A discussion of cyberinfrastructure would be incomplete without noting the Mellon Foundation; their grants have made possible many of the advances covered within Academic Commons.

 From their website:

"The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation currently makes grants in six core program areas: Higher Education and Scholarship; Scholarly Communications; Research in Information Technology; Museums and Art Conservation; Performing Arts; Conservation and the Environment."

"Within each of its core programs, the Foundation concentrates most of its grantmaking in a few areas. Institutions and programs receiving support are often leaders in fields of Foundation activity, but they may also be promising newcomers, or in a position to demonstrate new ways of overcoming obstacles to achieve program goals."

In a June 22nd event in Second Life, the MacArthur Foundation announced the beginning of a year-long exploration of the role of philanthropy in virtual worlds.

The exploration will take the form of a series of conversations, real-world conferences on these issues, and competitive grants, all accessible from the virtual world.

The highlights of the June 22nd event were a conversation between Phillip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab, and MacArthur Foundation President Jonathan Fanton, and the announcement of a $550,000 grant to the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy to lead the effort.