This section collects information on former World Bank Group colleagues. If you learn of something of general interest please let us know by emailing it to: 1society@worldbank.org. January 2009Tony van Vugt: This year will see the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival in what is now known as New York Harbor. At what was then Manna-hatan Island, he laid the groundwork for the establishment of Nieuw Amsterdam. Over the four hundred years that have since passed the small settlement has grown into the present vibrant New York. The umbrella organization for the celebratory events is the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation; however, within that framework several organizations are providing support. Two of these are the Dutch SPTS (Foundation for the Promotion of Traditional Ships) and our group styled “HH400 Friends.” The latter is the brainchild of Tony Van Vugt, a member of the 1818 Society. He went one step further by designing and publishing a website (www.van-vugt.com/HH400) that covers all aspects of the proposed boat show that the group is sponsoring. Among many others, it is the only outdoor event that will show an as yet undetermined number of traditional Dutch shallow draft boats, of the styles that were already sailing the Dutch canals and rivers and the Hudson River in Henry Hudson’s day. This time they will sail in New York Harbor and on the Hudson River to Albany. Tony hopes to entice a number of these historic vessels to make a courtesy visit to Washington DC and Baltimore MD. 1818 Society members are invited to share the experience by visiting the website or personally watching the events – life or on TV. It is a contribution to further cement the 400-year Dutch – American cultural and commercial relationship. June 2008Guy Pferrermann writes about his non-profit organization Jim Kearns: Hi Alex: Lot of things have happened since we last spoke. In short, my first wife passed away in '92. In ’94, I married Sandra Granzow who wrote My Dream: A World Free of Poverty for the Bank and did other Bank work in the mid 90's. I stopped consulting in development in the mid 90's (gradually) and became a Financial Advisor, which I still am at the age of almost 77. In '97, I got involved in Historic Preservation in DC and then formed a non-profit for this purpose with the goal of doing it nationally. We got a lot of attention from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (all negative for tramping on their God-given preserve) followed by equally negative atention from the Washington Post (front page "news" in Dec '05), the Congress and the IRS. I left Preservation in 2004. My wife and I sold our DC House in '05 and gradually migrated north to Hyde Park (permanent) and Manhattan (pied a tierre). Life and health for both of us is good and active.
Congratulations to Kanagaratnam Arichandran, more familiarly known as Ari for reaching the final round of the National 75 Clay Court Championships at Army Navy Country Club in mid-September. To see more click here. April 2008Patrick Henfrey, formerly wiith the Africa Project Development Facility (APDF) in Nairobi, is now managing a plant which produces naturally grown antimalaria products. Botanical Extracts is the pioneer and East Africa's leading producer of artemisinin. Patrick has been the entrepreneur who launched this project and he has made a substantial personal committment to the project. IFC is providing the company with $7 million in long-term financing for a new local production facility. IFC's $6 million loan and $1 million in equity will help produce anti-malaria medicines in a region where they are needed most. Nigel Bremner, who also worked with APDF is the commercial manager of the project. To see more, visit their website at: http://www.abextracts.com/ Additionally, here is the IFC press release: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/media.nsf/Content/Malaria_LifeSciences_Apr08 Bill Onorato reports that he was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he was Keynote Speaker on Petroleum Legislation at the UNDP-sponsored Conference on "Fuelling Poverty Reduction with Oil and Gas Revenues", held in from March 26th through 28th, 2008. Visit the UNDP web site for fuller details on the Conference. February 2008Ed Elmendorf reports that former World Bank Agriculture Director Kevin Cleaver now serves as Assistant President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome. Ed had the pleasure of seeing him again on the occasion of a Study Tour of United Nations organizations in Rome and Vienna organized by the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) in Washington DC, which Ed currently serves as President. I also have learnt that Michael O'Farrell and Oltmann Siemens both formely with IFC are also at IFAD as Director of Personnel and as Legal Counsel, respectively. 1818 Society members can find out more about UNA-NCA on its website, www.unanca.org. |
