John R. Mott and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: Dimensions of an Unlikely Friendship

This research report is based on research performed at the Rockefeller Archive Center during January 2019.  The report explores several dimensions to the friendship and professional relationship of Dr. John R. Mott and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.  John R. Mott was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1946 and was one of the most important ecumenical and Christian mission leaders in the first half of the twentieth century.  Mott traveled the world to establish student Christian associations in many different countries, and also served in diplomatic missions for the Wilson administration.  He refused Woodrow Wilson's offer to be the U.S. ambassador to China.  Rockefeller was a financial supporter of Mott and of Mott's projects for over four decades.  Projects discussed in this paper include aid to soldiers during World War I, the funding of a large survey research project about Christian mission around the world, and support of a Russian Orthodox seminary in Paris after the Bolshevik Revolution.  Similarities with regard to theological views of Mott and Rockefeller are also briefly discussed in this report.