The John Adams Institute
Annual Report 2008
Annual report 2008
Table of content
3
Our Mission
4
Note from the director
6
Events
23
Other activities
26
Support
28
Publicity
29
Staff and volunteers for 2008
30
Board of Directors, Honorary board and Advisory board
32
West-Indisch Huis
33
Attendance 2008
35
In the Press
38
Corporate Sponsors & Friends in 2008
40
Finance
The John Adams Institute
West-Indisch Huis
Herenmarkt 97
1013 EC Amsterdam
T. +31(0)20 624 72 80
F. +31(0)20 638 11 45
E. [email protected]
W. www.john-adams.nl
Our Mission
To be one of the premier speaker’s podiums in Europe on American culture.
To bring American culture to a Dutch and international audience by organizing
public lectures, readings and discussions.
To maintain our independent, nonprofit status, with freedom to choose
speakers and topics.
To provide our audience the opportunity to listen, learn and engage in
discussions on the broad subject of the United States, its culture, and its impact
on the world, without necessarily advocating particular viewpoint ourselves.
3
A Note from the Director
Being an American living in Europe, looking back at America, and attempting all the while to
present America to European audiences, is a challenging, and generally rewarding way to make
a living. If that was true a few years ago, it was especially so during the eventful year of 2008.
You had the waning of the Bush era. You had the building frenzy of a presidential campaign.
As the year wore on you had the economic meltdown—first in the U.S., then globally. And by
the end of the year you had a new power center in the U.S., and new pronouncements—and
new hopes—about the role the U.S. would play henceforth.
Happily, the John Adams Institute does not have to try
to embrace all of that change in its program. We are an
independent American culture center, located in a
corner of the storied West India House on the
Herenmarkt in Amsterdam. Our job is to bring
American voices to the Netherlands. How we define it
beyond that depends on circumstances: our funding,
our inclinations, what we think is important or
relevant or special or amusing. And of course it
depends on events. In the case of 2008, we tried to
keep the big events in focus. We held a series of panel
discussions, cosponsored by the University of
Amsterdam, on the evolving state of the U.S.
presidential race. We hosted former U.S. Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, in an event broadcast on
NOVA in which she gave her perspective on what the
next president should do internationally to restore
American standing and leadership in the world.
Michael Oreskes, editor of the International Herald
Tribune, handicapped the campaign as it stood at midyear. And as we approached election day, Shelby Steele
gave our audience his views on Barack Obama, with a
particular focus on race.
As to the economic collapse, we actually had that covered long before its effects registered. Our
first program of 2008 featured former American Labor Secretary Robert Reich, in an event with
Alexander Rinnooy Kan and Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven. The
topic was “Supercapitalism,” and Reich’s contention that there were dangers in the spread of
American-style capitalism. Some of those dangers became apparent as the year wore on.
Meanwhile, the war in Iraq and lingering effects of 9/11 occupied many of us in 2008, and as well
merited space in our lecture series. Martin Amis, one of the world’s great novelists, came to
Amsterdam to talk about the subject of his essay collection, The Second Plane, and the aftereffects of 9/11. New York Times war correspondent Dexter Filkins gave us an annotated slide
show of his experiences in Iraq. New Yorker writer Steve Coll gave us the backstory of the Bin
Laden family.
4
But we want not only to be a forum for politics and economic matters. We also want to be a
window onto culture, art, history, lifestyle—onto what Americans are feeling and watching and
listening to. Thus we presented novelists Amy Bloom, Paul Auster and Junot Diaz, cartoonist
Ben Katchor, musicians Steve Earle and Chip Taylor, and historian Lisa Jardine. And—in a
category by himself—David Sedaris held forth on talking animals and how he packs his suitcase.
No sooner was the year finished than we were launched into a truly new era. The turn from
2008 to 2009 was a rare fulcrum, a point on which history pivots. The era of Obama, the era
of “nationalization” and economic restructuring, the Hudson Year, The Island…these are
some of the directions in which the John Adams Institute has moved since then.
