The John Adams Institute A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

Transcription

1 The John Adams Institute A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S Annual Report

2 The John Adams Institute Annual Report 2010 Table of Contents 3 Mission Statement 4 A Note from the Director 6 Events 24 Other Activities 28 Membership 32 Making It Happen 38 Attendance In the Press 42 Finance West-Indisch Huis, Herenmarkt 97, 1013 EC Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel. +31(0) Fax. +31(0) info@john-adams.nl

3 Mission Statement John Adams Institute The mission of the John Adams Institute is to provide a window onto the United States for Dutch audiences. Our main way of carrying this out is by bringing notable Americans-- novelists, politicians, historians, scientists, screenwriters, poets-- to the Netherlands, and having them talk about their work and their insights. We believe in discussion and debate. We believe in words and thoughts. And we believe in the power and value of real-life encounters. We don t see ourselves as a patriotic organization, which waves a little American flag and tries to promote America. Rather, we believe that the United States is so big, so teeming, so powerful, so complex, so full of life and creativity and violence and confusion, that everyone-- Americans included--needs to continually study what it is. Further, there is a unique connection between the United States and the Netherlands. For it was the Dutch who founded a colony, based on Manhattan Island, which gave rise to New York. The Dutch melting pot of the seventeenth century spawned New York City and also the American melting pot. America, therefore, has Dutch roots. And America s most vital elements--its mixed society and its free trade ethic-- originate in those Dutch beginnings. It is all the more appropriate, then, that, with immigration, diversity, and national identity being central topics of debate in the Netherlands, we bring American perspectives to the Dutch. 3

4 A Note from the Director When it comes to bringing American speakers to the Netherlands, a big name isn t everything. What counts is that the person has something vital and arresting to say. In that sense, it doesn t matter whether he or she is famous or obscure. Then again, people at the cutting edge of a given field tend to get known. Through a combination of luck and hard work, the John Adams Institute presented a program in 2010 filled with big name speakers at the very pinnacle of their craft. Few would disagree with you if you argued that Jonathan Franzen is the most important American novelist of his generation, or that the Rev. Jesse Jackson is the greatest living figure of the American civil rights movement, or that David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, is the most influential force in American journalism, or that Lang Lang is the preeminent classical pianist. As for James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential, he says it himself: I am the greatest crime writer who ever lived. I can't promise we will always be able to match 2010's exceptional lineup in future, though we certainly will try. I would, in the meantime, like to use that lineup, which is outlined in the pages that follow, as a way of introducing the John Adams Institute. Our goal--to bring American culture to the Netherlands--is a grand one. We will continue to do our best to achieve it. We hope you find what we do worthwhile, and that you will follow us in the future. 4

5 Russell Shorto, 19 March 2010, at the John Irving event. 5

6 Events 6

7 Jonathan Safran Foer Eating Animals DATE 14 January 2010 LOCATION Paradiso, Amsterdam Brilliant, thrilling, genius, breathtaking: such are the adjectives that have routinely been applied to Jonathan Safran Foer s two award-winning novels. At 32, a married man with small children, Foer turned his attention to nonfiction, and to the food we eat. Eating Animals is not an appeal for vegetarianism, but a sustained, at times brutal look at the meat industry. With his gift for the poetic, Foer sweeps in aerial movements over the topic, taking us into the world of microbes and the realm of animal suffering, before delivering it finally to our table. This was an evening with one of America s brightest literary minds. MODERATOR Pieter van der Wielen IN COOPERATION WITH Ambo Anthos publishers Paradiso PHOTOS Chris van Houts 7

8 James Ellroy Blood's a Rover DATE 24 January 2010 LOCATION West-Indisch Huis, Amsterdam Let him say it himself: I am the greatest crime writer who ever lived. James Ellroy writes tough, intense fiction. He has ego and style. Much of his oeuvre is set in Los Angeles in the 1950s, a hot landscape peopled by cops and bad deeds. Blood s a Rover is the third book in a trilogy that, as the New York Review of Books it, present a brutal counter history of America in the 1960s and 1970s. People describe his style as strippeddown, staccato, controlled. As one reviewer aptly put it, Ellroy writes as if driven by demons. MODERATOR Jan Donkers IN COOPERATION WITH Atlas publishers A Matter of Taste PHOTOS Chris van Houts 8

