The Randolph Foundation is a New York-based charitable foundation that first operated in 1972 as the H. Smith Richardson Charitable Trust. It transitioned to independence from the Smith Richardson Foundation, assuming the name of The Randolph Foundation from 1991–1993, and was reconstituted as a NY non-profit corporation in 2002. The foundation provides funding primarily for public policy related projects. Heather Higgins (née Richardson) is its President. Creation and mission The Randolph Foundation was established as a charitable trust under the will of H. Smith Richardson in 1972. H. Smith Richardson was an heir of Lunsford Richardson, founder of the Vicks chemical company. Chartered with a broad mandate, it was operated under the aegis of the Smith Richardson Foundation's public policy arm, making grants that were, for the most part, indistinguishable from the focus of the Smith Richardson Foundation per se. In the spring of 1991, the Randolph Foundation began to operate as an organization—under new Executive Director Heather Higgins—and in 1993 became wholly separate from the Smith Richardson Foundation. As of 2005, the foundation held just under $70 million in assets. Notable projects The Randolph Foundation sponsors numerous projects that examine current public policy and offer policy alternatives. Such projects include television programs, films, books, and academic studies. Television and film Through its funding of New River Media, the foundation serves as a major source of sponsorship for PBS's weekly Think Tank, which features commentator Ben J. Wattenberg. Think Tank episodes have featured discussion on such issues as gun control and controversies in modern feminism. Again working with New River Media and the team from Think Tank, the foundation provided funding for Heaven on Earth: the Rise and Fall of Socialism. The 2005 film was shown as a three-part mini-series on PBS and is a companion film to the 2002 book of the same name by Joshua Muravchik. A PBS synopsis of the film portrayed its central ideas as follows: As an idea that changed the way people thought, socialism's success was spectacular. As a critique of capitalism that helped spawn modern social safety nets and welfare states, its success was appreciable. As a model for the development of post-colonial states, the socialist model proved disappointing, fostering economic stagnation among millions of the world's poorest people. And in its most violent forms, socialism was calamitous, claiming scores of millions of lives and helping to make the twentieth century the bloodiest