Background & History

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with major cultural centers and public buildings in New York, Hong Kong, and Houston, and additional locations in Delhi, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, Washington, D.C., and Zurich.

Initially established to promote greater knowledge of Asia in the United States, the Society today is a global institution — with offices throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe — that fulfills its educational mandate through a wide range of cross-disciplinary programming. As economies and cultures have become more interconnected, the Society's programs have expanded to address a range of issues and pressing concerns in Asia.

"Those of us who had a hand in establishing Asia Society shared a basic intent: to contribute to a broader and deeper understanding between the peoples of the United States and Asia,” Mr. Rockefeller said in a speech given in New York City in 1967. "We founders of Asia Society were confident that Asians and Americans are capable of a richer and more meaningful mutual understanding, because of shared hopes, fears and aspirations."

In 2016, Asia Society celebrated its 60th anniversary with a series of programs and exhibitions looking back on its first six decades. Watch a short film about the organization's history here.

The symbol of the Asia Society is the leogryph.
 

"At a time when the eyes of the world are on Asia, this institution is indispensable."
— The New York Times