But those are topics for another time. For now, let me conclude with an observation. Times
of economic distress provide easy and legitimate reasons not to support nonprofit activities.
Who has extra money at such times? On the other hand, I would like to put forth the idea that
it is precisely at such moments, when so much transformation is afoot, that trans-national
dialogue is most vital. The John Adams Institute is a small organization, but we like to think
that our work has real merit, especially at such a time of questioning and confusion and
reevaluation. Our newest sponsors and supporters—among whom are the City of Amsterdam
and the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry—attest to that. So do our many corporate friends,
Aegon, the U.S. Embassy, the Dutch publishers and booksellers with whom we work closely,
the 183 new members who joined us over the year, and the 3281 people who came to our
events in 2008. That is an increase of 67 percent over the previous year. If you will permit
me a touch of hyperbole… The people have spoken!
Russell Shorto
5
Events
6
Robert B. Reich
14 January 2008
Location: Kloosterkerk, The Hague
President Bill Clinton’s former Secretary of Labor
argues in his important new book that in the last
thirty years capitalism has flourished at the expense
of democracy. Robert Reich, one of America’s most
renowned economists, says people now see themselves
as buyers and sellers first and citizens only later, if at
all. The rise of supercapitalism has meant fantastically
increased choices for consumer goods but also
decimated public services, an end to job security and
looming environmental catastrophe. The U.S. leads
in this dark trend, Reich argues, but Europe is right
behind, and the only solution is to renew civic
participation: to turn consumers back into citizens.
In cooperation with
the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Business Contact Publishers
Moderator
Alexander Rinnooy Kan,
Chairman of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands
With the participation of
Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs
Photos
Piet Gispen
7
Steve Earle
31 January 2008
Location: Paradiso, Amsterdam
Steve Earle in conversation with Chris Kijne
about politics, music and the culture clash of
moving from Nashville to New York City.
Special John Adams Institute event, held in
the afternoon of Earle's performance at
Paradiso.
Moderator
Chris Kijne, VPRO broadcaster
In cooperation with
Paradiso
Photos
Chris van Houts
8
Steve Earle -"the hardcore troubadour"-is a legend in
rock and country music circles, and nearly as renowned
for his politics as for his music. His 2002 album,
Jerusalem, was a reaction to President George W.
Bush's "war on terrorism." The song "John Walker's
Blues," about the captured American Taliban John
Walker Lindh, provoked headlines around the world
and much outrage; many accused Earle of sympathizing
with terrorists.
Christopher Hitchens
13 February 2008
Location: Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam
He dismissed Hillary Clinton as "an aging and resentful
female" and, regarding Barack Obama, he asked, "why is a
man with a white mother considered to be 'black‘,
anyway?" Christopher Hitchens is one of America's most
provocative public intellectuals. In his new book, God
Is Not Great -a runaway bestseller in the U.S. -Hitchens
goes after organized religion with both barrels blazing.
Why is the West in such a heightened state of insecurity?
Hitchens gives a three-word answer: "Religion poisons
everything." And if all religions are dangerous, Islam,
he says, is the biggest threat because "it's unalterable."
Moderator
Arjo Klamer,
Chair of Economics of Art and Culture at
Erasmus University
Panelist
Fouad Laroui,
Teacher of Arabic Language and Culture
at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and
author of Islamism
In cooperation with
J.M. Meulenhoff Publishers
Photos
Chris van Houts
9
Madeleine Albright
19 February 2008
Location: Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam
In this one-of-a-kind event, former US Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright talked about her new book,
Memo to the President-Elect, offered her analysis of
what the next president must do to restore America's
international standing, and assessed the presidential
candidates.
