patrilineal great-grandfather was Standard Oil's co-founder John D. Rockefeller [4] and his matrilineal great-grandfather was Frederick H. Billings, a president of Northern Pacific Railway. Both of his grandmothers, Mary Billings French and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, were important to the early development of YWCA USA.

Political aspirations

Rockefeller ran for the Republican nomination in the 1992 United States Senate election in New York, campaigning against incumbent Alfonse D'Amato, and criticizing the conservative wing of the party. [5] However, his campaign struggled to gain enough signatures to get on the ballot, and ultimately failed to do so. [6]

Board memberships

He is the co-founder and was the former Vice-Chair of the New York League of Conservation Voters, (NYLCV). [7] Rockefeller is currently a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and President of the American Conservation Association. Rockefeller served as a member of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission for 27 years.

See also

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The George Perkins Marsh Boyhood Home, also known as the Marsh-Billings House, is the architectural centerpiece of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, on Vermont Route 12 in Woodstock, Vermont, United States. The house, built in 1805 and enlarged several times, is historically significant as the boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882), an early conservationist, and as the home later in the 19th century of Frederick H. Billings (1823–1890), a businessman and philanthropist who was a cofounder of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It is also architecturally significant as a high-quality example of Queen Anne architecture, alterations and enlargements commissioned by Billings and designed by Henry Hudson Holley. The house and its surrounding gardens were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967. The 550-acre (220 ha) estate on which it stands was given by Mary French Rockefeller and Laurance Rockefeller to the people of the United States in 1992.

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Mary French Rockefeller was an American heiress, socialite, philanthropist, and a member of the extensive Rockefeller family. She was married to Laurance Rockefeller, son of John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. She was the mother of Laura Rockefeller Chasin, Marion Rockefeller Weber, Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, and Laurance Spelman Rockefeller Jr.

Mary Montagu Billings French was an American heiress and society figure, as well as YWCA president and board member. She was the daughter of Frederick Billings and inherited the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park from him before she died. She passed it on to her daughter, Mary French Rockefeller.

Lucy Aldrich Rockefeller Waletzky is an American philanthropist and environmentalist. She is the third daughter of Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910–2004) and Mary French (1910–1997), and a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. Waletzky served on the board of the Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve from 1997 to 2006. She received the Governor's Parks and Preservation Award in 2004.

References

  1. "Wendy Gordon Has Nuptials". The New York Times. 26 September 1982.
  2. Company Overview of Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
  3. They Saved Land Like Rockefellers
  4. "Released trustees agree to discuss woman president". Miami News . 23 April 1976. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  5. "Rockefeller Enters Race for Senate," New York Times, July 9, 1992
  6. Lyle, Morgan (August 12, 1992). "Rockefeller will ask court to place him on ballot". United Press International . Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  7. Gov. Cuomo ad enlists a real Rockefeller Republican to unload on Rob Astorino - UPDATED