9 The Rev. Jesse Jackson Public keynote address Part of Conference DATE 5 February 2011 LOCATION Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam From the civil rights marches of the 1960s, the Rev. Jesse Jackson has been at the core of the American civil rights movement. He made history as an African American running for president in the 1980s, and the image of him weeping for joy on the night of Barack Obama s election brought things full circle for millions of Americans. Jackson personifies the struggle for inclusion in American society. He was thus the ideal person to provide the keynote address for the conference Hyphen-Nation: American Perspectives on Diversity. In his talk, Rev. Jackson pondered how far America has come in its march to equality, and how far it still has to go. MODERATOR Prem Radhakishun IN COOPERATION WITH The US Embassy The Hague Part of the New America Series, sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam PHOTOS Chris van Houts 9

10 Ron Rash Serena DATE 10 March 2010 LOCATION DeBalie, Amsterdam Ron Rash writes poetry, short stories and novels. He is a Southerner, a crafter of finely wrought literature. He has quietly become a bestseller in the U.S. and the attention is long past due. Listening to the elegantly fine-tuned voice of this Appalachian poet and storyteller, as the New York Times has it, is like wandering through the Carolina hills. The world of Serena, his most recent novel and the first published in Dutch, is gothic, sardonic, darkly funny. The Guardian calls it a spectacular book that measures up to the greatest fiction of the American South. MODERATOR Jan Donkers IN COOPERATION WITH De Geus publishers PHOTOS Chris van Houts 10

11 John Irving Last Night at Twisted River DATE 19 March 2010 LOCATION Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam John Irving burst onto the American literary scene in 1980 with the publication of The World According to Garp. Since then, through 12 novels, he has become a fixture and a rarity: a writer both critically acclaimed and popularly beloved. His awards are numerous and quixotic: he has received a National Book Award and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and he was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In his most recent book, Last Night at Twisted River, Irving followed his customary writing strategy. I always begin with a last sentence, he says. Then I work my way backwards, through the plot, to where the story should begin. MODERATOR Hans Bouman, de Volkskrant IN COOPERATION WITH De Bezige Bij publishers Special thanks to Universiteit van Amsterdam PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 11

12 E. Benjamin Skinner A Crime So Monstrous DATE 21 April 2010 LOCATION De Duif, Amsterdam There are more slaves in the world now than at any other time in history. E. Benjamin Skinner s A Crime So Monstrous is an in-depth, ground-level account of slavery today. Skinner s important book names names, takes us down alleys and into buildings where human beings are bought and sold, and exposes the whole trade. Supporters of the book include Elie Wiesel, John McCain and Bill Clinton, who called it passionate and a devastating narrative. It s not a pretty topic, but one that any thoughtful person owes it to him- or herself to comprehend. MODERATOR Kustaw Bessems, de Pers IN COOPERATION WITH Cossee publishers PHOTOS Chris van Houts 12

13 Jon Krakauer Where Men Win Glory DATE 28 April 2010 LOCATION De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam Jon Krakauer has written some of the most popular outdoor adventure books of our time. Into Thin Air, about a fatal trip up Mount Everest, was Time s book of the year. Into the Wild became a major motion picture. Krakauer s fascination with endurance and heroism takes a different focus in his new book. Where Men Win Glory is the story of Pat Tillman, an NFL football star who decided to shift to real-world heroism and volunteered for military service in Afghanistan--where he was killed at age 27. MODERATOR Tim Overdiek, NOS Journaal IN COOPERATION WITH Prometheus publishers De Rode Hoed PHOTOS Chris van Houts 13