Coproduction:
-The John Adams Institute
-The International School for Humanities and
Social Sciences of the Universiteit van Amsterdam
-Ambo|Anthos Publishers
-NOVA
Moderator
Twan Huys, Journalist & Author
Broadcast as a special installment of the
"Nova College Tour"
Photos
Chris van Houts
10
Amy Bloom
5 March 2008
Location: Felix Meritis, Amsterdam
Amy Bloom trained as a psychotherapist, but her prose is anything but analytical. Her sensitive exploration of human interactions,
expressed in a style that is luminous yet engagingly direct, has won her many fans and awards. Her new novel, Away, tells the
picaresque story of a Russian Jew in the 1920s whose family is killed in a pogrom and who then finds her way to New York and its
Yiddish theater world. News that her daughter may be alive -in Siberia -then sparks an improbable transcontinental trek. Critics
have hailed it as "far and away one of the best books of the year." The New York Times called it "a classic page-turner, one that
delivers a relentlessly good read."
Moderator
Kristien Hemmerechts,
Journalist & Author
In cooperation with
Nieuw Amsterdam Publishers
Photos
Gerrit Serné
11
Steve Coll
21 April 2008
Location: Posthoornkerk, Amsterdam
One of America' s most renowned international affairs correspondents came to the John Adams Institute podium to discuss his
revelatory new book on the Bin Laden family. Steve Coll won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for Ghost Wars, which showed how 9/11 was
an outgrowth of the CIA' s long involvement in Afghanistan. His new book, The Bin Ladens, one of the most highly anticipated
releases of the spring, penetrates the veil of secrecy that has kept the famous and infamous Saudi family largely hidden from public
view. The result is a sprawling saga of money, oil, religion, and politics -and at the center of it all, of course, the figure of Osama bin
Laden. Steve Coll is a writer for The New Yorker and president of the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C. think tank.
Moderator
Joris Luyendijk,
Journalist & Author
In cooperation with
Mouria Publishers
Penguin Books Benelux
Photos
Chris van Houts
12
The Word as a Way Out
26 April 2008
Location: OBA – Public Library Amsterdam
• Junot Diaz
• Julie Phillips
• Ben Katchor
Moderator: Michael Martin
Part of:
International Literature Festival Amsterdam
24 -27 April 2008
13
Ben Katchor
27 April 2008
Location: Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam
Ben Katchor, the first comic strip artist
ever to win a McArthur Foundation
"genius grant“. has been called
"the most poetic, deeply layered artist
ever to draw a comic strip." Katchor
started out as a contributor to Art
Spiegelman's legendary cutting edge
graphics magazine Raw, and his strips
Julius Knipl Real Estate Photographer
and The Jew in New York have been
syndicated in the United States since
1988.
Moderator
Gert Jan Pos, Journalist
In cooperation with
Jewish Historical Museum
Photos
Chris van Houts
14
Michael Oreskes
Executive Editor, International Herald Tribune
13 May 2008
Location: Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Moderator
Twan Huys, Journalist & Author
In cooperation with
The intense interest in this year's American
presidential election has a flipside: the reason all
campaigns have had the mantra of "change" is that
no one is pleased with the
country’s recent leadership. The U.S. prides itself
on its democracy, and above all on its Constitution.
How has the American government strayed so far
from its principles? What will be the central
battleground of the general election campaign, and
can the next president restore faith -at home and
abroad -in the American system?
In a very special John Adams Institute event,
Michael Oreskes, the executive editor of the
International Herald Tribune, gave his unique
perspective on these questions in a wide-ranging
discussion with Twan Huys, the host of NOVA.
International Herald Tribune
Photos
Chris van Houts
15
Paul Auster
10 June 2008
Location: De Duif, Amsterdam
Paul Auster was born in New Jersey, but is most
associated with Brooklyn (where he has long lived) and
Paris (where he worked as a translator of French
literature). He is a writer like no other, who has been
known to mix magical realism with detective fiction.
From the "New York Trilogy"of the 1980s to Mr.
Vertigo, in which a boy is determined to learn to levitate,
to Timbuktu, whose main character is a dog, to the
screenplay for the indie film Smoke, Auster's work plays
on coincidence and absurdity. In his new novel, Man in
the Dark, Auster turns a political theme -the war in Iraq
-into an exploration of the possibly even more
nightmarish realm of one man's psyche.
