The Fels Cancer Institute for Personalized Medicine was founded in 1933 by Philadelphia industrialist and philanthropist Samuel S. Fels, who was President of Fels & Company, manufacturer of the vastly popular household soap, Fels Naptha. As part of his philanthropic mission, he founded the Samuel S. Fels Fund as a nonprofit corporation in 1935. The general purpose of the Fund was to "initiate and to assist any activities or projects of a scientific, educational or charitable nature which tend to improve human daily life and to bring to the average person greater health, happiness, and a fuller understanding of the meaning and purposes of life."   During the Institute's early years, financial support was derived almost entirely from the Fels Fund.