Established in 1997, the Dekker Foundation is a private foundation endowed by Marcel Dekker, Inc. and the Dekker family. As publishers of scientific, technical, and medical information for almost sixty years, the Dekkers are deeply committed to furthering knowledge. They recognize the far-reaching effects of ignorance, a view underscored by family history.

In 1939, Dr. Maurits Dekker, his wife Rozetta Roos, and their three children fled the Netherlands shortly before Germany declared war on that country. They arrived in New York on the next to last ocean liner to successfully complete the crossing. But while they narrowly escaped the campaign against the Jews, almost none of their family in Europe survived the war of intolerance that followed.

The Dekkers have remembered the lessons of the past. Throughout the family's history in publishing - marked by Dr. Dekker's founding of Interscience Publishers in 1940 and his son Marcel's founding of Marcel Dekker, Inc. in 1963 - they have supported organizations that advocate education, tolerance, and community. This work continues in the Dekker Foundation, created by a new generation of Dekkers to build on their family's commitment to education.