Introduction
Guusje ter Horst,
Minister of Home Affairs & Kingdom Relations
In cooperation with
Arbeiderspers Publishers
Photos
Chris van Houts
16
Moderator
Russell Shorto
In cooperation with
Arbeiderspers Publishers
Lisa Jardine
Photos
Gerrit Serné
19 June 2008
Location: Bethaniënklooster, Amsterdam
In the great book of history, the British Empire typically merits a fat chapter, while the Dutch Enlightenment
gets a passing mention. The problem with this, argues Lisa Jardine in her groundbreaking work Going Dutch:
How England Plundered Holland's Glory, is that Britain's rise was built on -not to say swiped from-the
intellectual achievements of its neighbor and competitor. From painting techniques to new business practices to
its passion for cleanliness and proclivity for tolerance, the Dutch Republic infected England in the 17th century.
Its way of doing things became part of the English way. In her rich new book, bristling with examples and
exuding the colors and textures of the time, Jardine -professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary,
University of London- simply changes history.
1717
Martin Amis
9 September 2008
Location: De Duif, Amsterdam
Britain's greatest living author comes to the John
Adams Institute podium on the occasion of the
Dutch publication of his new collection of essays
about the post-9/11 world, The Second Plane.
After spending his early career on the political
left, Martin Amis lived for two years in Uruguay
and returned to find that, as he later said, "I had
moved quite a distance to the right while staying
in the same place." The Second Plane ignited
controversy in the U.K. for seeming to conflate
hatred of Islamism with hatred of Islam. Amis is
the author of some of the most celebrated
novels of our time, including London Fields,
Money, and The Information.
Moderator
Pieter Steinz, NRC Handelsblad
In cooperation with
Contact Publishers
Photo
Gerrit Serné
18
David Sedaris
23 September 2008
Location: De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam
The humorist and author of Me Talk Pretty One
Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and
Denim brought his entourage to Amsterdam for
the Dutch publication of his latest collection of
wisdom, When You Are Engulfed in Flames.
Sedaris instructed the John Adams audience on
how to buy drugs in a North Carolina trailer and
how to pretend you attended Princeton
University before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Moderator
Tim Overdiek, Deputy Editor in Chief at NOS
In cooperation with
Lebowski Publishers
Photo
Chris van Houts
19
Shelby Steele
5 October 2008
Location: De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam
Barack Obama is the most compelling
political figure to come out of the U.S. in
at least a generation. At the core of his
personality is his biracial background.
Shelby Steele -a research fellow at
Stanford University and a winner of the
National Book Critics' Circle Award-is also
the child of a white mother and a black
father. He sees both Obama's promise
and pitfalls as rooted in his search for
identity. One month before the
presidential election, Steele was in
Amsterdam to share his thesis, which is
provocatively spelled out in the English
subtitle of his book: "Why We Are Excited
About Obama and Why He Can't Win."
Moderator
Twan Huys, Journalist & Author
Organized in cooperation with
-De Rode Hoed
-Elsevier Publishers
Photo (screenshot from video)
Roberto Bourgonjen
20
Dexter Filkins
20 November 2008
Location: West-Indisch Huis, Amsterdam
In The Forever War, Dexter Filkins -one of
America's top war correspondents -has produced
a book of scintillating beauty, if one can apply
such a term to the nightmare that has unfolded in
Afghanistan and Iraq. How to sort through the
lies, the bombs, the billions of dollars, the
thousands of deaths? Filkins stays close to the
ground. He tells stories. He bears witness. He
knows which details hold meaning. "His writing,"
says novelist Robert Stone, "is one of the scant
good things to come out of the war.“
Moderator
Chris Kijne,
VPRO broadcaster
In cooperation with
Contact Publishers
Photos
Chris van Houts
21
Chip Taylor
14 December 2008
Location: Paradiso, Amsterdam
Singer-songwriter Chip Taylor took the John
Adams Institute stage to talk about his special bond
with The Netherlands, but also to play some of his
famous songs. Taylor is the man behind such
classics as Wild Thing (The Troggs), Try Just a
Little Bit Harder (Janis Joplin) and Angel of the
Morning (Juice Newton), and is considered one of
the great American songwriters of his generation.
