The Commission was headed by Dr. Henry Wriston, who was appointed by President Eisenhower on February 3, 1960.
The other members of the Commission were Vice Chairman Frank Pace, Erwin D. Canham, James B. Conant, Colgate W. Darden, Jr., Crawford H. Greenewalt, Alfred M. Gruenther, Learned Hand, Clark Kerr, James R. Killian, Jr., William P. Bundy and George Meany.
The Commission commented upon, approved or disapproved, the papers being written on the chosen topics.
[1] The Commission ceased activity with the submission of its report to the president, but its offices remained open until approximately May 1961, so as to make further arrangements for publicizing the Commission's report through the use of the communications media and the establishment of numerous discussion groups.
The Commission also heavily influenced political elections because of the private funds flowing through the organization.