WRF was founded in 1981 to assist universities and other nonprofit research institutions in the state of Washington with commercialization of their technologies and to provide support, through gifts and grants, for scholarship and research. WRF is an independent private foundation whose operational revenue comes from retained funds from licensing and investing activities.

WRF has given gifts and licensing disbursements to the University of Washington totaling more than $200,000,000. The aggregate amount is composed of returns from licensing, gifts, and realized gains on transferred equity. WRF has benefited Washington state research institutions by licensing a variety of technologies to industry, including the basis for hepatitis B virus vaccine, blood clotting factors, recombinant insulin, and wireless technology supporting the “Bluetooth” protocol.

The gifts from WRF have supported the creation of over 100 endowments for chairs, professorships, research fellowships and graduate stipends in science, medicine and engineering. Educational programs created and supported by WRF include the Center for Technology Entrepreneurship (UW Business School) and the Program for Technology Commercialization (UW Bioengineering). WRF was a founding supporter of technology “gap” funding programs at the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Washington State University.