Moderator
Leo Blokhuis, Pop music expert & Author
In cooperation with
-Ambo|Anthos Publishers
-Paradiso
Photos
Chris van Houts
22
Other activities
23
The Next President of the United States…
The John Adams Institute, together with the Universiteit van Amsterdam, presented a series of
discussions on the U.S. presidential campaign.
Location: International School for Humanities and Social Science, Prins Hendrikkade Amsterdam.
5 Febr.
24
Super Tuesday
The presidential primary system is a Byzantine affair, involving dozens of
states, millions of voters and untold numbers of laws, rules and
traditions. Our panel of experts dissected it all. With: Galen Irwin,
political scientist at Universiteit Leiden; Frans Verhagen, the author of
De beste wint nooit; and Maarten Huygen, journalist and commentator
for the NRC Handelsblad.
19 Febr.
The Ground War
A presidential campaign is like a military campaign: a long ground
war. What are the strategies and tactics of each campaign? The panel
examined the role of the media and the use of the internet. With: Marc
Chavannes, professor of journalism, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen;
Professor Ruth Oldenziel, American Studies, Technical University
Eindhoven and Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam; and
Professor Andrew Tanenbaum, Computer Science, VU Amsterdam
4 March
Follow the Money
A presidential campaign runs on money, and following the cash trail gives
surprising insights into how the election system really works. Special
guest for this program was Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the
Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C. Moderator: Kees
Brants
18 March
Over There
What changes would the various candidates bring to American foreign
policy? Karel van Wolferen - University Professor of Comparative
Political and Economic Institutions (UvA) William Pfaff (t.b.c.) International Herald Tribune
1 April
Holier Then Thou
What is the special role that religion plays in a presidential campaign?
James Kennedy - Professor of Dutch History (UvA)
14 April
Health Care & Social Policy
An introduction to the importance of issues about Health Care and Social
Policy. Special guest was Theodore Marmor (Professor Emeritus of Public
Policy and Management & Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Yale)
Moderator: Jan Willem Duyvendak (Professor of Sociology, UvA)
13 May
And the Winner Is…
Is…
As we headed into the political conventions, our experts looked ahead to
the general election. Special guests were Michael Oreskes (editor
International Herald Tribune) and Michiel Vos (journalist).
The Quincy Club
The Quincy Club is part of our ongoing effort to help young Dutch students understand American
culture. The Club's activities take students out of the classroom and into an interactive new learning
environment through American history, literature and art.
The US Presidential Elections 2008
America expert Frans Verhagen gave an overview of the history and workings of the presidential elections
and gave his view on the current elections.
20 lectures at Dutch high schools:
22 Sept. Calvijn Groene Hart, Barendrecht
22 Sept. Coenecoop College, Waddinxveen
24 Sept. Sint-Oelbertgymnasium, Oosterhout
24 Sept. Mgr. Frencken college, Oosterhout
25 Sept. Theresialyceum, Tilburg
26 Sept. Murmellius Gymnasium, Alkmaar
29 Sept. Goese Lyceum, Goes
29 Sept. Calvijn College, Goes
30 Sept. Rythovius College, Eersel
01 Oct. Bernardinus College, Heerlen
01 Oct. Strabrecht College, Geldrop
03 Oct. Groene Hart Lyceum, Alphen a/d Rijn
03 Oct. Scala College, Alphen a/d Rijn
07 Oct. Citycollege St Franciscus, Rotterdam
08 Oct. Elde College, Schijndel
08 Oct. Mondriaan College, Oss
09 Oct. St. Janslyceum, Den Bosch
10 Oct. Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap, Bilthoven
14 Oct. Herman Wesselink College, Amstelveen
17 Oct. 4e Gymnasium, Amsterdam
25
Support
As a nonprofit organization, the John Adams Institute has been ahead of its time in the sense that, ever
since its launch in 1987, it has depended heavily on the private sector. We are also fortunate to benefit
from a small number of public sector grants and funding.