14 Kathryn Stockett The Help DATE 3 June 2010 LOCATION Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam The Help sat atop the New York Times bestseller list for a full year. Its popularity was due to its richly rendered story and setting, but also its daring. Kathryn Stockett, a white southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi, chose to tell the story of black maids in the old South, and to write in old-fashioned dialect. Her decision defied political correctness, but it has paid off. Some bloggers have called the book racist; others call it brave. The Huffington Post explained the success this way: The Help is about something. That is, something real. Something that matters. MODERATOR Tracy Metz, NRC Handelsblad IN COOPERATION WITH FMB publishers Special thanks to Universiteit van Amsterdam PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 14

15 David Remnick The Bridge DATE 8 June 2010 LOCATION De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam As the editor of The New Yorker magazine, David Remnick has been responsible for some of the greatest writing of our time. As an author and journalist, Remnick has also produced transformative bestsellers, beginning with Lenin s Tomb, about the end of the Soviet Union, and continuing with King of the World, his biography of Muhammad Ali. The Bridge is a biography of Barack Obama, which sees the first black American president as a bridge between races and generations. MODERATOR Russell Shorto IN COOPERATION WITH De Bezige Bij publishers De Rode Hoed PHOTOS Chris van Houts 15

16 Bret Easton Ellis Imperial Bedrooms DATE 17 September 2010 LOCATION Singelkerk, Amsterdam Bret Easton Ellis became a celebrity novelist in 1985, at the age of 20, when Less Than Zero was published. Since then, his work has both built upon and mocked the themes that made him famous, including drug use, designer labels and generally immoral behavior. In his novel Imperial Bedrooms, he returned to the characters of his first book. They are now in middle age, still living in Los Angeles. Donna Tartt, in reviewing the new book, highlighted its eeriness: the BlackBerry flashing on the nightstand in the middle of the night, everywhere the subliminal hum of menace. MODERATOR Pieter Steinz NRC Handelsblad IN COOPERATION WITH Ambo Anthos publishers PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 16

17 Richard Russo That Old Cape Magic DATE 27 September 2010 LOCATION West-Indisch Huis, Amsterdam Where Richard Russo s recent novels Empire Falls and Bridge of Sighs were epic in scale, his eighth book, That Old Cape Magic, is smaller: a warmly comic portrait of a man in midlife crisis. While suffering through his present-day anguish, the hero, Jack Griffin, is carrying the ashes of his father in the trunk of his car: literal baggage of his past. As the Washington Post said in its review, Richard Russo has written a novel for people who are terrified of becoming their parents, which is to say for everybody. MODERATOR Hans Bouman, de Volkskrant IN COOPERATION WITH Signatuur publishers A Matter of Taste PHOTOS Chris van Houts 17

18 Jonathan Franzen Freedom DATE 21 October 2010 LOCATION Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam The New York Times Book Review calls Jonathan Franzen s new novel, Freedom, a masterpiece of American fiction. Time Magazine actually put Franzen on its cover with the title Great American Novelist. Franzen s novel spanned the 9/11 decade. In following a single family, Franzen created a vast meditation on a continent and a country; ultimately it is a meditation, as the title indicates, on the most potent and overused word in the American lexicon. MODERATOR Jan Donkers IN COOPERATION WITH Prometheus publishers Special thanks to Universiteit van Amsterdam PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 18

19 Michael Cunningham By Nightfall DATE 2 November 2010 LOCATION Aula, Universiteit van Amsterdam By Nightfall, the sixth novel by Michael Cunningham, brings us into the world of a successful New York couple whose elegant urban lives begin to unravel with the appearance of a chance visitor. Cunningham-who won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for his 1998 novel The Hours--proves himself once again a master both of the English language and the human heart. This was a special evening with an author whose work, as Ethan Canin wrote in the Washington Post, offers just about every kind of literary pleasure, and all of them in abundance: suspense, hilarity, invention, romance and passage after passage of breathtaking prose. MODERATOR Nina Siegal, Time Out Amsterdam IN COOPERATION WITH Prometheus publishers Special thanks to Universiteit van Amsterdam photos Gerrit Serné 19

