The System Development Foundation was a scientific funding organization which distributed all its funds within a finite period of time. The Foundation was formed in 1969 from a corporation in existence since 1956, made its first grants (in the form of stock) in 1974, and was involved in an active grant-making program from 1980 to 1988. The majority of the records held by Stanford University Libraries date from 1980-1988. A small amount of material dates from the years 1956-1969, when SDF's predecessor, the System Development Corporation, was a not-for-profit corporation. The majority of not-for-profit SDC's corporate records were transferred to for-profit SDC, and then to The Burroughs Corporation upon SDC's purchase in 1980. Burroughs later merged with The Unisys Corporation; interested researchers are referred to the Unisys Corporation Archives in Bluebell, Pennsylvania.

The System Development Foundation (SDF) got its start in the 1950s as a not-for-profit corporation researching and developing computer software in the information sciences. To clarify its rather complex origins, which go back to The RAND Corporation of Santa Monica, California, a bit of background information is required.

170 linear ft.

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

None.