This year we received a very generous donation from the Holland America Friendship Foundation.
In addition to annual support from our Friends, Sponsors and members, we also seek partners with a
particular interest in individual events. In 2008, we received specific event-related support and
assistance from the following:
Publishers and book importers
J.M. Meulenhoff
Other supporters
26
GH$UEHLGHUVSHUV
Becoming a Sponsor or Friend of the John Adams
Institute brings a company or individual with
interests in the United States into an eclectic
community, which includes politicians,
entrepreneurs, writers, artists, journalists,
professors and publishers. Indeed, our audiences
and network of supporters include people of
accomplishments that rival those of our speakers.
Our Sponsors and Friends tell us they find value in
their affiliation in various ways, whether by inviting
clients to hear a Nobel Prize winner or former U.S.
Secretary of State in an intimate setting or by
mingling at our receptions. Many times a
corporation will approach us asking to sponsor an
individual event; this gives them a large bloc of seats
and the chance to use a reception—with the featured
speaker— as a special occasion for their members or
customers.
In 2008, we gained the following corporate
sponsors:
- Nyenrode University
- Resources Global Professionals.
For a complete List of Corporate Friends &
Sponsors for 2008, see page 38.
Sometimes supporters indicate from the beginning
that their contribution will be limited to a certain
time period. We wish to thank the following
departing Friends for their generous support in
past years: Nieuw-Amsterdam Publishers, NIBC
Bank, Greif, Boom Publishers and Kadaster
Apeldoorn.
Individual support
Member (€25),
Patron (€65)
President’s Club (€500)
Personal Friend (€1500 and up).
We currently have 1228 members. Of this total, 16
are members of the President’s Club (see below)
and 13 are donating at the Ambassador level. In
2007 the board of the John Adams Institute has
decided to cancel the Ambassador level for new
members.
President’s Club members
R.M. Amato, K.A. van den Broek-Kohlstrand,
R. Donehoo, R.W.H. Groen, P.J. Gunn,
C. &. D. Harple, L. Kaplanian, S.W. Khan,
W. Knibbeler, D.S. Macy, W. van Roijen-Van
Nispen, H.O.C.R. Ruding, F. Schaik, M. SchuitWilliams, W.F.C. Stevens-Mullens, F. Warmelink.
27
Publicity
We get the word out with news cards,
cards e - cards,
cards posters,
posters press releases,
releases advertisements and via our website . Our
website is an important source of information for the public, providing the latest updates on our program,
membership subcription, ticket sale and past guests videos .
Apart from our own promotional materials, we occasionally advertise lectures in local newspapers. The International
Herald Tribune provides a large advertisement to announce our program and to enable us to thank our Friends and
Sponsors for their support.
28
Staff and volunteers for 2008
Staff
Russell Shorto
Maarten van Essen
Cobie Ivens
Director
Program administrator
Event coordinator
Office volunteers
Christine Boreel
Miriam van der Meij
Kristin Jooss-Amadon
Kiekie Pabbruwe
Heather Gould
Event volunteers
Quincy club (first half 2008)
Quincy club (second half 2008)
Fundraising
Ambassador The Hague
Office assistance
Heather Gould
Liesbeth van den Heijden
Naomi Kamphuijs
Ellen Kroese-Kane
Gerard Kroese
Veronika Kovacsova
Richard Nyaku
Rebecca Sakoun
Yvonne Veger
Alex Verdegaal
Casper Wuite
29
Board of Directors
Arie Westerlaken, Chairman
Arie Westerlaken was Philips' Chief Legal Officer and a member of the Group
Management Committee. He joined the company’s legal department in the Netherlands
in 1973 and was appointed General Counsel to Philips Japan in 1979. After six years in
Japan and five years with the Corporate Legal Department in Eindhoven, he left the
company in 1990 to become Director of Legal Affairs for DAF Trucks. Returning to
Philips in 1994, he was appointed Director of Legal Affairs. He became Chief Legal
Officer of Philips on April 1, 1996, Secretary of the Board of Management in July 1997
and a member of the Group Management Committee on May 1, 1998.