20 Lang Lang A Conversation, with Music DATE 18 November 2010 LOCATION De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam The hottest artist on the classical music planet (in the words of the New York Times) also has a remarkable life story. He grew up in northeastern China, won his first piano competition at age 5, and has played in virtually every major concert hall in the world. His performance at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was watched by billions of people. His autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles, recounts the enormous distance he has covered in only 28 yearsfrom his birthplace in China to his new home in New York. Lang Lang talked about his life, and illustrated it with music. MODERATOR Maartje Stokkers, AVRO Radio 4 special thanks to AEGON PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 20

21 Lionel Shriver So Much for That DATE 1 December 2010 LOCATION Spui25, Amsterdam Lionel Shriver s novel So Much for That was nominated for the 2010 National Book Award. Shriver follows a distinctly American tradition of exploring difficult material with elegant language. Her 2003 novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, became a bestseller despite, or perhaps because of, its hard look at the aftermath of a mass killing in a school. Her latest novel is about a man whose dream of retiring to an idyllic retreat is destroyed when his wife s illness forces him to keep his job. The novel is a dark and complex working-out of the consequences of America s broken health care system. MODERATOR Julie Phillips, Trouw IN COOPERATION WITH Contact publishers PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 21

22 Spike Lee Doing the Right Thing DATE 14 December 2010 LOCATION Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam America has the Tea Party movement. Europe has its anti-immigrant movement. How should a society balance the rights of citizens with the needs of newcomers? How do we ensure that government treats everyone equally? How do we respond when it doesn t? And how can individuals, especially young people, find their place and make their voices heard? Spike Lee is one of America s most respected filmmakers and one of its most outspoken voices. His last project was the documentary If God Is Willing and da Creek Don t Rise, about the disaster and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He is also the director of Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled, Summer of Sam, and many other award-winning films. MODERATOR Prem Radhakishun IN COOPERATION WITH Binger Filmlab Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam PHOTOS Gerrit Serné 22

23 Many thanks to the VPRO for their cooperation in realizing the VIDEOS of our events. All rights reserved to the authors. 23

24 Other Activities 24

25 Hyphen-Nation, American Perspectives on Diversity Immigration and diversity: they are the biggest, hottest, most painful issues in the Netherlands. America is the land of diversity. What is the secret to America s approach? It s a tiny thing: the hyphen (streepje). Everyone in the U.S. has a dual identity: Mexican-American, Italian-American, African-American America tells newcomers: Become American, join us but don t lose your origins! It has taken a few hundred years, and it has flaws, but American diversity works. The purpose of this special, all-day event, organized by the John Adams Institute with the sponsorship of the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, was to pose this question: Can the American diversity format work in the Netherlands? Conference 25

26 Literature Course Crossing Boundaries: TV, Movies and Books in the 21st Century A new literature course presented by the John Adams Institute and De Rode Hoed A six-week course on Thursday 9, 16, 23, 30 September & 7, 14 October Television shows like The Sopranos and The Wire have taken the place of the serialized fiction that novelists like Charles Dickens used to write. Meanwhile, novelists today are often screenwriters as well, and in turn write books that are more cinematic. In this six-week course (taught in English), Dan Hassler-Forest of the University of Amsterdam explored the way writers today are mixing art forms. The lectures and discussions focused on individual authors and filmmakers, such as Bret Easton Ellis, Charlie Kaufman, Jane Campion, David Benioff, and David Cronenberg, whose work crosses boundaries between film, literature, and television. In addition, some of the authors discussed have been featured at John Adams Institute events. Discussion 7 July 2010 Judge Thomas Buergenthal The John Adams Institute and The Hon. Fay Hartog Levin, the Ambassador of the United States of America, presented Judge Thomas Buergenthal, of the International Court of Justice, in conversation with Russell Shorto about his book A Lucky Child, describing his experiences in concentration camps during World War II. Location U.S. Ambassador s Residence in The Hague. Cafe Festival Participation Steinbeck Around the World 5-8 August 2010 Spui, Amsterdam 23 December 2010, Café van Leeuwen, Amsterdam Holiday Words: Four American Authors Read in Amsterdam with: Victor Lavalle, Emily Roboteau, Russell Shorto and Nina Siegal. 26

