sentences:  A $2.5 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation supported the summer work of a dozen scientists, construction of a laboratory building and commissioning of a research vessel, the ketch "Atlantis", whose profile still forms the Institution's logo.WHOI grew substantially to support significant defense-related research during World War II, and later began a steady growth in staff, research fleet, and scientific stature.In 1977 the institute appointed the influential oceanographer John Steele as director, and he served until his retirement in 1989.