Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York, on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base. Its name stems from its location in the greater area of the Town of Brookhaven. It was established in 1947 on the site of Camp Upton, a training center during both World War I and World War II. After the latter war, the camp was deemed no longer necessary. Meanwhile, discussions were underway for the creation of a new science facility that would focus on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. For this task a nonprofit corporation was established that consisted of representatives from nine major research universities — Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Princeton, Penn, Rochester, and Yale University. With the corporation finding the Camp Upton site ideal in terms of space and transportation, a plan was conceived to convert the military camp into a research facility.