Mr. Westerlaken was born in 1946 and graduated with a degree in Law from the University
of Utrecht. He is married with two children.
Evert van de Bergh, Treasurer
Until 2002 he served on the board of management at ExxonMobil Benelux, with contact
responsibility in the area of financial affairs. After his retirement in 2003, he was
appointed in 2004 to the Supervisory Board of Esso Nederland. Among his many other
activities, Mr van den Bergh currently holds the post of Director for Strategy and Policy at
Delft University of Technology. He is treasurer of the Dutch String Quartet Academy,
and sits on the Gasunie pension fund investment advisory board. Since 2003 he has
served as a mediator for ACB, an intermediary organization dedicated to dispute
resolution. In 2003 Mr van den Bergh was appointed a member of the Committee set up
to adjudicate and allocate non-personal claims to 'Jewish' funds relating to damages
sustained in World War II and released by the Dutch government, banks and the stock
exchange.
Marry de Gaay Fortman, Secretary
Marry de Gaay Fortman graduated in 1988 from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Since
then she has worked as a lawyer with Houthoff Buruma. In 1997 she was named partner
and from 2001 until 2007 she was Managing Partner at this firm. Alongside her daily
tasks, she also works as a mediator (affiliated with the Dutch Mediation Institute, NMI)
and contributes regularly to roundtable discussions on leadership, management and
diversity. Marry de Gaay Fortman occupies various additional functions, she is member of
the supervisory board of AMREF Flying Doctors, the Nederlands Dans Theater and the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, sits on the Commission to promote sound management
and integrity in Public Broadcasting, and is a member of the Advice Council of the Dutch
Care Authority.
30
Chris Kijne
Chris Kijne is a VPRO broadcaster and journalist. He started as a print journalist but later
switched to radio, both as a domestic- and foreigndesk reporter. The last decade he was one of
the anchors for the VPRO broadcasts on Radio 1, the national news-channel. He also works for
television, making documentaries and most recently with a series of extensive interviews for both
the digital channel HollandDoc and the in depth-program 'Tegenlicht'. Among his recent guests
were Salman Rushdie, Madeleine Albright, Elie Wiesel, Amos Oz and Amartya Sen. He also
moderates events of the Institute.
Tracy Metz
Tracy Metz, a native of California, is a journalist with the NRC Handelsblad. She writes regularly
about architecture, urbanism and landscape and has written a number of books, such as Snelweg:
Highways in the Netherlands, Nieuwe natuur: Reportages over veranderend landschap Atlas of
Changes. Rearranging the Netherland. Her most recent book is FUN! Leisure and
Landscape.She is also a correspondent for the American magazine Architectural Record. For the
John Adams Institute, where she has been a member of the board since 2004, she also regularly
moderates evenings with authors.
Jeannette Sanders
A fervent reader and art collector, Jeanette is responsible for co-hosting receptions at lectures
and organizing the Women's Leadership Circle fundraising dinners together with Swe Thant.
Jeannette is a member of the Board of the Groninger Museum.
Pim Roest
He is Managing Director and Netherlands country leader for USA Headquartered BearingPoint
Management and Technology Consultancy. He graduated as Master of Science in Business
Administration specializing in Strategy and Finance from the Erasmus Universiteit. He also
studied International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics and has worked in the
corporate strategy department of Shell in Sweden. Since 1993 he worked in the business strategy
units of KPMG Management Consulting and Nolan, Norton & Co. in The Netherlands. He
transferred to Australia and has been based in the Asia Pacific region between 1996 and 2003
before returning to BearingPoint Europe to start the new Netherlands office. He has a passion
for culture, traveling, modern art and good food & wine.
