Robert S. Brookings (1850 -1932) was born and acquired his early education in Cecil County, Maryland, before moving to St. Louis, Missouri, to begin his career at age 17. He began as a clerk and later salesman for Cupples and Marston, manufacturers and distributors of woodenware. In less than four years he became a partner in the firm at age twenty-one.

He achieved remarkable success in business at an early age, and began to reach out for a broader perspective by acquiring education and European culture. He read deeply under the direction of Dean Snow of Washington College in St. Louis and traveled extensively in Europe.

As a civic leader and philanthropist, Brookings turned his creative energy to building Washington University and other St. Louis institutions until, with the coming of World War I, he moved to Washington and onto the world stage. He served on the new War Industries Board as commissioner of Finished Products and Chairman of the Price Fixing Committee. In this role he became the link between the government and hundreds of industries. He achieved remarkable results under very difficult circumstances, and for his war service he was recognized with the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and Italy's Commander of the Crown.

His work within the government during the war showed him the need for improved economic research and a trained corps of civil servants. He established a graduate school as a part of Washington University and two institutes to address these problems. Finally, Brookings' dream of an independent research institution devoted to solving problems of government and the economy became a reality with the merger in 1927 of the Robert Brookings Graduate School, the Institute of Economics, and the original Institute for Government Research established in 1916.