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The National Academy of Sciences was signed into being by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. The Academy is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research that is dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. The National Academy of Sciences is governed by a council comprised of 12 members and five officers elected from among its membership. The council is responsible to the membership for the activities undertaken by the organization and for the corporate management of the National Academy of Sciences. The Academy membership is comprised of approximately 2,000 members and nearly 350 foreign associates, of whom more than 190 have won Nobel Prizes.