In 1941, Elmhurst College established the only Hungarian Department in the United States and gave the responsibility of developing its program to Dr. Barnabas Dienes. His work was the basis of what by the 1950s had developed into a significant repository of cultural, linguistic and social research. August J. Molnar guided growing entity to become a foundation, which began its activity in 1955. As part of the expansion program, the Foundation began working with Rutgers (SUNJ) and relocated to that campus in 1959, where it remains today.