27 A Younger Perspective: The Quincy Club is part of our ongoing effort to help young audiences better understand American culture. The Club's activities take students into an interactive new learning environment through American history, literature and art. The Quincy Club The History of Immigration and Integration in the United States Lectures were given by America expert Frans Verhagen at the following schools: 2 November Sint-Nicolaas Lyceum, Amsterdam 3 November Pieter Nieuwland College, Amsterdam 8 November De Stedelijke Scholengemeenschap, Nijmegen 8 November Kandinsky College, Nijmegen 9 November Titus Brandsma Lyceum, Oss 9 November Titus Brandsma Lyceum, Oss 10 November Sint-Jans Lyceum, 's Hertogenbosch 10 November Elde College, Schijndel 11 November Het Goese Lyceum, Pontes 11 November hristelijke Scholengemeenschap Walcheren lokatie Van de Perre, Middelburg 16 November Simon Vestdijk, Harlingen 16 November RSG De Borgen, Lindenborg 17 November Almere College, Dronte 18 November PENTA College CSG Angelus Merula, Spijkenisse 22 November Raayland College, Venray 22 November Raayland College, Venray 23 November Trevianum Scholengroep, Sittard 24 November Alfrink College, Zoetermeer 24 November Rijnlands Lyceum, Wassenaar 29 November Van der Capellen sg, Zwolle 29 November CSG Reggesteyn, Nijverdal 30 November Montessori Lyceum, Amsterdam Internship report by Geerte Wessels The Quincy Club 2010: The History of Immigration and Integration in the United States For the seventh year in a row, the John Adams Institute presented the highly popular Quincy Club Lectures. United States expert Frans Verhagen traveled from Limburg to Friesland to visit twenty Dutch high schools. Armed with newspaper cartoons and amusing or sometimes even shocking facts, he took his listeners on a journey through almost two centuries of American integration and immigration history. It was a journey that at times seemed to resemble our own historical journey: one of the cartoons shows for example an American Protestant who tries to protect a group of children from hungry alligators. These alligators, however, are special: they are wearing mitres and look surprisingly much like bishops. It is an anti-catholic cartoon. The cartoon was made at a time when many Catholics immigrated to the United States. This new religion scared Protestant America. It is not hard to see some parallels between this and contemporary Europe. The focus was on something more familiar during the second half of the lecture: the present day situation of immigration and integration in the Netherlands. Students were asked to think about two questions: What makes you Dutch? and How do you think integration is going? Answering these questions proved to be more difficult than most students imagined. Did the color orange make them Dutch? Sinterklaas? The Dutch soccer team? Or maybe the tolerant attitude of the Dutch? Could anyone become Dutch? It short, it was a great start to an often lively discussion. The question whether immigration is going well was also a difficult one. Mr. Verhagen provided his listeners with facts and numbers, so they could decide for themselves. Not everybody agreed with him or the other participants, but the lecture gave everyone plenty to think about. 27

