private coeducational institution in New York, New York, U.S., devoted to research and graduate education in the biomedical sciences. It was founded by industrialist John D. Rockefeller (Rockefeller, John D.) in 1901 as a medical-research centre, and in 1954 the school became part of the State University of New York (New York, State University of (SUNY)) system and was reorganized as a graduate university. It assumed the name Rockefeller University in 1965. The university offers a small number of gifted students tuition-free, advanced instruction and research opportunities in the biological and biomedical sciences. The university awards the Ph.D. for work in a number of fields, but there is no set curriculum. The school also operates a cooperative program with Cornell University Medical College that leads to a joint M.D.-Ph.D. degree. Numbered among Rockefeller University's graduates and faculty have been more than 15 Nobel Prize laureates.