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The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI)
The Packard Humanities Institute was established in 1987 by David Woodley Packard, a former Harvard classics professor and son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder...
The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI)
The Packard Humanities Institute was established in 1987 by David Woodley Packard, a former Harvard classics professor and son of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. PHI is an operating foundation structurally independent of both Hewlett-Packard Company foundations and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Its governance includes Susan Packard Orr, David W. Packard's sister, and Walter B. Hewlett, son of HP co-founder Bill Hewlett, cementing a cross-generational tie between the two founding families of Silicon Valley. PHI's strategy blends direct operational control over archaeological and cultural preservation projects with a venture capital allocation. The institute funds and staffs long-term field projects, including the Herculaneum Conservation Project in Italy and the Zeugma Archaeological Project in Turkey. On the media preservation side, PHI operates the PHI Stoa, a film preservation center in Santa Clarita developed in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, housing collections of theatrical trailers and classic Hollywood films. Its real estate holdings include the California Theatre, a restored 1920s movie palace in San Jose. The foundation's financial scale is not publicly disclosed, and it lists no total professional headcount. David Woodley Packard was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2006, and PHI maintains institutional membership in the International Federation of Film Archives. The Santa Clarita facility serves as a central asset, consolidating PHI's own collections and the Academy Film Archive's holdings under one roof for restoration work. PHI's structural differentiator is its model as an operating foundation that directly executes multi-decade scholarly and preservation projects, a posture inherited from its founder's academic training rather than a conventional endowment's grant-making cycle. The institute's board includes descendants of both HP founders, indicating a long-term governance horizon untethered to external fundraising cycles and positioning it as a perpetual custodian of classical and cinematic materials.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1987
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Altos
Corporate office
300 2nd St, Los Altos, CA 94022, United States
Additional offices
Santa Clarita, CA, United States · San Jose, CA, United States
Principals
David Woodley Packard
President and Chairman
Susan Packard Orr
Vice President and Director
Walter B. Hewlett
Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Packard Humanities Institute?
David Woodley Packard serves as President and Chairman of PHI and directs the institute's overall strategy, which includes a venture capital allocation alongside operational control of scholarly projects. Governance includes his sister, Susan Packard Orr, and Walter B. Hewlett, linking the Packard and Hewlett families within the foundation's leadership (Altss research).
How is the Packard Humanities Institute different from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation?
PHI is an independent operating foundation founded by David Woodley Packard and is structurally separate from the larger David and Lucile Packard Foundation established by his parents. It focuses on direct execution of long-term humanities and preservation projects, whereas the David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a broader grant-making entity covering science, children, and reproductive health (Altss research).
What kind of film preservation work does PHI do?
PHI operates the PHI Stoa, a film preservation center in Santa Clarita, in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Its collections include the Theatrical Trailer Collection housed at the Academy Film Archive and the Packard Humanities Institute Collection, focusing on restoration and storage of classic film materials (Altss research).
Which archaeological projects does PHI run directly?
PHI currently operates the Herculaneum Conservation Project at the ancient Roman site in Italy and the Zeugma Archaeological Project in Turkey. Both are long-term initiatives staffed and managed directly by PHI rather than funded through third-party grants (Altss research).
Does the Packard Humanities Institute accept outside grant applications?
PHI functions primarily as an operating foundation, meaning it undertakes its own projects with direct staff involvement rather than being a purely grant-making entity. It does not publicly solicit grant proposals, and its funding is directed toward its internally managed initiatives in archaeology, music, and film preservation (Altss research).
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