HONORARY BOARD
Mr. John H. Bryan,
The Hon. K. Terry Dornbush,
The Hon. Cynthia P. Schneider,
The Hon. Clifford M. Sobel,
former Director, Sara Lee Corporation
former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands
former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands
former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands
ADVISORY BOARD
Mr. B. Alexander,
Mr. A. Rinnooy Kan,
Mr. H. Ruding,
Mr. C. van Lede,
Mr. J. Hessels
Mrs. A. Wertheim,
former Director, McKinsey & Co
Chairman SER
former Minister of Finance
former Chairman. Akzo Nobel
Chairman NYSE Euronext
former Director, John Adams Institute
31
West-Indisch Huis
Where Amsterdam meets New York
Two great institutions owe their existence to Amsterdam's historic West Indisch
Huis: the city of New York and the John Adams Institute. It was here in the
headquarters of the Dutch West-Indische Compagnie that two historic more made
to establish a Dutch trading base in the New World on the island of Manhattan,
and, centuries later, to create an institution dedicated to transatlantic cultural
exchange.
After stints as an orphanage, retirement home and warehouse, the West Indisch
Huis was renovated in the 1980s. In 1987 it became the home and symbol of The
John Adams Institute.
32
2008 Attendance
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33
34
In the Press
35
36
• article by Russell Shorto (NRC Handelsblad)
• article by Russell Shorto
37
Corporate Sponsors & Friends 2008
The Friends of the John Adams Institute are directors of American companies based in the
Netherlands and top executives of Dutch companies with significant interests in de United
States of America.
Sponsors
+$))
Holland America
Friendship Foundation
Private Friends
T. Dornbush, former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands
K.J. Storm, former CEO AEGON
Additional Supporters
Boekhandel Athenaeum
38
Corporate Friends
Ahold
Amsterdam Foreign Investment Office
Amsterdam Institute of Finance
AON Groep Nederland
Baker & McKenzie
Bank Insinger de Beaufort
BearingPoint
Boekhandel Van Rossum
Boer & Croon
Booz Allen Hamilton
Corporate Express
Citibank International
Clifford Chance
Esso Nederland
Fortis
Fugro
Greenberg & Traurig
Greif
Houthoff Buruma
ING Groep
Kadaster Apeldoorn
McKinsey & Co.
Mees Pierson, Private Wealth Management
NIBC bank
Nyenrode Business Univerteit
Philips Electronics
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Provincie Zuid-Holland
Rabobank
Resources Global Professionals
Sara Lee International
Siemens
SNS Reaal Groep
Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers
Uitgeverij Boom
Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam
Unilever
Weekblad Pers Groep
Wolters Kluwer
Wakkie, P.N.
Meer, H.I. van der
Childers, B.
Steen, J.W.Th. v d
Scheer, E.T.H.
Kantor, I.R.
Roest, P.
Johnson, Ms. B.
Groot, E.P. de
Mensing, P.B.
Ventress, P.
Boom, P.F.
Eijsbouts, Ch.J.R.
Baeckelmans, N.
Lanschot F.J. van
Jonkman, A.
Jong, W. de
Engelen, Ms. W.H. van
Bosman, J.
Tilmant, M.
Deelen, M.
Reibestein, R.W.P.
Kok, B.
Drost, J.
Tebbe, F.
Sivignon, J.P.
Nijhuis, J.A.
Dijk, J.W.A.
Heggeler, R.H.L. Ten
Meertens, A
Kennett, B.
Pernis, M.C.J. van
Verburg, J.H.
Dam, E. van
Ingen, E.A. van
Borg, H. ter
Waaij, K. van der
Clement, K.
McKinstry, Ms. N.
39
Finance
40
41