28 MEMBERSHIP Contributions Main sponsors sponsors 5000 Corporate Friends 2000 Private Friend 1500 President s Club 500 Patron 65 Member 25 We currently have 3 Main sponsors 4 Sponsors 29 Friends 21 President s Club members 8 Ambassadors 122 Patrons 665 Members Our President s Club members are R.M. Amato K.A. van den Broek-Kohlstrand A. Croiset Van Uchelen R. Donehoo R.W.H. Groen P.J. Gunn C. &. D. Harple L. Kaplanian W. Knibbeler A. Korijn D.K. Korslund & R. Kooiman G. Nuhn-Morris W. van Roijen-Van Nispen H. & K. Pabbruwe H.O.C.R. Ruding F. Schaik M. Schuit-Williams J. & S. Sanders W.F.C. Stevens-Mullens F. Warmelink A.C. Westbroek per calendar year please, contact the JAI director 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 mostly on the private sector for funding. This year we benefited from a number of private- and publicsector supporters. Also this year we received a very generous donation from the Holland America Friendship Foundation. Becoming a Sponsor or Friend of the John Adams Institute brings a company or individual with interest in the United States into an eclectic community, which includes corporate executives, 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. Many times a corporation will approach us asking to sponsor an individual event; this gives them a large block of seats and the chance to use a reception with the featured speaker as a special occasion for their members or customers. We wish to thank the following new sponsors for their generous support in 2010: Ahold McKinsey & Company PricewaterhouseCoopers Wolters Kluwer For a complete list of our Sponsors & Friends for 2010, see pages 29 and

29 Sponsorship 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 the United States of America. Main Sponsors Sponsors HAFF Holland America Friendship Foundation Private Friends - The Hon. K.T. Dornbush, former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands - K.J. Storm, former CEO AEGON Additional Supporters Athenaeum Boekhandel 29

30 Corporate Friends 2010 We would like to acknowledge the companies that help make our work possible. ABN AMRO Ahold Amsterdam Foreign Investment Office de Baak Management Center Baker & McKenzie Bank Insinger de Beaufort BearingPoint Boekhandel Van Rossum Citibank International Clifford Chance Fugro Greenberg Traurig Heineken International Houthoff Buruma ING Groep McKinsey & Company Nike EMEA Nyenrode Business Universiteit NYSE Euronext PricewaterhouseCoopers Rabobank International Resources Global Professionals Siemens Stichting SNS Reaal Fonds Tata Steel Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers Unilever Weekblad Pers Groep Wolters Kluwer F.J. van Lanschot K.J. Underhill H.I. van der Meer H. Starren F. de Hosson I.R. Kantor C. de Monchy B. Johnson P.F. Boom R. ten Doesschate A. Jonkman W. de Jong F. van der Minne J. Bosman J. Hommen J. Ruys S. Bobenrieth D. van Gorp J.M. Hessels R. Swaak I. Hagen R.C. Bruin A.F. van der Touw M.H. Cornips T. Valkering P. Broholm K. van der Waaij K. Clement N. McKinstry The John Adams Institute is an ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beoogde Instelling) More information at: 30

31 Publishers & Other supporters We wish to thank all the booksellers, publishers, importers and literary and cultural organizations and service providers who have cooperated with us this year. Singelkerk Signatuur 31

32 Making It Happen 32

33 Staff Program administrator Maarten van Essen Director Russell Shorto Event coordinator Cobie Ivens Volunteers Project Volunteers Geerte Wessels Kiekie Pabbruwe Event Volunteers Heather Gould Liesbeth van der Heijden Ellen Kroese-Kane Gerard Kroese Veronika Kovacsova Jaime Kyres Miriam van der Meij Richard Nyaku Rebecca Sakoun Yvonne Veger Alex Verdegaal Geerte Wessels The Quincy Club JAI informal Ambassador to The Hague 33

34 Board of Directors Marry de Gaaij Fortman - Chair Marry de Gaaij 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 the International Mediation Institute, IMI) and contributes regularly to roundtable discussions on leadership, management and diversity. Marry de Gaay Fortman holds various additional functions, she is Chair of the supervisory board of AMREF Flying Doctors, member of the supervisory board of the Nederlands Dans Theater and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, is a member of the Commission to promote sound management and integrity in public broadcasting, and member of the Advisory Council of the Dutch Care Authority. Evert van den Bergh - Treasurer Until 2002 Evert van den Bergh served on the board of management at ExxonMobil Benelux, with contact responsibility in the area of financial affairs. After his retirement he was appointed in 2004 to the Supervisory Board of Esso Nederland. Among his many other activities, Mr. van den Bergh held the post of Director for Strategy and Policy at Delft University of Technology. He is treasurer of the Dutch String Quartet Academy, and a member of 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. In recent years he has held interim director positions at two Dutch symphony orchestras. Arie Westerlaken - Secretary 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 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, Mr. Westerlaken was born in 1946 and graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Utrecht. He is married with two children. 34

