{{Short description|American businessman (1932–2000)}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2022}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Rodman Rockefeller | image = Rodman Rockefeller (cropped).jpg | caption = Rodman Rockefeller in 1970. | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|05|02}} | birth_place = Manhattan, New York, U.S. | birth_name = Rodman Clark Rockefeller | death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|05|14|1932|05|02}} | death_place = Manhattan, New York, U.S. | occupation = | education = Dartmouth College<br>Columbia University | parents = Nelson Rockefeller <br/> Mary Clark | family = Rockefeller family | spouse = {{plainlist| *{{marriage|Barbara Ann Olson|1953|1979|reason=div}} *{{marriage|Sascha von Metzler|1980}} }} | children = 4, including Meile Rockefeller }} '''Rodman Clark Rockefeller''' (May 2, 1932 – May 14, 2000) was an American businessman and philanthropist. A fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family, he was a son of former U.S. Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, a grandson of American financer John D. Rockefeller Jr., and a great-grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
==Early life and education== Rockefeller was born on May 2, 1932, in Manhattan, New York. He was the eldest son of former U.S. Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908–1979) and his wife Mary Todhunter "Tod" Clark (1908–1999).
He was educated at Deerfield Academy, at Dartmouth College, and later earned a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business Administration. At Dartmouth, his father's alma mater, he was a member of Green Key, co-edited Dartmouth's freshman handbook, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (as had been his grandfather, John D. Rockefeller Jr.)
==Career== Rockefeller was vice president (1968–1972) and chief executive (1972–1980) of the International Basic Economy Corporation<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Basic Economy Corporation (IBEC) records, 1945-1977 |url=https://dimes.rockarch.org/collections/PM8C27JgYRkXRJ843Tk9Lg |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=DIMES: The Online Collection and Catalog of Rockefeller Archive Center}}</ref>, a New York based commercial genetics and agribusiness concern, founded by his father in 1946. Its activities included the development of corn production in Latin America, and the construction of thousands of low-cost homes in Mexico. He was chairman of IBEC Inc., a successor concern,<ref>{{cite news |title=Rodman Rockefeller Named IBEC Director |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/10/05/archives/rodman-rockefeller-named-ibec-director.html |access-date=17 June 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 October 1959 |archive-date=December 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213144042/https://www.nytimes.com/1959/10/05/archives/rodman-rockefeller-named-ibec-director.html |url-status=live }}</ref> from 1980 to 1985, and for a number of years was chairman of Arbor Acres Farm, based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, a seller of genetic material for poultry broiler stock.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Durr|first=Kenneth D|title=A Company With a Mission: Rodman Rockefeller and the International Basic Economy Corporation, 1947-1985|publisher=Montrose Press|year=2006|isbn=0972887423}}</ref>
Rockefeller was co-chairman of the Mexico-United States Business Committee, an organization focusing on economic and political issues of interest to both nations' business communities. Some consider the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the mid-1990s to have been the culmination of his and the committee's efforts.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The honors he received included a prestigious Mexican decoration, the Order of the Aztec Eagle.
He was on the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for nine years, and for many years was a trustee of Rockefeller Financial Services, the entity which manages the family's office (known as "Room 5600"), its investment companies, and its many foundations. He was the head of the finance committee of Rockefeller Financial Services for many years and was a longtime trustee of Rockefeller Financial's holding company, Rockefeller & Company.
Rockefeller served as chairman of Pocantico Associates, a private capital and real estate investment company, and was a trustee of the Institute of International Education, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, the Museum of Modern Art, the Americas Society, and the New York Blood Center.
==Personal life== In 1953, Rockefeller married Barbara Ann Olsen, with whom he had four children: * Meile Rockefeller * Peter C. Rockefeller * Stuart Rockefeller * Michael Rockefeller<ref name="BRObit1986">{{cite news |title=Barbara Rockefeller, Ex-Head Of Craft Council, Dies at 55 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/24/obituaries/barbara-rockefeller-ex-head-of-craft-council-dies-at-55.html |access-date=17 June 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 January 1986}}</ref> The marriage ended in divorce in 1979, and the following year he married Alexandra (Sascha) von Metzler.<ref name="1980Wedding">{{cite news |title=Miss von Metzler Is Wed to R.C. Rockefeller |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/14/archives/miss-von-metzler-is-wed-to-rc-rockefeller.html |access-date=17 June 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=14 June 1980 |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316073711/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/14/archives/miss-von-metzler-is-wed-to-rc-rockefeller.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1987, Rockefeller's son Peter married Allison Whipple.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 December 1987 |title=Allison H. Whipple, Broker, Marries Peter C. Rockefeller |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/20/style/allison-h-whipple-broker-marries-peter-c-rockefeller.html |access-date=3 June 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602071519/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/20/style/allison-h-whipple-broker-marries-peter-c-rockefeller.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Rockefeller died of cancer at his home on New York's Upper East Side on May 14, 2000.<ref name="RRObit2000">{{cite news |last1=Pace |first1=Eric |title=Rodman Rockefeller, 68, Dies; Active in Latin Trade Efforts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/16/nyregion/rodman-rockefeller-68-dies-active-in-latin-trade-efforts.html |access-date=17 June 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=16 May 2000 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112120727/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/16/nyregion/rodman-rockefeller-68-dies-active-in-latin-trade-efforts.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Rockefeller family}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockefeller, Rodman}} Rodman Category:Winthrop family Category:American philanthropists Category:Deerfield Academy alumni Category:1932 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Children of Nelson Rockefeller Category:Columbia Business School alumni Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Clark banking family Category:American people of German descent Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American people of English descent