Since 1995, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has played a critical role as the funder of a science and technology initiative within American Experience. This valued partnership has enabled American Experience to explore the central role that science and technology have played in shaping American history. The result has been an extensive body of work featuring programs on topics as diverse as the development of the contraceptive pill, the work of mathematical genius John Nash, the building of the Golden Gate Bridge and the laying of the first transatlantic cable. These films seek to raise public awareness of the influence of science and technology on American culture and society. They show, for example, the key role the Pill played in the women's rights movement and how the transatlantic cable revolutionized the flow of information much like the Internet today.

American Experience films supported by the Sloan Foundation have screened at major film festivals including Sundance, and won major awards including the Erik Barnouw Award and the CINE Gold Eagle.

In 2003, with key seed funding from the Sloan Foundation, the producers of American Experience launched the WGBH History Unit. The unit's inaugural production, the four-part series They Made America, looks at a select group of American innovators who have had a significant impact on history. They Made America premieres in November, 2004 on PBS.

Founded in 1934, the Sloan Foundation's interests lie in science, technology and economic performance. The foundation's Public Understanding of Science and Technology program, in particular, seeks to enhance people's lives by providing a better understanding of the increasingly scientific and technological environment in which we live. The program supports the use of books, radio, television, films, theater, and new media to reach a wide nonspecialist audience. In 2004, the foundation began to explore ways of reaching scientists and engineers so they can better understand and appreciate how they and their work are perceived by the broader culture.

Visit the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Online: http://www.sloan.org

Programs Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

	Grand Central First broadcast: 2/4/2008 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Lobotomist First broadcast: 1/21/2008 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Living Weapon First broadcast: 2/5/2005 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Great Fever First broadcast: 10/30/2006 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Test Tube Babies First broadcast: 4/24/06 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	The Alaska Pipeline First broadcast: 4/24/06 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Great Transatlantic Cable First broadcast: 4/11/05 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Building the Alaska Highway First broadcast: 2/7/05 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Golden Gate Bridge First broadcast: 5/3/04 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Pill First broadcast: 2/24/2003 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Transcontinental Railroad First broadcast: 1/27/2003 (120 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	A Brilliant Madness First broadcast: 4/28/2002 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Streamliners: America's Lost Trains First broadcast: 2/5/2001 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	Secrets of a Master Builder First broadcast: 10/30/2000 (60 min.) web site | promo | buy it
	The Wizard of Photography First broadcast: 5/22/2000 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	Rescue at Sea First broadcast: 2/15/99 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	Race for the Superbomb First broadcast: 1/11/99 (120 min.) web site | buy it
	Influenza 1918 First broadcast: 2/9/98 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	New York Underground First broadcast: 2/17/97 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	Big Dream, Small Screen First broadcast: 2/10/97 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	The Telephone First broadcast: 2/3/97 (60 min.) web site | buy it
	The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie First broadcast: 1/20/97 (120 min.) web site | buy it
	Spy in the Sky (no web site available) First broadcast: 2/26/96 (60 min.) buy it
	The Wright Stuff First broadcast: 2/12/1996 (60 min.) web site
	Chicago 1968 (no web site available) First broadcast: 11/13/96 (60 min.) buy it
	Edison's Miracle of Light First broadcast: 10/23/95 (60 min.) web site | buy it