W. M. Keck Foundation

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The W. M. Keck Foundation is an American charitable foundation supporting scientific, engineering, and medical research in the United States. It was founded in 1954 by William Myron Keck, founder and president of Superior Oil Company (now part of ExxonMobil). The Foundation's trust fund currently has assets in excess of 1 billion U.S. Dollars.

From its founding until his death in 1964, the Foundation was led by W. M. Keck. From 1964 to 1995, it was led by W. M. Keck's son, Howard B. Keck. Robert A. Day, W. M. Keck's grandson has been chairman and president since 1996.

The Foundation provides grants in five broad areas: science and engineering research, undergraduate science and engineering, medical research, liberal arts, and Southern California. Some of the more notable projects that have received funding from the Keck Foundation include:

The W.M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training at Rice University in Houston,Texas
Construction of the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii
Expansion of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California
Creation of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences in Claremont, California
Sponsor of the Keck Computer Science Lab at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California

The Keck Foundation has been a long-time supporter of public television in Southern California, including underwriting the broadcast of Sesame Street on KCET since the 1970s.