Research Triangle Foundation

The Research Triangle Foundation (RTF) is the owner and developer of Research Triangle Park, N.C., a research park housing research institutes and other businesses in Piedmont North Carolina.

The private, not-for-profit Research Triangle Foundation (RTF) owns the Research Triangle Park (RTP), an internationally recognized center for research and development on a 6,900-acre campus in North Carolina's Piedmont region. RTP is named for the triangle formed by the three cities and universities closely associated with the development of multi-disciplinary research strengths in the Park: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and Duke University in Durham.

Research Triangle Park is a public/private, planned research park, created in 1959, by North Carolina Governor Luther Hodges and leaders from business, academia, and industry.The research park concept, however, had been introduced years before. In 1952, Howard Odum, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, proposed several research center formats that incorporated the idea of cooperation among research organizations. In the mid-1950s, Romeo Guest, a land developer and building contractor in Greensboro, became one of the first people to use the phrase Research Triangle. Guest's conception of a research and development park and his behind-the-scenes contacts with investors were valuable assets to Governor Hodges and the early Park planners.

Governor Hodges formed the Research Triangle Committee in September 1956 to explore the idea of creating a research center to be located centrally to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and Duke University in Durham. Members of the Committee included leaders from across the state of North Carolina in government, business, and the universities.

In April 1957, investor Karl Robbins agreed to provide funds to acquire options on land. In September 1957, Romeo Guest formed a for-profit company called Pinelands Company, Inc., with Robbins as the major stockholder. By the end of the year, nearly 4,000 acres had been optioned or purchased at a cost of approximately $700,000.

In August 1958, Robert Hanes, chair of the Research Triangle Committee, asked Archie K. Davis of Wachovia Bank to find other possible investors from North Carolina for the Pinelands Company. Davis made two important suggestions: first, that the Research Triangle Committee be reconstituted as the non-profit Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina; and second, that he solicit contributions for RTF rather than sell stock for Pinelands Company. By 31 December 1958, Davis had raised $1.25 million in contributions from individuals and businesses from all across the state. This amount would enable RTF to purchase all of the shares of Pinelands stock and create a separate non-profit Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to perform independent contract research. On 9 January 1959, Governor Hodges formally announced the Research Triangle Foundation and Davis's successful fund-raising drive. He also announced the establishment of RTI; the planned construction of the Robert M. Hanes Building to house RTF and RTI; and the acquisition of land assembled by Pinelands Company, which thereafter would be managed by the Foundation.

The Research Triangle Institute was the Park's first tenant and served as a focal point for companies interested in the Park. The Park grew slowly through the early 1960s. Then, in 1965, with the arrival of both International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Park began to grow in earnest. By 1969, 21 companies had RTP addresses. From 1970 to 1979, 17 additional companies moved on campus. By 1989, 28 more companies chose locations in the Park. From 1990 to 2000, more than 42 new companies established facilities in RTP.

Some of the industries represented in the Park include textiles, forestry, health and health-care organizations, electronics, computers, chemicals, education, pharmaceuticals, biomedical instrumentation, and statistical research.

(Adapted from information available on the Research Triangle Foundation website, November 2001.)