Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st Vice President of the United States, the 49th governor of New York, a public servant, statesman, businessman, art collector, and philanthropist.

Throughout his life Rockefeller was drawn to finding innovative, inter-disciplinary solutions to public policy issues. He spent much of his career in public service and he served the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Nixon administrations in a variety of positions. As Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973 his achievements included the expansion of the State University of New York, efforts to protect the environment, the building of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany, increased facilities and personnel for medical care, and creation of the New York State Council on the Arts. A Republican, Rockefeller used a pragmatic problem solving approach to public policy formation rather than adhering to strict ideology. He is often referred to as a moderate Republican. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968. As a businessman he was President and later Chairman of Rockefeller Center, Inc., and he formed the International Basic Economy Corporation in 1947. Rockefeller assembled a significant art collection and promoted public access to the arts. He served as trustee, treasurer, and president, of the Museum of Modern Art, and founded the Museum of Primitive Art in 1954. In the area of philanthropy he established the American International Association for Economic and Social Development in 1946, and with his four brothers he founded the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1940 and helped guide it. He was appointed Vice President in 1974 by President Gerald R. Ford. He served until the end of the term in 1977, but did not join the 1976 GOP national ticket with President Ford. He retired from politics when his term as Vice President was over.

Rockefeller was born in Bar Harbor, Maine. He was the son of John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He was the grandson of Standard Oil founder and chairman John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. and United States Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich, a Republican from Rhode Island. He had a sister, Abby (1903-1976), and four brothers; John D. 3rd (1906-1978), Laurance S. (1910-2004), Winthrop (1912-1973), and David (1915- ). He received his elementary and high school education at the Lincoln School, an experimental school administered by Teachers College of Columbia University. In 1930, he graduated cum laude with a B.A. in economics from Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Casque and Gauntlet (a senior society), Phi Beta Kappa, and the Zeta chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Following his graduation he worked in a number of family related businesses including: Chase National Bank (later Chase Manhattan), 1931; Rockefeller Center, Inc., joining the Board of Directors in 1931, serving as President, 1938-1945 and 1948-1951, and as Chairman, 1945-1953 and 1956-1958; and Creole Petroleum, the Venezuelan subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey, 1935-1940. From 1932 to 1979 he served as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. He also served as Treasurer, 1935-1939, and President, 1939-1941 and 1946-1953. He and his four brothers established the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a philanthropy, in 1940. He served as trustee, 1940-1975 and 1977-1979, and as president in 1956.