35 Chris Kijne VPRO broadcaster and journalist. He started as a print journalist but later switched to radio, both as a domestic and foreign 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 investigative program Tegenlicht. Among his 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 NRC Handelsblad. She writes regularly about architecture, urbanism and landscape and has written a number of books, including Snelweg: Highways in the Netherlands and FUN! Leisure and Landscape. Her most recent book is Huis in Frankrijk: Nederlanders en hun maison de campagne. She is also an international correspondent for the American magazine Architectural Record and a visiting Fellow at Harvard University. For the John Adams Institute, where she has been a member of the board since 2004, she also regularly moderates evenings with authors. Pim Roest Pim Roest joined PricewaterhouseCoopers as Partner in Advisory in 2009 leading the Energy, Utilities and Mining practice. 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 was based in the Asia Pacific region between 1996 and 2003 before returning to BearingPoint Europe to start the new Netherlands office. He led the development and growth of the practice as Managing Director and Country Leader until He has a passion for culture, traveling, modern art and good food and wine. Truus Valkering Truus Valkering graduated from the Gemeente Universiteit Amsterdam in She then worked as a company lawyer with Koninklijke Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken. Until November 2010 she was a management team member of Corus Strip Products IJmuiden and Director of Communications and Public Affairs of Corus Netherlands. Since November 2010 she is Director International Affairs of Tata Steel Netherlands. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Noord-Holland Noord, chairwoman Commission Communication VNO- NCW, a member of the General Board of VNO-NCW and board member of the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Noord-Holland. David Vermijs David Vermijs is an independent consultant for multinational companies and international institutes in the area of corporate responsibility, in particular business and human rights. He was formerly a research fellow at Harvard University s Center for Business and Government. He has a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Business Communications from Radboud University Nijmegen. Honorary Board The Hon. J. H. Bryan, former CEO, Sara Lee Corp, Chicago The Hon. K.T. Dornbush, US Ambassador to the Netherlands, The Hon. C.P. Schneider, US Ambassador to the Netherlands, The Hon. C.M. Sobel, US Ambassador to the Netherlands, Advisory Committee B. C. Alexander, former director, McKinsey & Co A.H.G. Rinnooy Kan, chairman, SER H.O.C.R. Ruding, former Minister of Finance K. J. Storm, former director, Aegon R. Swaak, CEO, PricewaterhouseCoopers P. Wakkie, former board of directors, Ahold A. Wertheim, former director, John Adams Institute 35

36 Publicity Advertisements E-cards Folders News cards Posters Website Online ticket sale 36

37 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 decisions were 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 periods 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. 37

38 Attendance 2010 Date Writer Invitations Members Patrons Discount Non members Free Other TOTAL 14-Jan Jonathan Safran Foer Jan James Ellroy Feb Hyphen-Nation Jesse Jackson Mar Ron Rash Mar John Irving Apr E. Benjamin Skinner Apr Jon Krakauer Jun Kathryn Stockett Jun David Remnick Sep Bret Easton Ellis Sep Richard Russo Oct Jonathan Franzen Nov Michael Cunningham Nov Lang Lang Dec Lionel Shriver Dec Spike Lee The Spike Lee event at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, 14 December

39 Lang Lang (De Rode Hoed) John Irving (Aula UvA) Jonathan Safran Foer (Paradiso) Jonathan Franzen (Aula UvA) Michael Cunningham (Aula UvA) Jesse Jackson (Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam) Bret Easton Ellis (Singelkerk) Hyphen-Nation Conference (Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam) 39

40 In the Press 40

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42 Finance 42

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